How long do split systems last?

The short answer: a quality split system, installed properly and serviced annually, commonly runs 10–15 years in Melbourne conditions. The same unit installed badly and never serviced can be done in under 8. Lifespan isn’t really a property of the box — it’s a property of how it was installed and looked after.

What actually decides it

• Installation quality.Correct refrigerant charge, proper vacuum and pressure testing, solid mounting and a dedicated circuit set the system’s baseline for life. What a proper install involves.
• Maintenance. Dirty coils force the compressor to work harder every hour it runs — the mechanical equivalent of a lifetime jogging with a blocked nose. Annual servicing is the single biggest lifespan lever you control.
• Sizing. An undersized unit runs flat-out; a heavily oversized one short-cycles. Both wear the compressor early — size it right.
• Environment. Salt air near the bay corrodes outdoor coils faster; shaded, ventilated outdoor positions age better than baking west walls.
• Usage pattern. A bedroom unit used summer nights lives a gentler life than a living-area system running ten hours daily, year round.

The signs a system is near the end

Repairs arriving closer together, cooling that fades on the hottest days, climbing power bills, and — decisively — an older refrigerant type that makes every future repair expensive. One failure isn’t a death sentence; a pattern is. The repair-or-replace framework turns that judgement into numbers.

When the time comes

Replacement pricing is published — from $2,399 fully installed on our price list, with the old unit’s removal quoted up front as part of a replacement. And if you want your next system to be the 15-year kind: proper install, annual care — that’s literally the Trueline Care plan.