Electrify your home
Hot water is the single biggest slice of most Perth power bills. A heat pump runs it on a fraction of the energy — here's what it costs, what you can claim, and how to get matched with installers who'll do it right.
Check your billsee your savingsget matched with Perth installers
Annual running costs (4-person household)
Modern heat pump technology is 3-4x more efficient than traditional heating methods. Here's why it makes sense for Perth homes.
Heat pumps use 3-4x less energy than resistive heaters (an efficiency rating, or COP, of 3-4). Savings vary by system and usage.
Heat pumps run on electricity, not gas. No combustion means no nitrogen dioxide indoors, and measurably better air quality.
Run your heating and cooling from your solar panels for near-zero running costs.
Reverse cycle systems heat in winter and cool in summer: one system does both.
Popular efficient heating and cooling options for Perth homes.
Replace your old electric or gas hot water with a super-efficient heat pump
Best for: Premium option with best efficiency and quietest operation
CO2 natural refrigerant · Quietest on market (37 dB) · Australian designed · App control
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Best for: Most common in WA with excellent installer support
Australian brand · Wide installer network in WA · Quiet operation · 270L/315L options
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Best for: German engineering and long-term durability
German engineering · Durable build quality · Smart controls · Low maintenance
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Best for: Good value with smart solar integration
Smart controls · Solar integration timer · Compact design · Wi-Fi connectivity
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Best for: Budget-friendly entry-level option
Budget-friendly · Compact design · Wi-Fi optional · 170L/280L options
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Best for: Premium established brand with strong local support
Premium Daikin quality · R32 refrigerant · Smart controls · 200L/315L options
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Best for: Highest efficiency available
CO2 refrigerant · Very quiet · High efficiency · Outdoor tank
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Best for: Australian designed, great for Perth climate
Australian designed · Low-noise operation · Perth climate optimised · 200L/300L options
Rebate: ~$918 STC
Efficient heating in winter, cooling in summer: all from one system
Best for: Most popular premium choice in Perth
MEPS 5-star rating · Quiet operation · Smart app control · Self-cleaning filter
Best for: Quiet operation and premium reliability
Ultra-quiet (19 dB) · Hyper heating technology · Wi-Fi control · Reliable compressor
Best for: Great value with smart human sensor technology
Human sensor auto-mode · Quiet operation · Wide capacity range · Wi-Fi control
Best for: Gentle airflow with no cold drafts
Wind-Free cooling (23,000 micro-holes) · No direct airflow · Wi-Fi control · Energy efficient
Best for: Air quality and allergy-friendly operation
nanoe X air purification · Quiet operation · Reliable compressor · Wi-Fi control
See how different heating options compare for annual running costs.
Electric Storage
$600-800/year
Gas Storage
$400-600/year
Heat Pump Best
$150-250/year
Solar Hot Water
$100-200/year
Electric Heater
$400-800/year
Gas Heater
$300-500/year
Reverse Cycle AC Best
$100-250/year
Perth summers are hot and dry, and the winters are short but bring cold nights. The systems that fit that pattern heat and cool from one unit, cost little to run on a solar afternoon, and do not need gas. Here is how the common options compare on running-cost direction and comfort.
A split system is a heat pump for the air in one room or zone. It moves heat in or out rather than generating it, so it uses far less electricity than a bar heater or fan heater for the same warmth, and the same unit cools in summer. Quiet, quick to install, and the cheapest option to run per room in both directions. Suits homes where you condition the rooms you actually use.
Sizing air conditioning to solarOne large heat pump feeding every room through ceiling ducts. Whole-home comfort from a single controller, but it conditions everything unless the system is zoned, and a house's worth of ducting in a hot Perth roof space gives some of what you pay for back to the roof. Suits larger, well-insulated homes with zoning; costs more to run than a split if it is left on house-wide.
Common on Perth roofs because it is cheap to run in dry heat, but it cools only, adds humidity, and struggles on the muggy days that arrive with summer storms. It does nothing in winter, so an evaporative home still needs a heating answer, which is usually where a split system comes in.
Evaporative vs refrigerated in PerthNot a room heater, but often the largest heating load on the bill after air conditioning. Replacing a gas or electric storage unit with a heat pump moves that load onto the most efficient technology in the house, and it runs happily in the middle of the day on solar. It is the usual first lever when the existing system is gas or resistive and due for replacement; where cooling dominates the bill, the air conditioning comes first. Your bill breakdown and the calculator settle which applies to you.
Heat pump hot water in Perth: the guideEfficient is not a brand or a price point. Three things decide whether a system is cheap to run in your house.
Split systems sold in Australia carry a zoned energy rating label with separate heating and cooling stars for each climate zone. The headline figure is a starting point; the stars for the zone that matches Perth are the ones to compare, in both directions if you rely on the system in winter. More stars means less electricity for the same output. Ducted systems and other units outside the label's scope may not carry one, so compare the manufacturer's rated heating and cooling efficiency figures for the unit instead.
An oversized unit cools a room quickly, switches off, and cycles all day, which costs more and leaves the air clammy. An undersized unit runs flat out and never gets there. Sizing depends on floor area, ceiling height, insulation, glass and which way the room faces: a west-facing Perth living room with big windows needs noticeably more capacity than the same floor area on the south side. Ask the installer to show the sizing calculation, and treat a quote without one as a guess.
Zoning means conditioning only the rooms in use: closed doors and a zoned ducted system, or one split per living space. Pair that with timing. If you have solar, running heating or cooling through the middle of the day uses power you already generated, and pre-cooling the house before the late-afternoon peak beats fighting the heat at dinner time on grid rates.
Before buying anything, work out what the current setup is costing you. Most of the answer is already on your bills.
If the electricity bill you hold from Synergy jumps from June to August, that is heating; a gas bill that does the same is a gas heater or gas hot water working hard. Compare bills that cover the same number of days, take the excess of each winter bill over a mild-season one, and add those excesses up across the winter bills. For a home without solar, that total is roughly what heating cost you for the season, and it is the number an upgrade has to beat. If you have rooftop solar, the winter jump mixes heating with lower solar output and more use outside solar hours, so treat it as an upper bound rather than the heating cost.
Gas ducted, gas wall heaters and plug-in electric heaters are the expensive ways to stay warm, because they generate heat rather than move it. An older reverse-cycle unit is better, but efficiency has improved a lot, and a system well into its second decade is usually worth costing against a replacement. The outdoor unit's label gives its age and capacity.
Rooms that never reach the set temperature, a unit that runs continuously, ice on the outdoor unit that persists after the defrost cycle (a short frost in cold, humid heating weather is normal), noisy start-ups or a musty smell when it starts all point to a system that is oversized, undersized, low on refrigerant or overdue for a service. Some are a cheap fix; some mean the running cost has crept up without you noticing.
If your winter bills spike, you still have a gas connection, or your hot water is electric storage or gas, a bill check is the fastest way to see where the money is going. Upload a recent bill and BillWise breaks your usage down by category and projects your solar payback. To model a heating replacement, a heat pump for hot water or reverse-cycle in place of gas or resistive heating, run the upgrade calculator, which takes your current hot water and heating types. Cooling upgrades are compared in the running-cost table above rather than modelled. If the question is the gas connection itself, see whether ditching gas pays.
Get the most from your heating and cooling system.
Run your heating/cooling when solar is generating to minimise costs.
Each degree of cooling/heating costs about 10% more. Aim for 24-26°C in summer, 18-20°C in winter.
Only heat/cool the rooms you're using. Close doors to unused areas.
Clean filters monthly. Service your AC annually for best efficiency.
See how much you could save by upgrading to a modern, efficient system.
Compare running costs of your current system against a modern replacement. Costs based on Perth averages (electricity 33.26c/kWh, gas 5.3c/MJ).
Your current system
Current
Electric Storage (250L)
Annual cost: $1,000
10-year cost: $10,000
CO₂/yr: 1,600 kg
Upgrade
Heat Pump
Annual cost: $275
10-year cost: $2,750
CO₂/yr: 250 kg
Typical upfront cost: $3,000 - $5,500 installed. Rebates and STCs may reduce this further.
Common questions about efficient heating and cooling in Perth.
Yes. Heat pumps use 1/3 to 1/4 the electricity of traditional electric hot water. In Perth's climate, they work efficiently year-round. STC rebates reduce the upfront cost. How quickly it pays back depends on your hot water use, the system it replaces and electricity rates, so judge it over the years the heat pump keeps working.
Reverse cycle split systems (Daikin, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu) are the most efficient choice. They provide cooling in summer and heating in winter. For a split system, read the heating and cooling stars for Perth's zone on the zoned energy rating label rather than the headline figure; for ducted, compare the manufacturer's rated heating and cooling efficiency. Either way, make sure the system is sized to the room.
For most Perth households, switching to efficient electric (heat pumps, reverse cycle) makes sense. Gas prices are rising while running on your own solar power costs a fraction of the grid rate. Modern heat pumps are 3-4x more efficient than gas.
Yes! This is one of the best uses for solar panels. Air conditioning demand peaks during the day when solar generation is highest. Time your heavy cooling to solar hours for near-zero running costs.
Yes. A reverse-cycle air conditioner is a heat pump for air, and it is the cheapest way to heat a Perth room for the same reason a heat pump is the most efficient conventional electric replacement for a hot water tank: it moves heat rather than making it. Perth's mild winters suit it well, because a heat pump only loses efficiency in the kind of deep cold Perth rarely sees.
For most homes: a heat pump for hot water, and reverse-cycle split systems in the rooms you use, sized to the room and run in solar hours where possible. Ducted reverse-cycle suits larger homes if it is zoned. Gas heating and portable electric heaters are the options to move away from.
Compare bills that cover the same number of days, take each winter bill's excess over a mild-season one, and add those up. In a home without solar that total is mostly heating; with solar it also carries lower winter generation, so read it as an upper bound. If it is large, you still have gas heating or gas hot water, or your air conditioner runs all day without getting the room comfortable, start with a bill check, which shows your usage breakdown and solar payback, then model a heating replacement in the calculator, which takes your hot water and heating types. Cooling upgrades are compared in the running-cost table on this page rather than modelled.
As a rough guide: small bedroom 2-2.5kW, medium room 3-3.5kW, large living area 5-7kW. Proper sizing depends on room size, insulation, windows, and orientation. Oversized units waste energy; undersized units struggle.
Hot water is usually the first, easiest win. Solar, a battery, and EV charging compound it — each has its own guide, and they all route to the same bill check and installer match.
Run your heat pump on your own daytime power
Store the excess and keep hot water on through outages
Charge the car on the same solar that runs your hot water
Switching from gas heating? See if full electrification saves you more
What a heat pump hot water system costs in Perth, how the federal STC rebate works, what it costs to run on Synergy plans, and how to choose a system and brand.
Both solar diverters and heat pump hot water systems can cut your electricity bill by using solar generation more effectively. Here's how they compare for Perth households and which makes sense for your situation.
Perth has one of the highest evaporative cooler rates in Australia, but evap coolers stop working on humid days. Here's how the two systems compare on running costs, solar synergy, and Perth's specific climate.
Solar thermal hot water systems were the standard recommendation for Perth for decades. Heat pump hot water systems have now overtaken them on cost, reliability, and flexibility. Here's the comparison.
One bill check gives you your real hot-water savings, then matches you with Perth installers in the WattMate network.
Independent by design: installers pay us a flat referral fee, never a percentage of your price, so the shortlist isn't skewed by who pays most. Want a savings estimate first? Run the savings calculator.
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