Illawarra Heat Watch
Tomorrow’s maximum,
and what it means for your cooling.
The forecast top temperature for Thursday 22 October in Wollongong and Sydney, and what that kind of day asks of a home air conditioner, a cool room and a bar’s beer system.
Wollongong tomorrow
20°C
Mild · forecast maximum
Sydney tomorrow
21°C
Mild · forecast maximum
Tomorrow: Mild
What a warm, hot or very hot day asks of your system
Air conditioners and refrigeration both work by pushing heat outside, so they work hardest on the hottest days. Tomorrow’s band is highlighted; every band is here so you can plan ahead.
Mild
Below 28°C
Tomorrow
At home
- If you run the system, cool mode at 24 to 26°C is the NSW Government’s advice for summer.
- Mild weeks are the time to book a service, before the first hot week fills every installer’s calendar.
Cool rooms and bar systems
- Refrigerant charge drops slowly enough that nobody notices until the room cannot hold temperature on a hot day. A mild week is when to get it checked.
Warm
28 to 31°C
At home
- Cool mode at 24 to 26°C, fan on auto, is the NSW Government’s advice for a summer day.
- Close the blinds on west-facing windows. West-facing glass takes the low afternoon sun through the hottest part of the day.
Cool rooms and bar systems
- Keep the cool room door shut between loads. Every open lets warm air in.
- Keep the condenser’s air clear. It rejects heat into the outside air, so the hotter that air gets, the less it can do.
Hot
32 to 35°C
At home
- If the system cannot hold 25 on a hot afternoon, the setting is not the problem. It either needs a clean or it is undersized.
- Leave the setting at 24 to 26°C rather than turning it right down. The system cools at the same rate whatever you set.
Cool rooms and bar systems
- Watch the room’s display through the afternoon. As the outside temperature climbs, the condenser loses capacity and runs closer to a high-pressure trip.
- A beer line through a ceiling void sits in hot air. If the glycol slips, the bar ends up pouring warm beer in the middle of service.
Very hot
36°C and over
At home
- Old systems fail when they work hardest, which means days like this. If yours is struggling, call before it stops altogether.
Cool rooms and bar systems
- Chilled food has to stay at 5°C or colder. Check the room’s temperature more often than usual and keep a record.
- If a cool room or freezer room fails after hours, our maintenance technician takes the call.
More on cool rooms in what temperature a cool room should be. For venues, maintenance and breakdown support covers what happens when a room cannot hold.
Forecast maximums from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), updated hourly. The bands are a guide to what a day asks of your system, not a weather warning. For heatwave warnings, the Bureau of Meteorology is the authority.
System struggling in the heat?
Tell us what is happening, where it is and what it is cooling. We will tell you what it needs.