Recommendation on central heating and cooling (aircon)

[prof_montoya]

Hi all,

Doing a major reno and extension (brick veneer/ double down stairs and weatherboard up stairs). Looking to get central heating and cooling (aircon). Lots of brands out there. Wondering which brand generally gives best bang for buck. And has top energy efficiency rating and is reliable/ lasts (not cheap and nasty).

Also, roughly how many zones should I look to get? I'm guessing more is more expensive. And do I heat/cool rooms such as laundry, wc, bathroom?

Thanks

Carlos

[prof_montoya]

Hi all,

I haven't had a reply on this site, however here is some info I have received from heating and cooling sales guys.

- Brivis/ Braemar are both OK. Ducted gas heating with bolt on refrig air con. Ball park $12k. Not very good for zoning.
- Daikin (reverse cycle central system). Middle of the road. Ball park $15k. Limited zoning. While more expensive to run with zoning can reduce costs
- Advantage air (made in AU). reverse cycle central system. Top quality. Ball park $20k. Multi zone (each room).

[Pulse]

My Daikin is made in Japan, looks superb inside, the zoning is really independent of the heat pump.

I used Siemens (http://www.westaflex.com.au/_pdf/product_brochures/Zoning_Brochure.pdf) Zone control which work well and have a 15 year warranty. I used Westaflex for all the bits and pieces and installed it myself.
Suggestions:

1. Consider splitting into two systems, ie split system downstairs living and zone the bedrooms upstairs, this will save a bit of money and also labour since ducting can be more difficult for downstairs.

2. I wish I had an outside air intake as an option, sometimes I use the fan setting only but it would be nice to suck in some outside air at night. I was thinking it would be easy with a separate zone controller to choose inside or outside air return


Cheers
Pulse

[krico]

Hi all,

Doing a major reno and extension (brick veneer/ double down stairs and weatherboard up stairs). Looking to get central heating and cooling (aircon). Lots of brands out there. Wondering which brand generally gives best bang for buck. And has top energy efficiency rating and is reliable/ lasts (not cheap and nasty).

Also, roughly how many zones should I look to get? I'm guessing more is more expensive. And do I heat/cool rooms such as laundry, wc, bathroom?

Thanks

Carlos


Hi all,

I haven't had a reply on this site, however here is some info I have received from heating and cooling sales guys.

- Brivis/ Braemar are both OK. Ducted gas heating with bolt on refrig air con. Ball park $12k. Not very good for zoning.
- Daikin (reverse cycle central system). Middle of the road. Ball park $15k. Limited zoning. While more expensive to run with zoning can reduce costs
- Advantage air (made in AU). reverse cycle central system. Top quality. Ball park $20k. Multi zone (each room).


My Daikin is made in Japan, looks superb inside, the zoning is really independent of the heat pump.

I used Siemens (http://www.westaflex.com.au/_pdf/product_brochures/Zoning_Brochure.pdf) Zone control which work well and have a 15 year warranty. I used Westaflex for all the bits and pieces and installed it myself.
Suggestions:

1. Consider splitting into two systems, ie split system downstairs living and zone the bedrooms upstairs, this will save a bit of money and also labour since ducting can be more difficult for downstairs.

2. I wish I had an outside air intake as an option, sometimes I use the fan setting only but it would be nice to suck in some outside air at night. I was thinking it would be easy with a separate zone controller to choose inside or outside air return


Cheers
Pulse


Gday Carlos,

Do you actually want to control your zoning via the unit remote? Zoning can easily and be achieved, also quite cheaply, via standard 240V dampers and wiring these into a standard light switch. A bit of an old fashioned way but very effective.

I agree that Brivis is limited with on board zoning control and can only run 2 on the standard board and three via an extra bolt on box. Their add-on units are good too. Daikin are a good unit and zoning can be quite good depending on which wall controller you use. Energy efficiency is also very good. I have not used Braemar or AdvantageAir.

I have just started installing ActronAir units and these can run 8 zones via the standard wall controller and very easy to install. Australian made with a good warranty and time will tell how good they are. They have quite a few good features and I think, give Daikin a run for their money.

As to heating/cooling laundry and bathrooms, I guess that is personal preference. We install quite a few outlets into bathrooms (around the Canberra region) where it does get quite cold and I think it is worth the effort to do. The laundry can be a good idea too and have recently installed an outlet into a laundry where a client had a drying cupboard/hanging space installed so that they can dry clothes via the heater. Works quite well.

Ducting can be difficult in a two storey house and careful consideration needs to be given when rebuilding if you want to incorporate ducting downstairs, all depending on how much room you have in the sub floor. I use a product called Polypanel to build ducting in subfloors to maximise the use of the space to get good airflow. Can be quite effective if done properly. I see a lot of jobs done with poor ducting design, insufficient R rated duct and just sloppy work and it just does not help the efficency of the installation.

Pulse,

An outside air intake can also be installed quite easily. I have seen a few people try and do this and not had them work effectively as they close the internal return air and only use the external fresh air supply, but have all their windows closed. Simply cannot work as the house will be pressurised. Have the windows open, a bit like an evap cooler, or have the fresh air intake and the internal return air open together. Set it up with a zone damper on the fresh air side and quite easy to do. A bit of fresh air, especially at night can make a huge difference.

Cheers,

Krico

[Pulse]

Thanks Krico,
thats what I thought, for my next place, fresh air at night is great if you get home late and don't have time for the house to cool down.

Cheers
Pulse