Ducted Air Conditioning

Ducted air conditioning heats and cools the whole house through ceiling vents, with the equipment hidden in the roof space. No wall-mounted units in the living areas, one controller, and — done properly — zoning so you only condition the rooms you are actually using.

AirXperts designs, supplies and installs ducted systems across Sydney from our South Granville base. We have been doing it since 2001, on everything from three-bedroom homes to large two-storey builds.

Call 02 9681 4050 for a free onsite design and quote.

Sydney asks a lot of a system. Western Sydney regularly passes 40°C in summer, coastal suburbs carry high humidity, and winter mornings sit in single digits. A reverse cycle ducted system handles all of it from one set of equipment.

• Whole-home comfort — every room served, no cold rooms at the end of the house.
• Nothing on the walls — the equipment is in the roof and the only visible parts are ceiling vents and a controller.
• Quiet — the fan and compressor are out of the living space, which is the single biggest comfort difference against multiple split systems.
• Zoning — condition the bedrooms overnight and the living areas by day, rather than the whole house at once. This is where the running-cost savings actually come from.
• Property value — ducted is an expected feature in much of the Sydney market and shows up in valuations.

Fixed package pricing, including GST, supplied and installed:

• Samsung 7.1kW ducted — $5,299. Smaller homes and apartments.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 10kW ducted — $6,999. Typical three-bedroom home.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 12.5kW ducted — $7,499. Three to four bedrooms.
• Daikin 12.5kW ducted — $8,499. Three to four bedrooms.
• Samsung 16kW ducted — $8,499. Larger homes.
• Daikin 14kW ducted — $8,999. Larger or two-storey homes.

Package pricing covers supply, installation, power connection, and manufacturer plus workmanship warranty on a standard installation with reasonable roof access.

Costs above package price come from the installation rather than the equipment — additional zones, long or complex duct runs, restricted roof space, two-storey homes needing bulkheads or a second system, switchboard upgrades, or homes with no roof cavity to work in. All identified at the quote.

Ducted sizing is more involved than splits, because the system has to satisfy the whole conditioned envelope and the duct design has to actually deliver the air where it is needed. As a starting point:

• Two bedroom home or apartment, around 100m² — 7.1kW
• Three bedroom home, 120-160m² — 10kW
• Three to four bedroom home, 160-200m² — 12.5kW
• Four bedroom or two-storey, 200-260m² — 14kW
• Larger than 260m² — 16kW+, or two systems

These shift with ceiling height, glazing, insulation, roof colour and orientation. A two-storey home often needs a different approach entirely, because heat collects upstairs and a single ground-floor-biased system will never balance properly.

The duct design matters as much as the capacity. An undersized or badly routed duct run will starve rooms at the far end regardless of how big the unit is — which is the most common complaint we hear about systems installed by others.

Zoning splits the house into independently controlled areas — typically bedrooms, living areas, and sometimes a separate zone for a master suite or home office.

It matters because conditioning the whole house when you are using two rooms is where ducted systems get their reputation for being expensive to run. A well-zoned system running two of five zones draws considerably less than the same system running all five.

Most Sydney homes end up with three to five zones. More zones give finer control but add cost, and past a point the gains flatten out. We work the zoning out with you at the design stage based on how you actually use the house — which rooms are occupied when, and which can be shut down entirely during the day.

The honest comparison, since we install both:

• Cost — split systems are cheaper for one or two rooms. Ducted becomes better value from about three rooms up, once you would otherwise be buying and installing multiple splits.
• Appearance — ducted wins clearly. Ceiling vents and one controller, versus a wall unit in every conditioned room.
• Noise — ducted wins. The equipment is in the roof rather than on the wall above your head.
• Running cost — a well-zoned ducted system beats running several splits simultaneously. A single split conditioning one room beats a ducted system conditioning the whole house.
• Installation — splits are a few hours; ducted is typically one to two days and needs usable roof space.
• Flexibility — splits can be added one room at a time as budget allows. Ducted is a single larger project.

If you are only ever going to condition the living room and main bedroom, splits are the sensible answer. If you want the whole house comfortable and the equipment out of sight, ducted is worth the step up.

Reverse cycle ducted is among the more efficient ways to heat a Sydney home — considerably cheaper to run than electric resistance heating, and a modern inverter system modulates output rather than cycling hard on and off.

The NSW Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) offers upfront discounts on eligible high-efficiency air conditioning installed by accredited providers, and there are separate concession rebates for eligible households. Eligibility depends on the equipment, the installation and your circumstances.

Ask us at the quote stage and we will tell you what is currently available on the system you are considering, and point you to the right scheme. We would rather set expectations accurately than promise a rebate that does not eventuate.