The single-storey brick veneers of Dandenong North are made for a full ducted swap: gas heater and old ducts out, a Braemar, Mitsubishi Electric or Hisense unit in, new R1.5 insulated ducts and AirTouch 5 zoning. ARC-licensed, VEU applied on the quote.
If you set out to design a house for a ducted heating swap, you would end up with something close to a Dandenong North brick veneer. One storey, a pitched tile roof with room to move underneath, a ducted gas heater sitting in the middle of it, and ceiling or floor registers already cut into every room. These homes went up in the 1960s and 70s and a good number still run the heater they were built with, or the one that replaced it thirty years ago.
That layout lets us do the job the way it should be done. The gas heater comes out. So do the old ducts, which by now are brittle, thinly insulated and sized for warm air only. A ducted reverse cycle unit takes the heater's place and new R1.5 insulated ducts are run to each room, sized for the higher airflow that cooling needs. The family gets refrigerated cooling through the whole house, and heating at around a third of the running cost of gas heating.
The slope of the land is the one thing we plan around. On the downhill side of a block the outdoor unit may need a levelled pad or a wall bracket, and the side path can be narrow. We sort that out at the visit, along with the switchboard, which in a house this age usually needs attention. More about our work in Dandenong North.
The four parts of a Dandenong North swap, all installed by Powerband staff.
A Braemar, Mitsubishi Electric or Hisense ducted reverse cycle system, with the indoor unit in the roof space and the outdoor unit beside the house. Capacity is worked out from the rooms, the ceiling height and the insulation, not copied from the label on the gas heater.
Every run replaced, from the unit to each outlet, with a new return air grille. Old gas ducts leak and sweat when cold air goes through them. New ducts are the difference between a system that cools the back bedroom and one that does not.
Three or four bedrooms sit empty for most of the day. Zoning shuts them off and puts the air where the family is, with a sensor in each zone and control from the wall panel or a phone. It is the cheapest running-cost saving in the whole job.
A dedicated circuit from the switchboard, upgraded where the original board cannot carry it, and an outdoor unit set on a level pad or bracket where it has clear airflow and is away from bedroom windows, yours and the neighbours'.
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.
There is no Dandenong North case study yet. These jobs were in Narre Warren South, Cairnlea and Doreen, each a family home fitted with whole-house ducted reverse cycle.
A 23.5kW ducted reverse cycle system on R1.5 insulated ductwork, with 16 round ceiling outlets and an AirTouch 5 kit dividing the house into six zones. The lounge, study and bedrooms each run on their own.
A gas ducted heater decommissioned and replaced with an 18kW Mitsubishi Electric ducted unit. Ducting runs to ten vents, controlled as seven AirTouch 5 zones. The old gas system came out to qualify for the rebate.
A 23.5kW ducted reverse cycle system with 12 vents and seven AirTouch 5 zones replaced gas ducted heating, with a Reclaim heat pump for hot water and an induction cooktop in the same project.
Typically one to two days on site for ducted reverse cycle with new R1.5 ducts.
We measure the space, trace every duct run, check the return air path and note anything in the way, such as low trusses or old insulation.
Where the outdoor unit will sit on your block, how the pipes get to it, and whether the switchboard can supply it.
Capacity calculated for the house and zones agreed with you. Most families here want living, main bedroom and children's bedrooms separate.
Unit, ducts, zoning, electrical work and the after-discount price in one document.
Old heater and ducts removed, new system fitted, airflow set room by room, and both modes tested before we hand over the controller.
An old gas heater can be replaced on your terms, or in July when it fails.
A heater from the 1980s or 90s is on borrowed time. Replacing it in a planned way means the right system, the VEU paperwork done properly and no week of cold nights waiting for a part.
Ducted heating and cooling is the biggest load in a family home, and much of it falls in daylight hours. Matched with solar and a battery in Dandenong North, a large part of it never reaches the bill.
Dandenong North is within the VEU area. The discount on efficient reverse cycle is at its largest when a gas ducted heater is decommissioned and replaced, which is exactly this job. It comes off the quote.
Anyone can lift a new unit into a roof. What happens to the ductwork decides how the house feels in January.
We quote new R1.5 insulated ducts sized to the unit on single-storey homes. We do not hang a new system on forty-year-old gas ducts to bring the price down.
The dedicated circuit and any switchboard upgrade are done by our own A-Grade electricians under REC 32300, on the same days.
ARC authorisation AU 065299 for the refrigeration and BPC 132072 for the mechanical work. No part of the install is subcontracted.
Each outlet is measured and adjusted so the far rooms get their share. If it needs a tweak after the first hot week, we come back.
Live Google reviews. Look for the ducted reverse cycle and AirTouch jobs.
Anything else, call 0466 355 441. You will get a technician, not a salesperson.
In a single-storey Dandenong North home we replace them. Ducts made for gas heating are usually too small and too lightly insulated for cooling, and after decades in a roof many are split. Keeping existing ducts with a Braemar Dominator is something we reserve for homes where the ducts cannot be reached, which is mostly double-storey houses.
It depends on floor area, ceiling height, insulation and glazing, so we calculate it for your house. Zoning also matters, because a zoned system does not have to condition every room at once.
On a levelled concrete pad or a wall bracket on the side of the house with the best airflow and the shortest pipe run. We choose the position with you at the site visit.
If your gas heating uses floor registers, we look at whether the underfloor runs can be replaced or whether new ceiling outlets are the better result for cooling. You get a clear recommendation in the quote.
Typically one to two days for a ducted system on new R1.5 ducts. Most of the work is in the roof space and outside. You can stay in the house throughout.
Yes, the suburb is in the Victorian Energy Upgrades area. The amount depends on the property and the system being replaced, and we confirm it in writing before you commit.
A roof space and switchboard inspection, then a written quote with the unit, new ductwork, zoning and the after-VEU price. No obligation.
