Porter Davis homes

Hi Fademan

Here is my experience and partial knowledge regarding heating/cooling systems at Porter Davis

We had many discussions with the Brivis rep at WOS. She informed us that we would need to upgrade our Heating unit from the 3 Star in our standard inclusions to a 6 Star so we could add refrigeration and zoning. (probably also possible if you upgrade to 5 Star unit, but better cost savings with the 6 star, so we choose that one)

With the Brivis 6 star unit you can have up to 4 zones for BOTH heating and cooling. To run heating and cooling through the same ducting system you need to increase the size of the heating ducts provided, from 6 inch to 9 inch. This allows for the greater airflow required for your refrigerated cooling. Once this is done, you can create zones with 2 or more outlets.
So it is not usually possible to zone just one room, unless you have 2 outlets in that room.

Their pricing is very expensive (no surprise) to create additional zones and their pricing for adding on a refrigerated cooling system is outrageous. We are building a 38 Square house and the quote was 16K. We found a great company who will do this for us post handover and will only cost us $8100 for everything we want done. There are a few things you need to get PD to do during the build, as changes cannot happen downstairs after the build. However they can do anything upstairs after handover.

With a double story build, if you require 2 downstairs zones, you need to make sure you have this organised with PD prior to the build, as you need a control cable to manage the control for that zone in that area.
For example, we are creating 2 zones in our downstairs area and one zone upstairs. The upstairs zone is controlled via a network controller upstairs which runs back to the main unit in the ceiling. One of the downstairs zones is the Guest bedroom and Guest Ensuite, and the other downstairs zone is All the other rooms downstairs. The large zone will be controlled by a fancy touch screen controller (upgrade) and the other zone has a thermostat only (as PD tell me that I cannot have another network controller installed, just the one upstairs, even though my Air Con guys says he can do 3 network controllers for me).

Once I have handover from PD, I will ring my Air Con guy and have him come and install a 17kW refrigeration unit which will bolt onto the heating unit in my upstairs ceiling space. At the same time he will create another zone upstairs (Master Bedroom and Master Ensuite - run via a new network controller) and change the thermostat cable downstairs into another network controller.

This will allow me to have 4 zones set throughout my house and have control of each zone from within that zone or via the touch screen. I have also been told that Brivis are in the development stages of creating an App that will also allow you to control your zoners from your phone, however I cannot get 100% confirmation on when this App will actually be launched so I have opted for the manual controls in each zone just in case this App never eventuates.

I hope this helps explain what I know about upgrading the heating/cooling systems that Brivis can provide through PD.
If you need any further clarification please don't hesitate to ask and I will try to explain further.

OK team, Inphaze and I have joined the RACE!!!

We have temp fencing, a port-a-loo and site scrape, all in one day!

266 days and counting, ETA is 8th of November - it's going to be close! My parents and grandparents have already booked flights from NZ to join us for Christmas and I need the new house finished so I can house them all lol.

Question: Should the crossover protection be that short? It looks like its missing half its length.

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What roof ..?

Porter Davis only give tiles and colorbond is an addition, is it worth going to colorbond and is it worth doing roof sarking, have heard colorbond makes it warmer during summer.

I am putting a whirlybird does that make any difference ..?

Thanks

Look up a product called oddysey it is very easy to install post handover and costs 2-3k with very low operating costs.

see more at
hoffmangoldwithporterdavis.wordpress.com

My latest blog has been posted, it's called Let there be light.

https://forsyth35blog.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/let-there-be-light/

This covers the electrical plans with Porter Davis and Argus Electrical.

I have also shared all the electrical pricing I have been given, this includes pricing for underfloor heating and the cost or the different sized bathrooms. All the Speaker, projector, NBN, and networking packages that are offered are listed. Along with the individual line items of everything that went into our house.

Hopefully, this will help others with budgeting and you enjoy the read.

Cheers
C.

Yes so they dont have to pay aa much for thier inspector

see more at
hoffmangoldwithporterdavis.wordpress.com

Morning All,

I advised our SS that we would be having at independent inspector at PCI and this was the response.

"I will let you know when the pci date will be but before I book in a date you will have to get the your independent through. I must have your independent report at pci. After I receive this and we go through his items and your pci I will advise a approx. handover date, I cant give you a handover date until all this has happened.
I will advise you a date to get your independent through when the house is completed"

Does this seem right? The whole idea of PCI is that they are saying the house is complete, but he wants our private inspector to come through before PCI and tell him what's wrong so he can rectify it before PCI. In a way I'm happy about this as the sooner it's done the better but at the same time I think it shouldn't be our inspector that has to tell him what needs to be done.

Thoughts?