A lizard has busted the air-conditioning system of an aged care home in Northern New South Wales.

The Raffles nursing home in Tweed Heads has paid an eye-watering $2,500 bill. The invasive species of house gecko crawled inside part of a spate of similar incidents across the east coast of Australia.

The unusual incident recalls the fire last year at the Blue Hills Rise retirement village in Melbourne where a ball bearing in a dehumidifier saw its recreational centre burn to the ground.