Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 12, 2013 1:55 pm Hi For those who are building / have just built a 2 storey house, has anyone chosen NOT to have ducted airconditioning downstairs? The main part of the house that will be facing west is the garage, with a bit of the study & the formal living room. The family room & kitchen is the back of the house and will remain relatively cool. We will add ducted air-con upstairs if necessary after we've had a chance to lick our wounds. We're on the North Shore in Sydney, NSW so it's not too hot, but definitely no sea breezes.... Thank you. Re: Building a 2 storey house - no air conditioning downstai 2Sep 12, 2013 2:28 pm I wouldn't be afraid to go A/C-less there, unless you cannot put in fans or are hoping to resell soon. There are plenty of other cheaper ways to help you keep cool. How will you heat? http://www.housebythewater.wordpress.com From blank block to new home in Mandurah, Western Australia. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65564 Re: Building a 2 storey house - no air conditioning downstai 4Sep 12, 2013 2:56 pm The only thing I would be worried about would be resale and if you do decide later on that you need it isn't it difficult/impossible to retrofit? Have you considered having the ducting put in place and that way if you do decide you need it, it can happen and if you don't it's only cost you the cost of the ducting. Just my thoughts Cheers AKB <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=62083">viewtopic.php?t=62083</a><!-- l --> Re: Building a 2 storey house - no air conditioning downstai 5Sep 12, 2013 3:33 pm AKB The only thing I would be worried about would be resale and if you do decide later on that you need it isn't it difficult/impossible to retrofit? Have you considered having the ducting put in place and that way if you do decide you need it, it can happen and if you don't it's only cost you the cost of the ducting. Just my thoughts Cheers AKB +1 on the resale and inability to retrofit the downstairs ducting. Even if you do only duct and run the AC in the upper areas of the house, the warmer air of downstairs will rise (as hot air does) and the cooler air being pumped in will eventually cool downstairs anyway. There are problems with sizing/designing a system for only half a house (split top/bottom) as well. A good ducted system will allow you to zone off the areas you don't want the AC on. On the 40+ days in summer with no sea breezes (as you've said) you'll be thankful to have the entire house air conditioned. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: Building a 2 storey house - no air conditioning downstai 7Sep 12, 2013 4:09 pm Novice8 It is impossible to retrofit? Not impossible but very difficult. The designer of the house will have to design in all the features required to get the ducting from the roof unit to all the downstairs ceilings outlets. Then when the ducting is to run in the future, all the wall and ceiling lining will have to pulled down to run the ducts. At a minimum, get all the ducts installed when the house is being built. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Anybody know any good and reasonably priced Air conditioning contractors/companies that could install a ducted air conditioning system in the Central Coast NSW for a small… 0 8984 there is a few calculators you can use if you just google it 7 7479 Hi Kristy Around $1.7-1.8m or around $4,600/sqm. if you PM me your email I will send you a break up in a spreadsheet so you can get an understanding of the costs for… 1 9888 |