Electric heating and cooling systems

Heating and cooling make up around half of the average Tasmanian household's energy use. Choosing an efficient heating system to suit your family's needs can help you make savings on your energy bills.

The most efficient heating and cooling systems available today are reverse cycle systems, which are also known as heat pumps.

Heat pumps work by extracting energy from ambient outside air, converting it to heat, and using a fan to swap it for inside cool air. Even air at 0°C has energy to extract for heating - air at that temperature has almost 90 per cent of the energy of air at 40°C.

When the process is reversed for cooling, the unit will absorb the heat of the inside air and pump it outside.

Reverse cycle systems can be ducted or split system. Ducted systems are the most expensive, as they use ducting and vents into every room that you want to heat or cool. Split system units are less expensive. They comprise an indoor and outdoor unit.

Products approved for the ESLS can be found on the Australian Government's Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) register.

Talk with your supplier about which products are eligible.