Most homes here heat with ducted gas and cool with an evaporative unit. A ducted reverse cycle system on new R1.5 insulated ducts does both jobs. Installed by our ARC-licensed technicians and A-Grade electricians, with the VEU discount on the quote.
The builders who put up Cranbourne North from the late 1990s onward fitted a great many houses the same way: a ducted gas heater in the roof space for winter, and an evaporative cooler on the roof with its own ducts and ceiling vents for summer. Two machines, two duct systems, two things to service. Around Merinda Park the oldest of those heaters have passed 25 years. In the later estates they are ten to fifteen years in and starting to need parts.
Evaporative cooling has limits that anyone who has lived with it knows. It needs windows open, it struggles on humid days, and it uses water. A ducted reverse cycle system heats and cools through one set of ducts with the house closed up, and the heating side runs at around a third of the running cost of gas heating. When the gas heater is the thing that has failed, that is the moment to make the change.
These are mostly single-storey homes with an open roof space, so we do the job in full: the gas heater and its ducts are removed, and new R1.5 insulated ducts are installed and sized for cooling as well as heating. Where a house is two storey, or you want only a room or two done, the answer is different and we will say so. More on what we do around Cranbourne North.
Braemar, Mitsubishi Electric and Hisense units. Our own technicians do the refrigeration, ducts and electrical.
One indoor unit in the roof space, one outdoor unit beside the house, and new R1.5 insulated ducts to every room. It takes over the heating from the gas heater and the cooling from the evaporative unit.
Outlets that suited warm air alone are not always in the right place for cooling. We set out the ceiling outlets so cool air reaches across each room, and fit a return air grille sized for the new unit.
A family home in Cranbourne North has a living end and a bedroom end. AirTouch 5 runs them as separate zones with their own sensors, from a wall panel or your phone, so the bedrooms are not cooled at midday or the lounge heated at 2am.
If the gas heater still has years in it and you only want proper cooling in the living room or main bedroom, a Mitsubishi Electric or Hisense split is a few hours of work. A multi-head runs several rooms from one outdoor unit.
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.
Narre Warren South borders Cranbourne North and its houses are much the same. The other two jobs are in Doreen and Berwick.
The closest job to Cranbourne North. A 23.5kW ducted reverse cycle system with R1.5 insulated ductwork, 16 ceiling outlets and six AirTouch 5 zones covering the lounge, study and bedrooms separately.
A 23.5kW ducted reverse cycle system with 12 vents and seven AirTouch 5 zones replaced the gas ducted heating, alongside a Reclaim heat pump hot water unit and an induction cooktop.
A 16kW Braemar Dominator with two AirTouch 5 zones, installed in the same job as 30.6kWh of battery storage, so the house is heated after dark on solar stored during the day.
Typically one to two days on site for ducted reverse cycle with new R1.5 ducts.
We look at the gas heater, the cooler, both sets of ducts, the roof space and the switchboard.
Heating and cooling loads are both calculated, and the unit is chosen to meet the larger of the two.
Where each outlet goes and which rooms share a zone, marked on a plan of your house.
One written figure with the unit, ducts, zoning and electrical, and the VEU discount already off.
The gas heater and its ducts come out, the new system goes in, both modes are tested and the controller is explained.
Gas use falls, the cooler stops using water, and the VEU discount comes off the install.
Reverse cycle heating and cooling qualifies in Cranbourne North, and the discount is at its largest when the system replaces gas heating. It is deducted on the quote.
Cooling demand peaks when the sun is on the roof. With solar and a battery in Cranbourne North, a reverse cycle system can run on your own power for much of a hot day.
Reverse cycle heating runs at around a third of the running cost of gas heating. With the heater gone, most homes have only hot water and the cooktop left on the gas account.
A ducted system is only as good as the ductwork it blows through.
New R1.5 insulated ductwork sized to the new unit is our standard in single-storey homes. It is the reason the system cools properly.
ARC authorisation AU 065299, BPC 132072 and REC 32300 are all ours. No second contractor for the wiring.
Our written-up Narre Warren South job is in the neighbouring suburb, in the same kind of house.
Powerband employees from the Somerville depot, about 20 minutes off. The installers are the people who return if anything needs adjusting.
Live Google reviews. Look for the ducted reverse cycle and AirTouch jobs.
Still deciding? Call 0466 355 441 and ask a technician.
Yes. Ducted reverse cycle heats and cools through a single set of ducts, so it does the work of both. We install it on new R1.5 insulated ducts sized for cooling.
It is no longer needed for cooling once the reverse cycle system is running. What to do with the roof unit and its vents varies from house to house, so we go through it with you at the site visit.
It works with the windows shut, on humid days as well as dry ones, and holds a set temperature. Evaporative cooling is cheap to run but depends on the weather.
You can. Some owners add a split system for cooling now and plan the ducted change for when the heater needs a major repair. Others change early for the lower running cost and the VEU discount. We will price both.
Ducted reverse cycle with new R1.5 ducts is typically one to two days. A split system is a few hours.
Where the ducts can be replaced, yes. Where they run between the floors and cannot be, we fit a Braemar Dominator, which keeps the existing ducts and controls the airflow through them.
We inspect the heater, cooler, ducts and switchboard, then send a fixed written quote with the VEU discount applied. No obligation.
