Ducted Refrigerated Cooling for Whole House Comfort

The two systems work on opposite principles, so they suit different days. Evaporative cooling pulls outside air through wet pads, which cools it and adds moisture, and it needs windows and doors open to push that air out again. It is cheap to run and it is excellent on a dry 38 degree northerly.

Refrigerated ducted cools and dries the air inside a closed house. It holds a set temperature on humid days when evaporative struggles, it keeps smoke, pollen and dust outside, and it can reverse to heat in winter if you specify a reverse cycle unit. It costs more to buy and more per hour to run. If your household sleeps badly on sticky nights, that is the trade you are making.

On a 40 degree day a Melbourne roof space will sit well above 50 degrees. Every metre of duct up there is fighting that, so insulation value and duct condition matter as much as the equipment. We specify insulated flexible duct with a decent R value, keep runs as short and straight as we can, and support them so they do not sag into long dips that choke airflow.

The other quiet killer is static pressure. Too many tight bends, undersized branches or a return air grille that is smaller than the system needs, and the fan works harder to move less air. You feel that as weak outlets in the far bedrooms and hear it as noise at the grilles. We size return air deliberately, because it is the part most often left too small on budget installs.

Zones let you cool bedrooms overnight and living areas during the day, which cuts running cost and stops you paying to cool empty rooms. Most family homes end up with three or four zones grouped by how the household actually uses the house, not by compass direction.

The limitation is the same as it is on heating. The indoor fan needs a minimum air path, so you cannot run one small zone alone on a large system without a bypass or a variable speed fan. We design zone groups so the smallest realistic combination still keeps the unit in range, and we tell you which combinations to avoid.

If you already have gas ducted heating and want cooling, there are two paths. An add on cooling coil and outdoor unit fitted to the existing furnace and ducts, or a full changeover to a reverse cycle ducted system that does both from one box.

Add on cooling can work, but the existing duct was sized for hot air from a burner and often cannot carry the airflow cooling needs, and you keep the gas running cost through winter. Nine times out of ten we recommend the reverse cycle changeover, because you get one system, one controller, lower winter running costs and access to Victorian Energy Upgrades discounts on the invoice. We will still price both if you want the comparison.

When the install is finished we measure rather than assume. That means checking the temperature difference across the indoor coil, verifying refrigerant charge by subcooling or superheat rather than by feel, balancing the outlets so the far bedroom gets its share, and confirming the zone motors are driving fully open and closed.

You should get a handover that includes the controller basics, where the filters are and how to get at them, and what a normal running noise sounds like. Everything electrical is signed off with a Certificate of Electrical Safety, and our workmanship is guaranteed 100%.