If your home has not been fitted with air conditioning by a professional, you’ll know what it’s like to be uncomfortably hot day and night during the heat of summer. You will undoubtedly have spent many nights tossing and turning, trying vainly to find an excellent spot on the sheets. You may even consume much time at the mall throughout the day just to get some relief from the heat.

Installing air conditioning in your home will be one of your best decisions. But it is essential to get the right kind. The correct type of air-con and the right size for your home are also necessary. There are three main choices for air conditioners.

• A ducted system – is expensive to retrofit and impossible for a flat-roofed house. Excellent choice for new builds.
• A split system reverse cycle – easy to retrofit but generally only cools one room well – depending on the home’s layout. It can heat as well.
• A window system – smaller yet, cheaper and much noisier than the split system, but better than nothing. It does not reverse cycle, so it can’t heat as well.

If your home was built without air conditioning and you are on a budget, #2 or #3 would be your choice. Go for the split system if you can possibly manage it. These are almost noise-free inside the home and more efficient than those in the window cavity. They look much nicer too. However, they do have to be installed by a professional as they are not plug-ins.

The outside unit must sit on a sturdy cement block, while the inside part will be installed high on the wall, which will need to be cut to allow the pipes to go through. The installer will see to all of that, so it’s not difficult to get the job done.

While it’s possible to buy your own unit and have an electrician install it, if you don’t know too much about which size you need, it’s a good idea to have it all done by an air con specialist who will come and look at your home to see where you want it and how large an area there is to cool. This way, you can be surer of getting the right size unit.

You can also get split systems that are not reverse-cycle, which is excellent if you don’t have a sound heating system. They may not be good enough if your climate is frigid in the winter, but they do an excellent job for people who feel the cold quickly and would like a little more heat in the house.