Who to hire for an air conditioner that stopped cooling

Short answer

A heating and cooling technician holding a refrigerant handling licence. Anyone who handles refrigerant in Australia needs that licence specifically — an electrician cannot legally regas a system — so 'a handyman who does air conditioners' is not an option here. Before you book, clean or replace the filters and check the outdoor unit is not blocked, because that is the fault a surprising share of the time.

Soon, not tonightIt will not usually get cheaper by waiting, and it is rarely worth an after-hours rate.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a heating and cooling business.

  • an electrician

    the unit is completely dead with no lights and the circuit has tripped. That is a supply problem before it is a refrigeration one.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Take the filters out and look at them. Blocked filters are the single most common cause of poor cooling and cleaning them is free.
  2. Check the outdoor unit: clear of leaves and rubbish, fan spinning, nothing stacked against it, at least a few hundred millimetres of clearance.
  3. Check the mode and the setpoint on the remote. Systems get left in fan or dry mode and the complaint that follows is 'it runs but does not cool'.
  4. Note whether the outdoor unit runs at all, and whether the indoor coil ices up. Both are things to say when you ring.
  5. Find the model number and the approximate age of the system.

What to ask when you book

  • Do you hold a refrigerant handling licence, and what is the number?
  • If it is low on gas, will you find the leak or just top it up? Topping up a leaking system is a temporary fix and, for larger systems, is restricted.
  • Is the part still available for this model, and what is the lead time?
  • What is the call-out, and is it credited against the repair?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Whether it is a service, a component failure, or a refrigerant leak that has to be found.
  • Refrigerant type — some older gases are being phased down and are expensive or unavailable.
  • Access to the outdoor unit, especially on a roof or a wall bracket at height.
  • Age of the system, which decides whether parts exist.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Handling refrigerant requires a refrigerant handling licence issued under the national scheme, and the business needs a refrigerant trading authorisation to buy and hold refrigerant. Installation also involves licensed electrical work. Venting refrigerant to atmosphere is an offence.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for an air conditioner that stopped cooling
A heating and cooling technician holding a refrigerant handling licence. Anyone who handles refrigerant in Australia needs that licence specifically — an electrician cannot legally regas a system — so 'a handyman who does air conditioners' is not an option here. Before you book, clean or replace the filters and check the outdoor unit is not blocked, because that is the fault a surprising share of the time.
Does air conditioning need regassing regularly?
No. A sealed refrigeration circuit does not consume refrigerant, so a system that is low is a system that is leaking. 'It needs a regas' as an annual service item is a claim worth pushing back on — ask where the leak is, and what it will cost to find it rather than to refill it.
Why does my air conditioner ice up?
Restricted airflow and low refrigerant both do it, which is why the filter check is worth doing first — if a clean filter fixes it, you have avoided a call-out. Ice that returns after the filters are clean points at the refrigerant circuit and needs the licensed technician.
Is it worth repairing a ten-year-old split system?
It depends on which part failed and what refrigerant it uses. A fan motor or a control board on a system using a current refrigerant is usually worth repairing; a compressor failure, or any significant work on a system using a phased-down gas, usually is not. Ask for both numbers before deciding.

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Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.