Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

We had one inverter RC installed in an existing house's lounge room around the same time as old Zulu (has his done I mean - hes not standing in the corner there). Ours is mostly for winter heating - and maybe 2 weeks in summer.

They tell me they are reasonably, well, efficient and compared to a bar fire or other electrical heater etc they are. They still chew through the money - we are sensible and use the timer on ours to turn it on just before Chief gets up - I don't need it.

We then try and get the wood burner going, but assuming we buy wood, it might work out only a bit cheaper - jury still out, and a) chief may not have time to light it b) it only really warms the kitchen area.

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

We have an LG ducted system, but don't use it much, just like to open windows :D

I think you can save on power by installing a 3 phase unit.

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

We are getting a ducted reverse cycle inverter sytem installed week after next and will let you know how we get on:)

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

We have ducted evaporative only because it was already installed when we moved in but I am quite happy with it. I believe they are relatively cheap to install / run.

When the days get up to about 30-32 C we just have it on fan rather than cooling which does enough. On those rare days it gets into the mid-40's it probably struggles to cope a little but between the pool and the house cooled to about 26C is quite ample. In the winter we have a $1000 gas heater that heats the whole open plan area. Again, on those rare very cold nights we have some cheap oil-filled heaters for the bedrooms which go on for an hour before bed. Cheap to buy / expensive to run but not used much.

I'm not especially a Greeny (apart from my nose today) but I don't think it is too healthy for either us or the environment to cool the house to 20C in mid-summer. Going from a very cold house to baking hot outdoors makes me ill I have found so try not to make such extremes.

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

Yep - definitely R/C ducted is the way to go.

If you're building a 2 storey house - make sure provision for the ducts is built in - otherwise it's going to be a pain.

Simple to retro fit in a single storey house though.

Our system will be a Mitsubishi 6hp (18kw :ohmy: ) 3ph 10 outlet 7 zone system.

Bit pricey - but if summers are going to be like the one we're having in Adelaide - chances are it's hardly going to be used! :p

It's going to be well worth it come the winter though. :thumbup:

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

That's true - 26 is quite adequate.

They said once about American homes that you should be able to wear a jumper in summer, and a t-shirt in winter. Wasteful!

In winter we set the thermostat at 22 I think.

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

They planned it from our house plans, zoned it accordingly, We could have less zones but wanted to be able to control which rooms are heated/cooled as not all used at same time, Also got 2 controls in different parts of the house.
Ambience air seemed good on price, only took half a day to install.
We are in Somerly, you will have to pop in for a look.

Di

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

If you have ducted a/c installed, be sure that the outlet air duct work from the evaporator unit is insulated to prevent condensation forming on the ducting when it runs in cooling mode.

Inverter driven systems are dynamic in operation hence they are only using the absolute minimum power they need for the cooling/heating desired rather than pulling high current to run an inefficient inductive single phase or 3 phase motor. Optimum efficiency is at about 20% load, hence the units work very efficiently when ticking over maintaining an already cooled room. Modern R410A based systems are also a lot smaller and simpler than earlier inverter driven R407C based systems. The technology is still evolving but is definitely the way ahead.

Most UK reverse-cycle systems will not work in heating mode when the ambient air temp exceeds 21 degrees celcius, not sure about Aus designed systems and your requirements. Do you guys feel cold at 21 degrees ??

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

I will pop in, as have been promising for a while. If you PM me your mobile number I'll ring to see if your in first, next time I am visiting our plot of land :D

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

I'll make a note of that Adam, thanks :thumbup:

Are you by any chance, an Air Con Engineer? :D

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

Yes he is .

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

We have reverse cycle ducted aircon in our rented house. The aircon works great but the heating I thought was rubbish. The air comes out of vents in the ceiling and as everyone knows, hot air rises. Therefore the hot air seems to stay up near the ceiling and it takes forever to heat up the room. I will be using my trusty 20 pounds fan heater this winter!!

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

Any Fujitsu - If it can keep the flabby carcass of Mark 'Tubby' Taylor cool then it's good enough for me.

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

:confused:

Re: Air Con - Which is best?
 

Is around now the best time to purchase air con, or is it best to wait a few months?