Chelsea townhouses are tall, narrow and short of places to put anything. We design multi-head, split and ducted reverse cycle systems around the space you actually have, with outdoor units built for the bay.
Ask anyone in a Chelsea townhouse what is wrong with their heating and you will hear some version of the same thing. Downstairs is fine. Upstairs is an oven in January and the bedrooms never get the heat in July, because one thermostat near the front door is running the lot. Whether the system is ducted gas or a single split in the living room, it was put in to get the building finished, not to suit how a two-storey house holds heat.
The second issue is space. A narrow block leaves a side path that is often under a metre wide, shared fences on both sides and a small courtyard nobody wants to give up. Every outdoor unit has to go somewhere it can breathe, be reached for service and not blow onto a neighbour's bedroom window. In Chelsea that decision often settles which system is possible, so we make it first.
The older homes left in the suburb, the 1950s and 1960s beach-era houses, are a different job again: single storey, sometimes a gas wall furnace or space heater, sometimes ducted gas added later. And all of it is within reach of the salt off the bay. We check what the house runs on, then design from there. See also what else we do in Chelsea.
Mitsubishi Electric, Hisense and Braemar equipment. Which one depends on the building, not on a price list.
The townhouse workhorse. One outdoor unit in the courtyard or on a wall bracket, with a head in the living area and one in each bedroom. Every room has its own temperature and its own off switch, which fixes the upstairs problem directly.
For a one or two-bedroom unit, or one hot room in a larger place. Fitted in a few hours. We run the pipework where it will not be seen from the street and add a condensate pump when there is no fall to a drain.
In a single-storey Chelsea home with ducted gas, the heater and ducts come out and a reverse cycle unit goes in on new R1.5 insulated ducts. In a two-storey townhouse where ducts run between the floors and cannot be replaced, a Braemar Dominator takes the gas heater's place, keeps those ducts and controls the airflow through them.
Corrosion-protected outdoor coils, Golden Fin on Hisense ducted units, salt-rated brackets and fixings, and a position chosen away from the wind off the water wherever the block gives us a choice.
The full range is on our products page.
Ducted reverse cycle, including the Dominator for homes where the existing ducts have to stay.
Ducted units for tight roof spaces, plus split and multi-head systems.
Ducted and split systems, with anti-corrosive Golden Fin coils on the ducted range.
Zoning control for ducted systems, with a sensor in each zone and control from your phone.
No Chelsea heating case study yet. These are from Blairgowrie, Berwick and Surrey Hills, chosen because the houses raise the same questions.
Further down the bay in Blairgowrie, a double-storey house on gas heating, hot water and cooking was rewired to three phase and fitted with reverse cycle split systems, heat pump hot water and induction, with 17.1kW of solar and 32kWh of Sigenergy storage.
In Berwick, a gas ducted system was decommissioned and a 16kW Braemar Dominator connected to the existing ducts and vents, with AirTouch 5 zones and temperature sensors. That job carried a $6,000 rebate.
In Surrey Hills, two split system units were replaced and a condensation pump fitted, alongside 12.35kW of all-black solar, 24.18kWh of Sigenergy storage and an iStore heat pump.
On a narrow block the position of one box decides the rest of the design.
Side path, courtyard, balcony, walls and what the neighbours look onto. We find the spots an outdoor unit can legally and practically go.
Ducted gas, a wall furnace or existing splits, plus the roof space, the space between floors and the switchboard.
Upstairs and downstairs are treated separately. You see the head or outlet positions before the quote.
One after-discount figure, with a drawing for your owners corporation if approval is needed.
A split system takes a few hours. Ducted reverse cycle with new R1.5 ducts is typically one to two days. Both are tested in heating and cooling before handover.
Comfort upstairs is the reason most people call. The bill is the reason they are glad they did.
Chelsea is inside the VEU area. Efficient reverse cycle systems attract a discount, and it is at its largest where the new system replaces gas heating. We check your eligibility and apply it on the quote.
Room-by-room heads or proper zoning mean the bedrooms are off during the day and the living area is off overnight. In a two-storey home that is where most of the saving comes from, on top of reverse cycle heating at around a third of the running cost of gas heating.
Even a small townhouse array covers a good share of daytime cooling. See how we approach narrow roofs on our Chelsea solar and battery page.
A system that suits a house in an estate can be the wrong answer two streets from Chelsea beach.
We settle where the outdoor unit goes and how it will be serviced before recommending a model.
New R1.5 ducts wherever they can be reached. A Braemar Dominator on existing ducts only where they cannot.
ARC authorisation AU 065299, BPC 132072 and REC 32300, with refrigeration and electrical work both done by Powerband employees.
We are based on the Peninsula in Somerville, so salt-rated gear and sheltered mounting are normal practice, not an upgrade.
Live Google reviews. Look for the ducted reverse cycle and AirTouch jobs.
Anything else, call 0466 355 441. A technician will answer the question.
Heat rises, the upper floor sits under the roof and most townhouses have one thermostat downstairs. The fix is separate control for each floor, either a multi-head with a unit per room or a ducted system zoned upstairs and downstairs.
A courtyard, a wall bracket above the side path, a balcony or occasionally the roof. It needs airflow, service access and enough distance from neighbouring windows. We work that out on site before quoting.
Yes. Ducts we can reach are replaced with new R1.5 insulated ducts. Where they run between the floors and cannot be replaced, a Braemar Dominator fits in the gas heater's position, keeps the existing ducts and controls the airflow.
A multi-head when outdoor space is tight, because several rooms run from one outdoor unit. Separate splits when there is room for them and you would like each one to be independent. We price both if both will fit.
Often, for anything fixed to an external or shared wall. We supply a drawing showing the unit position and pipe route, along with the noise data for the model.
An unprotected unit has a shorter life near salt water. We fit corrosion-protected outdoor coils and salt-rated brackets and choose a sheltered spot, which is the practical way to get full life from it.
We walk the block, find where the outdoor unit can go and send a written design and after-VEU price. No obligation.
