Ducted air con - running costs?
Nov 9th 2009, 3:09 am
#1
BE Forum Addict
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,905
Ducted air con - running costs?
Hello,
As I was starting to think of the hot Christmas and Jan/Feb, I thought Id be cheeky and ask for extra ceiling fans from the newish owner.
My lovely landlord came around on friday and said oh, no that will not do.
So have decided to put ducted air con right through my house. Yippee, as it gets very hot in here.
They recently bought the house as long term investment.
They work pretty quick as this morning had insulation guy in measuring up. Then half an hour later the air con.
Well the Air con guy just turned up with the owner and they are going to put it in about 2week (sooner if they can squeeze us in)
* After that waffle, is what will ducted air con do to my elec bills?
Is it expensive to run? Any tips?
Gems, who is dreaming of a cool house!
As I was starting to think of the hot Christmas and Jan/Feb, I thought Id be cheeky and ask for extra ceiling fans from the newish owner.
My lovely landlord came around on friday and said oh, no that will not do.
So have decided to put ducted air con right through my house. Yippee, as it gets very hot in here.
They recently bought the house as long term investment.
They work pretty quick as this morning had insulation guy in measuring up. Then half an hour later the air con.
Well the Air con guy just turned up with the owner and they are going to put it in about 2week (sooner if they can squeeze us in)
* After that waffle, is what will ducted air con do to my elec bills?
Is it expensive to run? Any tips?
Gems, who is dreaming of a cool house!
Nov 9th 2009, 3:15 am
#2
...giving optimism a go?!
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Brisbane (leafy, hilly western suburbs)
Posts: 2,202
Re: Ducted air con - running costs?
We have ducted a/c in our 4bedroom brick veneer low-set house in Brisbane.
We mainly have it on 2 zones (living area, or bedroom area) - but could get more granular.. we just dont as we all go to bed at the same time!
Our electricity bill is noticably higher in the summer months - last year it went up from ~$500qtr to $800qtr but I think the cost of electricity rose in that period too!
Our house is horribly exposed to the sun on the northern side so it gets unreasonably heated up and we do have days where a/c is on from 4pm-7am once we get into Jan/Feb. (We've only had it on a couple of times so far this year though).
Enjoy.... nothing beats the pleasant cool of excaping into a/c comfort!
We mainly have it on 2 zones (living area, or bedroom area) - but could get more granular.. we just dont as we all go to bed at the same time!
Our electricity bill is noticably higher in the summer months - last year it went up from ~$500qtr to $800qtr but I think the cost of electricity rose in that period too!
Our house is horribly exposed to the sun on the northern side so it gets unreasonably heated up and we do have days where a/c is on from 4pm-7am once we get into Jan/Feb. (We've only had it on a couple of times so far this year though).
Enjoy.... nothing beats the pleasant cool of excaping into a/c comfort!
Nov 9th 2009, 3:15 am
#3
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 6,600
Re: Ducted air con - running costs?
If its used with gay abandon it could really put a whole in your pocket. I haven't got it myself but I know of people whose summer quarter bill is $900 and up, they put that down to the ducted. I guess use it carefully is the motto.
Nov 9th 2009, 3:34 am
#4
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,905
Re: Ducted air con - running costs?
Yikes $900 is way higher than my current elec bills.
Will try and not go mad with it on to avoid excessive bills.
Gems
Will try and not go mad with it on to avoid excessive bills.
Gems
Nov 9th 2009, 3:38 am
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: Mt Martha, Melbourne
Posts: 1,199
Re: Ducted air con - running costs?
Hi
As you are in WA - do you have a dry heat up there? If so you can go for Evaporative cooling which we have down here in Victoria. For dry heat areas it's more efficient than normal air-con.
It hardly costs anything to run - I was being really careful last summer as I had no idea of running costs but it hardly made any difference to the electricity bill.
The only thing is you can't have it in QLD or NSW or anywhere where it is humid - having said that VIC has been humid recently!
I've been up your way and seem to remember the heat was pretty dry.
Hope this helps!
As you are in WA - do you have a dry heat up there? If so you can go for Evaporative cooling which we have down here in Victoria. For dry heat areas it's more efficient than normal air-con.
It hardly costs anything to run - I was being really careful last summer as I had no idea of running costs but it hardly made any difference to the electricity bill.
The only thing is you can't have it in QLD or NSW or anywhere where it is humid - having said that VIC has been humid recently!
I've been up your way and seem to remember the heat was pretty dry.
Hope this helps!
Nov 9th 2009, 3:47 am
#6
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 6,600
Re: Ducted air con - running costs?
Here's a brochure from the WA gov . . . shows you how to work out running costs for a typical evaporative system (such as you might be installed by your landlord). You'd need to check the power of the unit and the current cost of electricity per kw to get an exactish figure.
http://www.sedo.wa.gov.au/uploads/air_%20con_web.pdf
Last edited by spartacus; Nov 9th 2009 at 4:01 am.
Nov 9th 2009, 7:17 am
#7
Worongary
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: GC hinterland
Posts: 10,288
Re: Ducted air con - running costs?
Take a note of the power of the outside unit. For a ducted system you might be looking at an 8.5 or even 13.5 kw (top of my head) unit. That's a lot of elastictrickery . . .
Here's a brochure from the WA gov . . . shows you how to work out running costs for a typical evaporative system (such as you might be installed by your landlord). You'd need to check the power of the unit and the current cost of electricity per kw to get an exactish figure.
http://www.sedo.wa.gov.au/uploads/air_%20con_web.pdf
Here's a brochure from the WA gov . . . shows you how to work out running costs for a typical evaporative system (such as you might be installed by your landlord). You'd need to check the power of the unit and the current cost of electricity per kw to get an exactish figure.
http://www.sedo.wa.gov.au/uploads/air_%20con_web.pdf
most modern systems use inverters and the "power" or "size" quoted is its output "power" whether this be cooling or heating and not the input power which is how much is needed to make it run and of course how much you`ll use and pay for
ive found this on the web that shows what mean a bit clearer
http://www.jbrac.com.au/runningcosts.htm
