Air conditioning & heating across Melbourne's south-east & the Ranges

Will your place cope with the first 38 degree day?

Four things worth checking now, while there is still time to do something about them. Two of these are a service, not a new system, and we will tell you which one you are looking at.

• It struggles once the day passes 35 degrees.A system that cools fine in spring but never quite gets there in a heatwave is usually undersized for the space rather than faulty.
• Some rooms never cool down.Normally a zoning or ductwork problem, not a reason to replace the whole system. Worth having someone look before you spend.
• It has not been serviced since last summer.Filters and coils that have sat through winter are the most common reason a system underperforms on the first hot day.
• It is more than ten years old.Older units lose capacity and cost more to run each summer. That is the point where replacing can be cheaper than another repair.