Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation Re: Ducted reverse air conditioner 6Jan 26, 2010 8:38 am greencerise97 Hi, I'm new and I live in Sydney. My husband and I are investigating to get a ducted reverse air con installed, mainly because we like to be warm in winter! (coming from overseas, we are used to central heating and since we are in Australia, we've been freezing at night in winter... I know winter is not that cold in Sydney!) Also we think it's going to add value to the house. We had 3 quotes for ducted reverse cycle air con but 2 suggest a 12kW unit and 1 a 9kW unit. I know the guys made all the calculations so I don't understand why there is this difference in power. The guy who suggestted 9kW is sure about that and says that a 12kW unit will move too much aire and will be noisier. One of the guy who suggested 12kW says the system will struggle with 9kW only. Who should I believe? Any tips? Our house is well insulated (double brick, good windows) but we like to be really warm, say 22 degrees! So my questions are: #1: Have you had any experience with ducted reverse cycle? Isn't it too noisy? #2: Do you have any advice that will help us making our mind re. 9kW versus 12kW ? #3: I found a great brochure on heating systems (see http://www.energysmart.com.au/brochures ... system.pdf) but I'm still looking for more information especially on brand comparison. Do you know any useful websites? I found that one http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.as ... 100008&p=1 but you have to buy the results... Anyway, thanks for any advice! Cheers, Greencerise97 Hi #1. I personally don't like ducted air-conditioners for heating, they surely can produce heat but the vents are usually in the ceiling or up high, this just creates a swirl of hot-air around your head, while your feet freeze. For this reason I installed extra gas bayonets in my house and use convector heaters for heating, they blow hot air from floor level and let the heat rise, this is much better for heating. That said, I mus admit, some people do like air-con's for heating. I think they are only a problem when people turn them up too high for too long. #2. The 9 vs 12kW question depends on the size of your house, installers generally use a range for sizing, typically from 100w per m2 to 150w per m2 - so I'm not surprised you have a range of air-con sizes they have suggested. I was faced with a 15 versus 19kW decision, I went with the larger model because I didn't want to do a "half baked job". #3. I find this forum good, also the one at whirlpool: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/138?g=222 I use to subscribe to choice but I didn't find their reports very useful, it often came down to personal preferences or criteria not important to me, they often included obsolete models no longer sold. For air-cons talk to lots of installers, I spoke with 12 of them, the 12th was by far the best, I installed an Actron with them I'm really happy with it. Good luck Hi all, sorting out the ducted air con for a 350sqm double story house. Does this placement sound reasonable to you? Also, I plan to have 6 zones I think. Living room… 0 0 Hi all, sorting out the ducted air con for a 350sqm double story house. I think i plan to have 6 zones I think. Living room (mainly for entertainment so not used often),… 0 0 0 6297 |