AIROCOOLAir-Conditioning
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Air conditioning & heating

Heating & Heat Pump Installation

Reverse-cycle heating, heat pump geysers and pool heating — the cheapest heat available.

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Airocool installs and services three kinds of heating on the KZN coast: reverse-cycle air conditioning that heats as well as it cools, heat pump water heaters that replace or supplement an electric geyser, and pool heat pumps that extend the swimming season. All three work on the same principle — moving existing heat rather than generating it with an element — which is why a heat pump typically delivers around three to four units of heat for every unit of electricity it consumes, where a resistive element delivers one.

Your air conditioner is probably already a heater

Most split systems sold in South Africa are reverse-cycle, meaning they heat as efficiently as they cool. A great many Durban households have never pressed the heat button and spend winter running oil heaters and fan heaters instead, at roughly three times the electricity cost for the same warmth. If your remote has a sun icon or a "heat" mode, you already own the cheapest heating in the house. We are happy to show you how to run it properly on the next service visit.

Heat pump geysers

Water heating is typically the single largest line on a household electricity bill. A heat pump geyser extracts heat from the outside air and moves it into the water cylinder, using roughly a third of the electricity of a conventional element for the same hot water. On the KZN coast the mild ambient temperatures suit heat pumps particularly well — they perform best in exactly the climate we have. They can be retrofitted to an existing cylinder or supplied as an integrated unit, and they pair well with solar PV.

Pool heat pumps

A pool heat pump turns a pool that is comfortable for three months into one that is usable for eight or nine. Sizing is driven by pool volume, surface area, whether a cover is used and what temperature you actually want to hold. A cover matters enormously — evaporation is where most pool heat is lost, and heating an uncovered pool is expensive in any climate. We will tell you that before quoting, not after.

What's included

Heating & Heat Pumps

  • Reverse-cycle air conditioning supply and installation
  • Heat pump geyser supply, installation and retrofit to existing cylinders
  • Pool heat pump sizing, supply and installation
  • Integration with existing plumbing and electrical
  • Timer and control setup for off-peak operation
  • Servicing and repair of existing heat pumps
  • Advice on running costs before you commit

Serving

Heating & Heat Pumps across the North Coast

  • Durban North
  • Umhlanga
  • Ballito
  • Mount Edgecombe
  • Phoenix
  • Wider North Coast

The process

How this job runs

  1. Assess the demand

    Household size and hot water usage, or pool volume and target temperature. Real numbers, not a guess.

  2. Size the unit

    Undersized means it never reaches temperature. Oversized means you paid for capacity you never use.

  3. Install

    Plumbing, electrical and refrigeration handled in-house — no waiting on three separate trades.

  4. Set up & explain

    Timers configured sensibly, controls explained, expected running cost discussed honestly.

Pricing

What affects the cost of a heat pump

Heat pumps are a capital purchase that pays back through reduced electricity use. Cost drivers:

Factors affecting the cost of heating & heat pumps
FactorWhy it matters
Capacity neededDriven by household size for water heating, or pool volume and target temperature for pools.
Retrofit vs full replacementRetrofitting to a sound existing cylinder costs less than an integrated unit.
Plumbing modificationsDistance from the cylinder to the mounting position, and the state of existing pipework.
Electrical workA dedicated circuit is usually required, and some boards need attention first.
Coastal specificationAs with air conditioning, coastal sites want corrosion-resistant hardware.

We publish the factors rather than a price list because a number that is wrong for your property is worse than no number at all. Ask us for a quote and you will get a real one.

Questions

Heating & Heat Pumps — common questions

Can my air conditioner heat as well as cool?
Most likely yes. Almost all split systems sold in South Africa in the last two decades are reverse-cycle. Look for a sun symbol or a "heat" or "mode" button on the remote. If it has one, using it is substantially cheaper than any electric heater in the house — usually around a third of the running cost for the same warmth.
How much does a heat pump geyser save?
A heat pump water heater typically uses roughly a third of the electricity of a conventional element geyser for the same hot water output. Since water heating is often the largest single item on a household bill, the reduction is usually significant and visible. Actual savings depend on your household’s hot water usage, your tariff and how the system is set up — we would rather size it properly and give you a realistic expectation than quote a headline percentage.
Do heat pumps work in Durban’s climate?
Very well. Heat pumps draw heat from ambient air, so their efficiency rises with ambient temperature — and the KZN coast has mild winters and warm, humid conditions for most of the year. This is close to ideal operating territory. Heat pumps struggle in genuinely cold inland climates; that is not our situation.
Is a pool heat pump expensive to run?
Far less than element heating, but the honest answer is that it depends almost entirely on whether you use a cover. Most pool heat is lost to evaporation from the surface. With a cover, a correctly sized heat pump holds temperature economically. Without one, you are heating the sky. Anyone quoting a pool heat pump without asking about a cover is not thinking about your bill.

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Next step

Need heating & heat pumps?

Tell us what you have got and roughly where you are. We will come back with a straight answer and a real number.

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