Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Jan 28, 2014 10:25 pm Hi All, Getting to the final stages of planning the build, the builder has included 3 star ducted heating with the house. We will be spending most of our time upstairs (reverse living and master bedroom upstairs) and downstairs have a billiards room and a couple spare bedrooms. I have never had ducted heating before, heard it costs a lot in operating costs and will be heating zones that arent required. The design is open plan upstairs and downstairs with bedrooms off the living areas. The plan is solar passive, a couple of windows east and west and the majority on the north side with 600mm eaves. I want to discuss swapping our ducted heating for a gas log fire upstairs, for both heating and aesthetic reasons. There will be 2 split system AC/heating units upstairs and downstairs and doors seperating these levels. All windows have thermal broken DG windows. It will also have a 5kw solar system. The property is in Melbourne so its definitely 80% winter 20% summer year long. Am i mad for wanting to swap this over? Re: Ducted heating or gas log fireplace 2Jan 29, 2014 7:46 am There is nothing like sitting in front of a fire ( wood or gas lookalike ) on a cold rainy night. Be aware though that if the fire is upstairs very little of the heat will percolate down to the lower floor area. If it were me I'd have the gas for upstairs and the ducted heating for downstairs. Stewie Re: Ducted heating or gas log fireplace 3Jan 29, 2014 10:10 am It might depend on where you live. The gas log fire is great for aesthetics and just ambience. They are not really there for hard heating. I take it you mean those instant gas ones ? But - you may not need much heat - and it does rise - ie upstairs. Real gas ducted heating is great - if you have natural gas laid on. Not sure about bottled. Reverse cycle air/con - both htg and cooling is very good - and cost effective. If you have a timer - you can go off to work and have it set to turn on 30 minutes before you get home - house will be warm/cool. We had ours set to turn off around 11pm and on at 6am. Then - depending on sat - ie work or home - set it as required. If you have solar power - this will offset the air con costs in the day. But - not gas costs. But, location, aspect and house will dictate what is best. Re: Ducted heating or gas log fireplace 4Jan 29, 2014 10:23 am I am a builder in Melbourne area, First, it is brilliant to choose DG, anyway, in my mind, it is all about your personality to choose the way of heating. Ducted Heating is more effective and efficiency if your property is fully occupied. Sometimes oil heaters/Heating Fans is a $marter way to heat a small area like a single bedroom. You can go to your local electrical shops and ask your builder to provide all technical data to get some idea. Good luck. Re: Ducted heating or gas log fireplace 5Jan 29, 2014 12:19 pm Quote: The gas log fire is great for aesthetics and just ambience. They are not really there for hard heating. SM, the Jetmaster 850 can heat up to 60 sqm and one of the Real Flame models we looked at a while ago can heat up to 100 sqm. HeatnGlo have similar specs to the RF. Older gas log fires do not put out a lot of heat but the newer ones can really pump it out. Stewie Re: Ducted heating or gas log fireplace 6Jan 29, 2014 12:29 pm I would upgarde the gas heating to at 5 star and add a couple of zones. I have something like this and I have been abel to keep case bills down to under $300 in the peak of the winter for the last few years. Also in that time I have young babies and kept the heater on low at night (16/17 degrees). I still thing gas fires cost a bit to run. The trouble is they produce a lot of the heat close to the unit. So I am not too sure that you can get a very even (and effecient) temp right through the house. Why do you consider running a terminated gas pipe to wher eyou think you might want the fireplace and make up you mind later. Re: Ducted heating or gas log fireplace 7Jan 29, 2014 2:01 pm Stewie D Quote: The gas log fire is great for aesthetics and just ambience. They are not really there for hard heating. SM, the Jetmaster 850 can heat up to 60 sqm and one of the Real Flame models we looked at a while ago can heat up to 100 sqm. HeatnGlo have similar specs to the RF. Older gas log fires do not put out a lot of heat but the newer ones can really pump it out. Stewie Yeah - but its only one point isn't it ? It'll have doors and halls and rooms to get through. Or - is it ducted somehow ? We've had the single unit - ie in one room - and they never do the house properly IMO. BUT - I love those "log" gas fires. Re: Ducted heating or gas log fireplace 8Jan 29, 2014 5:17 pm It will depend a lot on your layout and how well you have insulated your house. We're planning on an open ground floor plan - lounge , dining and kitchen with a closed door to the rest of this level - hall, laundry bathroom, double garage and guest bedroom, so for us this gas log fire will be all we need. No ducting although I am toying with another gas heater in the hall. For others though as you say it may not be the best setup. Stewie DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Hi, I have an old fence/barrier made of treated pine logs bolted to plates and these are bolted to very large metal posts/girders. The plates and bolts are rusted through… 0 15121 Hi all, My first post, we are building a house and can’t decide the layout of the lounge room. We have a large N/W facing window and are wanting to have a wood slow… 0 13729 No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. I’m not sure what was removed, as it was done quite some time ago - well before what I can see with photos online… 2 11589 |