Air conditioning
in Surry Hills
A 30 square metre living room in Surry Hills needs about 3.92kW, against 4.97kW for the same room in Broken Hill, because Surry Hills peaks at 33.9°C where Broken Hill hits 40.1°C. Installed prices here run $1,350–$3,500 for splits.
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Why Surry Hills is different
Sizing advice written for "Sydney" is written for an average that barely exists. Surry Hills accumulates 102.4 cooling degree days a year and clears 35°C about 6.7 days. Broken Hill, across Sydney, accumulates 366.2 and clears 35°C about 47.6 days — roughly a 4 times lighter cooling load. That is why the same room needs a different size unit depending which suburb it sits in, and why a number quoted for the metro average will be wrong for most addresses in it.
What size you need in Surry Hills
| Room | Approx size | Cooling needed | Unit to look for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedroom | 12m² | 1.57kW | 2kW |
| Large bedroom or study | 18m² | 2.35kW | 2.5kW |
| Small living area | 25m² | 3.27kW | 3.5kW |
| Living room | 30m² | 3.92kW | 4.2kW |
| Open-plan living and dining | 45m² | 5.89kW | 6kW |
| Large open plan | 60m² | 7.85kW | 8kW |
Sizing follows the design criterion AIRAH uses in its FairAir calculator: the 3pm outdoor temperature exceeded on no more than 10 days a year. We compute that figure for each suburb from Bureau of Meteorology daily records, then split the cooling load into a component that scales with how far the design temperature sits above 24C and a component from sun and internal heat that barely varies by location. That 50/50 split is our assumption, not AIRAH's. Treat the result as a starting point for a quote, not a substitute for an installer measuring your rooms.
What it costs to run here
Surry Hills sits in the Ausgrid network area, where a residential flat rate currently runs about 30.12c per kilowatt hour (ENGIE NSW ENGIE Standing elec). On that rate, a typical 3.5kW split system used normally costs roughly $66 a year in cooling, against about $249 for the identical unit in Broken Hill.
That figure starts from the appliance's registered energy rating data, then scales it by Surry Hills's own cooling degree days against the reference site the rating uses (Richmond RAAF (067105), 113 degree days). Without that adjustment every suburb in the zone would show an identical number, which would tell you nothing.
On a time-of-use plan in this network, electricity between 15:00 to 20:59 costs about 54.72c against 21.85c off-peak. Cooling the house hard through that window is where summer bills actually get away from people. Pre-cooling before it starts costs noticeably less.
What changes a quote in Surry Hills
72.7% of Surry Hills homes are apartments
That changes the job more than the climate does. Most of that is three storeys or higher, so the owners corporation almost certainly has rules about condenser placement and noise. Expect to need owners corporation approval before anything is mounted on a common wall, and allow two to six weeks for it on top of the install lead time. Start the paperwork before you book the installer, because approval is the single most common cause of a delayed job in apartment suburbs.
The peak window costs real money here
On a Ausgrid time-of-use plan, electricity runs about 54.72 cents during the peak window (15:00 to 20:59) against 21.85 cents off-peak, close to double. Cooling the house hard through that window is where summer bills get away from people in Surry Hills. Pre-cooling before it starts costs noticeably less for the same comfort.
Installed prices
| System | Installed price | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Small split (2.5kW) | $1,350–$2,000 | Bedrooms and studies |
| Large split (5-7kW) | $2,100–$3,500 | Living areas |
| Ducted, whole home | $6,500–$12,000 | Houses with roof access |
Sydney pricing. See the full Sydney cost guide for a breakdown by job, or the New South Wales rebate guide for discounts that come off these figures.
About Surry Hills
Around 16,936 people live in Surry Hills (estimated for 2025), across roughly 13,158 occupied dwellings. The housing mix is 72.7% apartments, 1% separate houses and 25.2% semi-detached or townhouses, which is what drives most of the practical differences in getting a system installed here.
Nearby suburbs
Climate, network tariffs and housing stock shift across a metro, so the sizing and running costs on these pages differ from Surry Hills's.
Sources and data
- ABS Census 2021, dwelling structure and medians by postcode
- ABS Regional population 2024-25 (population estimate basis)
- Bureau of Meteorology, Climate Data Online
- Australian Building Codes Board climate zone map
- AIRAH FairAir cooling calculator (design condition methodology)
- Consumer Data Right energy plan data (network and tariffs)
- energyrating.gov.au product database (zoned energy rating data)
Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data. Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing 2021 and Regional population 2024-25, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Climate data: Bureau of Meteorology, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Climate zones: Australian Building Codes Board. Tariffs: Consumer Data Right energy plan data. Appliance energy data: energyrating.gov.au (E3 Program).
Population is an estimate derived from the 2021 Census count scaled by regional growth to 2025, not an official count. Climate figures come from SYDNEY AIRPORT AMO (066037). The nearest qualifying station is SYDNEY HARBOUR (WEDDING CAKE WEST) (066196) at 7.0 km, but it sits 1.9 km from the open coast against the suburb's 6.1 km; its record is shorter or less complete (24.3 yr, 78%). SYDNEY AIRPORT AMO (066037) is 7.7 km away, 8.2 km from the open coast against the suburb's 6.1 km, at 6 m against the suburb's 37 m. Stations are ranked on distance plus penalties for differing coastal exposure, elevation, NCC climate zone, record length and marine (sand-spit or island) siting.