Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 May 23, 2005 4:04 pm 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 Greencerise97 Re: Ducted reverse air conditioner 2May 24, 2005 4:43 pm It’s a funny topic air-conditioning, not because it’s over complicated but more so because there is so much room for personal interpretation. With a lot of ducted systems you can be zoned to the house as to allow air-conditioning only to the areas you are using. It’s not uncommon to have some companies to use a system that will only just cover the area at full power. This is because they work on the assumption that not all zones will be on at the same time. Now I don’t know who you have had quoting your air-conditioning or how they have quoted it but this is one possible reason for the difference. In regards to brands I believe you can’t go past a Dakin. We use Dakin in most our houses and don’t seem to have any problems. It is also a good thing that they carry a 5-year warranty, there is nothing better then peace of mind. http://www.energex.com.au/retail/asp/re ... rcon&id=84 is also a good air-conditioning resource. Re: Ducted reverse air conditioner 3May 25, 2005 2:21 pm Hi greencerise97,
I had a company in Vic work my system out and was very happy witih it. Didn't know DIY ducted heating and air-conditioning . [url]http://www.dynamic-heating.com.au[/url] Regards, Marko23 Re: Ducted reverse air conditioner 4Jan 25, 2010 3:39 am Ducted reverse-cycle air-conditioning can be a very convenient way of cooling and heating your home. However, before you spend thousands of dollars to have a system installed (and several hundred dollars a year to run it), consider other cooling and heating options. Even if you decide on a central system, you may only need a cooling-only or heating-only one — depending on where you live. Before you buy any cooling or heating system, first optimise the energy-efficiency of your home — for example by insulating the ceiling and walls, and draught-proofing windows and doors — and then calculate the capacity you need: If you want to cool or heat individual rooms in your home with separate appliances, you can use our cooling and heating capacity calculators. If you decide on installing a central cooling or heating system, the right size and design depend on a range of parameters and have to be determined by the supplier for your individual situation. Central systems shouldn't be bought "off-the-shelf". These are also the reasons why we don't test ducted systems: The results would only be valid for the tested scenario (which could be very different from your house). A model that performs well in a test situation can still disappoint you if it's not designed according to your needs, or if it isn't installed properly. Re: Ducted reverse air conditioner 5Jan 25, 2010 1:31 pm Here is a heating load calculator. Cooling requirements Note that 1000 BTU/hr is about 0.3 kW. San Diego is similar to Sydney weather. Sydney is fairly mild but heating requirements still tend to exceeding cooling needs in temperate Australia We are in a cool temperate climate and heating demands are at least 5 x higher each year. An energy efficient well-designed house can reduce AC demand by at least half (ours uses a quarter of the energy our previous home) 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 6296 |