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Smartlec Electrical SolutionsGet a few quotes for a split system in Hawthorn and one thing keeps surfacing: the unit gets priced like the whole job, and the wiring behind it is treated as someone else’s problem. It is not a side issue. Martin Turnbull, a licensed A-Grade electrician who has run Smartlec Electrical Solutions since 2017, fits the unit and does that wiring himself, because a proper installation needs its own dedicated circuit, an isolating switch and enough room left in the switchboard to carry it. On a Hawthorn home that electrical half often decides the job, so having one trade sign off the lot beats juggling a fitter and a sparky. Tell us the room you want cooled and roughly where your switchboard sits, and a fixed price covers both sides.
Every split system install is really two jobs. One is the visible half: the indoor head on the wall, the outdoor condenser, and the pipe run between them. The other is the half nobody photographs: a dedicated circuit back to the switchboard, an isolating switch beside the outdoor unit, and the board itself having the capacity and the right protection to feed a unit that draws steadily for hours on a hot day.
Most air-conditioning firms are set up for the first half only. They fit the unit, then bring in a separate electrician for the circuit and anything the board needs, which means a second booking, a second invoice, and a hand-off where nobody is clearly accountable if a fault turns up later. Smartlec works the other way around. Because Martin is an A-Grade electrician who is also licensed to install split systems, the circuit, the isolator, the switchboard check and the unit go in as one job under one licence. If your board needs attention before the system can go on, that is the same quote and the same warranty, not a separate contractor to chase. It is the same reason a Hawthorn homeowner often books cooling alongside broader electrical work or a Hawthorn electrician visit.
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A system sized to the room holds the temperature without straining; one sized off a guess either runs flat out and never gets there, or short-cycles and wastes power. Capacity is measured in kilowatts and matched to the space, so a small bedroom might want a 2.5kW head, an average living area something in the 5kW to 6kW range, and a large open-plan room more again. Ceiling height, glazing and afternoon sun all shift the figure, which is why we size against your actual rooms rather than a sticker on the box.
Then it is one head or several. A single head suits a living area or main bedroom. Where a few rooms need covering, a multi-head off one outdoor unit keeps a single condenser on the wall instead of a row of them, and suits rooms used at different times. On brands we fit the names you will recognise, Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric and Fujitsu among them, rather than one we are tied to, and we will tell you which unit suits the room and your budget before you commit.
Give Martin a call on 1300 870 531, or send the rooms you want cooled and where your switchboard sits through the website. We scope the unit and the wiring it rides on together, then quote both, plus any rebate you qualify for, as one fixed number. Our hours are Monday to Friday 7:00am to 5:30pm and Saturday 7:00am to 3:00pm. What you are really buying with one licence over the whole job is a single point of accountability: no second trade to brief, no gap for a fault to fall into, and the part you cannot see signed off by the same person who hung the unit.
We cover Hawthorn from our Prahran base, with Richmond and Malvern already covered nearby, and the full range on our split-system page. The same licence also handles EV chargers, including a Hawthorn EV charger.
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No installer can put a real split-system price on a website, and the reason is the electrical half as much as the unit. The model you pick, the wall the head goes on, the pipe run and the state of your switchboard all move the number, so a figure quoted down the phone is a guess at a job nobody has seen. We would rather come and look. A $99 inspection covers Martin assessing the job in person and handing you a fixed, itemised quote, and that $99 is waived in full the moment you go ahead. A straightforward replacement we can often scope from a few clear photos. Either way the figure is locked before work starts, any rebate you qualify for is already in it, so the number you are quoted is the number you pay.
Cooling is one of the upgrades the Victorian Energy Upgrades program supports. Through the program, fitting an approved high-efficiency split system in place of an inefficient one can generate certificates with a market value, and that value comes off your install as a discount. We are licensed to claim VEU rebates, so where your job qualifies the savings are applied to your quote rather than left for you to sort out afterwards.
The honest part is what it is not. A rebate here is not automatic, and there is no single set figure that lands on every job, whatever a flyer claims. VEU rebates are available and eligibility depends on what you are replacing, the type of property, and the unit going in, so the only accurate number is one worked out against your actual install. What we promise is the paperwork: we confirm whether you qualify, supply systems that meet the program’s requirements, manage the certificate side, and apply the rebate where it applies. If the same project has you weighing up getting off gas to electric cooking and heating, that conversation usually covers both at once.
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Some of the businesses doing this job in Hawthorn are electricians, not air-conditioning specialists, which tells you how much the electrical side of a split system matters. The difference with Smartlec is that the same licence covers the cooling too, so you are not choosing between an installer who knows units and one who knows wiring. Here is what stands behind the work, and most of it is something you can check before you hand the job over:
A split system pulls current for hours at a stretch through summer, and a shortcut in the circuit feeding it stays hidden until heat finds it. A licence you can verify, real insurance and a warranty that does not lapse are how you know the half you cannot see was done to standard. If your board is older, an install is also a sensible moment for an electrical safety check while a licensed electrician is already on site.
Smartlec services 10 suburbs from the Prahran base. Each suburb below links to a dedicated page for that service in that location, with local detail on what the job involves, common issues for homes in that area and how the quote works.
Smartlec services across metropolitan Melbourne, including the inner south-east suburbs.
Smartlec services across metropolitan Melbourne, including the inner south-east suburbs.
Smartlec services across metropolitan Melbourne, including the inner south-east suburbs.
FAQ'sFind answers to some of the most common questions about our electrical services.
Explore FAQ's
Yes. It runs on a dedicated circuit back to the switchboard, with an isolating switch at the outdoor unit so it can be safely shut off for service. On an older board there may not be room or the right protection to add that circuit. Because Martin is an A-Grade electrician, the circuit, the isolator and any board work are part of the same quote and the same warranty as the unit, not a separate job.
No. There is no single set amount that applies to every install. A VEU rebate is not a flat grant; its value moves with the system you fit and the certificates it generates, so a single-head swap and a multi-head upgrade sit in different places. We are licensed to claim VEU rebates and will give you an honest read on what your job is likely to qualify for, rather than a number from an advertisement.
Yes. A retail tenancy, a studio or a small office runs a single wall unit or several heads on the same A-Grade licence and standard as a house, and we size it to how the space is actually used.
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