Cost of adding cooling to ducted heating

[Goggles]

We have recently bought a house which has ducted gas heating throughout (in the floor).

With the current hot weather we have, I have been investigating the cost of adding a cooling unit to the ducted system.

I have been advised that if I want to add refrigerated cooling (rather than evaporative) and therefore use the existing ducts, the cost will be somewhere between $4K and $6K.

Does this sound right, or are people trying to rip me off?

[SteveK]

Sounds about right Goggles. I got quoted the same for evaporative, so that's respectable. Not sure how the process of installation goes in comparison but installing a split system in 2 separate rooms will cost you the same.

Steve

[Smitty]

We have recently bought a house which has ducted gas heating throughout (in the floor).

With the current hot weather we have, I have been investigating the cost of adding a cooling unit to the ducted system.

I have been advised that if I want to add refrigerated cooling (rather than evaporative) and therefore use the existing ducts, the cost will be somewhere between $4K and $6K.

Does this sound right, or are people trying to rip me off?

sounds about right
I have Brivis ducted and earlier this year (January) wanted the add-on
got quoted $4400 and $5large (ouch) PLUS install for the refrigerated add-on
I got the same two mobs who quoted to also do Evap cooling
and it came up at $3900 (installed)
I went for the Evap cooling (in a 23 sq house) coz it does the job
38° here in Melbourne today..the house stayed at 23°:cool:
and it costs like a $1 a day to run. The refrigerated was quoted as
adding $200 a month to your power bill.....:eek:

hth

cheers

[Glenn@Autowerks]

Who would want evaporative cooling, like shoving a hose into your house. Talk about moisture :eek:

[KeenGolfer]

Goggles, I have ducted evapoative, cost about $4000 to install a few years ago by ACTEW. Was quoted about the same again recently to add ducted heating (new ducting for heating) to it.

[Smitty]

Who would want evaporative cooling, like shoving a hose into your house. Talk about moisture :eek:


aaah someone who lives in a high humidity area :D

evap works very well in Melbourne

[crewiess]

Goggles - we have got ducted gas and evaporative in the house here in Canb. Unfortunately it runs throught separate ducts and vents through the ceiling. Cheap as to buy when compared to refrigerated - bout half the price and also bugger all to run. It only does not work on very well on the one humid day each year we have in Canb. Had it for about 6 years now. Just get the right size for the house - go over spec rather than just on -eg if house is 200 m2 go for a unit to handle 250 m2 it does not cost that much more.

[RED R8]

Gas ducted heating cannot be added to evap and anyone who quotes you to do it be wary of evaporative works on pushing cool air through the outlet cooling the room then out the window so in a bedroom say you would put the evap outlet near the door as far from the window as possible so you cool the whole room .Gas ducted heating blow's hot air out of the outlet (much smaller than evap ducting for a start ) and the hot air returns to a return air grill near the centre of the house ,so if you put your heating ducts in your evap ducts you will loose alot of airflow from evap ducting and back to the bedroom senario your hot air will blow out the evap duct near the door and head straight out the door and back to the return air grill leaving 90% of the room still unheated .
Refrigerated air cond costs approx $1000 per outlet to install has to run a number of zones as the compressor is generally only big enough to move a certain amount of air (not a whole house)
Advantages of refridge ducted:on a 40 degree day you can make your home 20 degrees if you wish.
Disadvantages refridge:1 very costly to run if you go to bed at night and want to just cool your bedroom you will have just 1 zone running and your 6-7hp compressor will be going all night at about $1.20 per hour
2) Costly to buy.
3)cant heat or cool whole house in one go.
3)heating is about 35 degree's max out of the outlets as against 65 degree's for gas ducted.
Gas ducted is the absolute best and most efficiant way to heat an entire home all rooms heat at once temp is very comfortable and controllable cost is ballpark $4000 to $5000 average home running costs are a about 50 cents per hour.
Evaporative air cond will also cool an entire home in one hit refreshes the air in the home(refridge keeps circulating same air) but will not keep the house as cool as refridge and is sh1thouse on humid days costs aprox 30 cents per hour to run so you can leave it on all night as you sleep and not cost a mint the best unit I have ever used is the Brivis as the top of the range unit does not dump its 30 littres of water every hour and are the best performing and most reliable One of the best set ups is a Brivis evap with Brivis gas ducted heating running of 1 wall mount controler your running costs will be barely noticeable.But if you dont care what it costs to run but you just want to be ice cold when its 43 degrees outside go refridge.

[Goggles]

thanks for the replies guys.

I'm starting to think that a single cooling unit in the main living areas is the way to go, as it cools down enough at night in Canberra to go without cooling in the bedrooms.

[Goggles]

ok just got a single split system this arvo...now to wait for it to be installed....been quoted end of Jan 06.

[mavss]

Wow. That was quick.

We invested in a 3 horsepower evaporative cooler installed in the roof and I'll be the first to admit it's a god send when the mercury heads north.

It was around the $3 kay mark and is worth every cent.

Also, ducts in the ceiling work better than in the floor.

In the meantime, try and stay cool mate and keep an eye on the kiddies and pets.

[Goggles]

Wow. That was quick.

3 things made it quick:
1. 3 or 4 days of hot weather
2. she who must be obeyed
3. a ge creditline card

as for looking after the kids and pets, well the kids aren't with us at the moment so not a big issue. The cat is looking after herself quite well - in fact she is trying to exert her dominance over our new neighbourhood as I type.

[Glenn@Autowerks]

Also, ducts in the ceiling work better than in the floor.


Correction, ceiling diffusers good for cooling, floor diffusers good for heating :D