Mounting air conditioners on wall brackets

Being a townhouse your main options are to locate the outdoor unit at the front or back of the house due to the side walls backing onto the neighbours walls. This was installed in an upstairs bedroom which luckily looked onto the backyard. Because of the hot water service the simplest solution was to mount the unit on a wall bracket out of the way.

It doesn't take much thinking to see that mounting the air conditioner underneath the balcony was a no brainer. The simplest option would have had the unit on a balcony used to entertain and relax.

The wall under the balcony was brick render so it was a solid fixing. It also keeps the unit protected from the elements.

This was mounted up high as door from the garage at the front opened up onto this walk way to the backyard. It was a small 2.5kw unit so getting it up out of the way was worth it.

In most apartments like this one body corp will usually insist that the outdoor unit be mounted to the wall at the same height as the apartment. Ding this makes it easier to get approval. Its about keeping other tenants happy. Would you want someone elses air conditioner installed outside your wall? Probably not.

Scaffold was used to get the unit up so high. We would usually use a scissor lift but there was no access from the front of the building to get one in to do the work.

The balcony in this installation was so small that to put an air condoner on it would make it unusable. We helped the client with gaining body corp approval to mount it to the side of the building instead.

Yes, it does stand out especially with the blue colour of the building but being the back of the building (carpark) it was allowed to go there. If you look from the right side of the balcony it is completely out of view.

Locating an air conditioner in a drive way is usually something we avoid. The last thing you want is a car to back in to or side swipe it. This install was replacing an old unit that had been installed there already and because the brick work recesses in about 400mm we decided to put the new one in the same area. One thing we did change however was the mounting of the air conditioner.

The old one was sitting on a concrete slab with only a couple of old bricks at one end to keep it level. It's a much better and safer solution to mount it on a wall bracket. It also keeps it up of the ground and stops the chance of rain water flowing down the driveway and into the unit. That might not happen a lot but with a large downfall of rain it is certainly possible.

The great thing about wall brackets too are that they have a powder coating on them. That gives them a long rust free life span.

Some people also choose to mount units just off the ground in case they ever need to lay down pavers, or build a decking underneath. It saves having to come and de-commision the unit and then re-install it. It's not always necessary but is a handy option.

Originally the client suggested running the pipes down the wall and underneath the sloping walkway. The outdoor unit was to be located under there also but the ground below was uneven and there also was not much room.

We suggested mounting the unit up on the wall bracket and the client was more than happy to do that. In fact they were unaware that was an option.

The unit was mounted high enough so the average person would be able to walk underneath it quite easily. The elderly gentleman who lives here wanted the unit at a height that would enable him to turn the isolating switch on and off by using a small ladder to reach.

Usually in a walkway we would mount the unit around 7 feet off the ground.

on a wall bracket. In this installation the ground is on a big slope and is also solid concrete.

Two reasons for mounting it on the wall bracket.

• Rain water can flow down into the unit during heavy falls.
• Making up a base to mount it on can get expensive

This was a cost effective way of dealing with both of those issues.

This installation is a good example of the end result when you want the cheapest install you can get.

It is in a lounge room that was right at the front door of the home. In our opinion it does not look the best in that location, but the client did not want to spend the extra money it takes to move it to a more desirable location. That is all well and good, everyone has a budget.

In the end they decided to mount the unit on a wall bracket as they were planning on planting a garden bed that would hopefully disguise the unit more than it was at this point in time.

Of course, anything planted in front of it would die off pretty quick due to the warm and cold air that would be blowing out of the front of the unit during operation. Not sure how that ended up but we have had no complaints!

There are different reasons as to why you might choose to install the outdoor unit on a wall bracket as opposed to locating it on the ground.

In this installation it was decided to mount it up higher on a wall bracket because the owners were planning on putting a decking around the house at a later date. This eliminates the need to re-locate the unit later on or having to build the decking around it.

It also made sense to do it this way because the ground was not level and would have required significant leveling out.It cost a little more to do it this way but the small upfront cost eliminated a potential problem later on.

This split system installation was all about thinking ahead. The client was planning on installing a decking along the side of the residential house at a later date so mounting the air conditioner to the wall made sense.

This gives you the idea of how it will look after the decking is installed.