Aircon Prices in South Africa: What an Air Conditioner Really Costs

What actually determines the price

"How much is an aircon?" has no single answer, because the price is driven by a handful of things that vary from job to job. Once you know what they are, the numbers stop feeling random.

Two units with the same BTU rating can differ by thousands of rand — usually because one is an inverter and the other is not, or because one is a premium brand and the other a value range. And the biggest single swing is whether the price you are looking at is for the unit on its own, or the unit supplied and installed.

• ✓ Cooling capacity (BTU) — bigger rooms need more BTU, and more BTU costs more. This is the single largest driver.
• ✓ Inverter vs non-inverter — inverter units cost more upfront but run more efficiently; non-inverter (fixed-speed) units are cheaper to buy.
• ✓ Brand and range — value brands sit at the bottom of each size band, premium inverter ranges at the top.
• ✓ Supply-only vs supply + installation — installation adds materials and labour to the unit price (see the next section).
• ✓ The installation itself — a straightforward back-to-back install costs less than one needing a long pipe run, extra brackets, or electrical work.
• ✓ Type of system — a midwall split is the most affordable format; cassette, ducted, under-ceiling, floor-standing and commercial systems cost more and are quoted per site.

Supply-only vs supply and installation

This is the distinction that confuses most price comparisons. There are two ways to buy:

Supply-only means you buy the unit and arrange your own installer. It is the lower number you will see advertised. Supply and back-to-back installation means we supply the unit and install it — the indoor and outdoor units mounted close together ("back to back") with a short pipe run, which is the most common and most economical installation. The installed price includes the standard installation materials and labour, so it is naturally higher than supply-only, but it is the all-in figure most homeowners actually want.

We offer both. On our product pages the headline price is typically the supplied-and-installed (back-to-back) price, with supply-only also available — so you can compare like for like.

Guideline price ranges

The figures below are guidelines drawn from our current catalogue to give you a feel for the numbers. Prices move with the Rand, stock and supplier pricing, and the exact figure depends on the specific model and your installation — so treat these as a starting point and request a free quote for a current price.

Portable air conditioners are the entry point: supply-only from around R6,300, with no installation needed. Midwall splits — the standard home and office unit — currently run from roughly R12,500 supplied and back-to-back installed for a small 9,000 BTU unit, up to around R34,500 for larger and premium inverter models. Where a model is between price lists it shows as POA (price on application) and we quote it on request.

Cassette, ducted, under-ceiling, floor-standing and commercial systems are quoted per site rather than listed at a fixed price, because the cost depends heavily on the space, the ducting or ceiling work, and the installation — for those, a site-specific quote is the only honest number.

• ✓ Portable (supply-only): from about R6,300
• ✓ Midwall split, 9,000 BTU, supplied + back-to-back installed: from about R12,500
• ✓ Midwall split, 12,000 BTU, supplied + installed: from around R15,000
• ✓ Midwall split, larger / premium inverter (18,000 BTU and up): into the R20,000s–R34,500 range
• ✓ Cassette / ducted / under-ceiling / floor-standing / commercial: quoted per site (POA)

What a back-to-back installation includes — and what adds cost

A standard back-to-back installation covers mounting the indoor and outdoor units close together with a short interconnecting pipe run, the standard brackets and fixings, and commissioning the system. That is what the installed price assumes.

Costs go up when the job is not standard: a long pipe run between indoor and outdoor units, extra height or difficult access needing special brackets or a cherry-picker, additional electrical work to the DB board, or trunking to hide pipework neatly. None of these are hidden — they are confirmed in the quote before any work starts.

How to get an exact price

Because the real number depends on the model and your installation, the most reliable way to price a job is a free, no-obligation quote. You can browse the full range with current prices in our catalogue, add what interests you to a quote request, and we will confirm the exact supplied or installed price.

Van Biljoens has supplied and installed air conditioning across Pretoria since 1956, and quotes are free and without obligation — there is no online payment and no pressure to proceed.