There is nothing quite like walking from room to room in your home, with a sense of temperature controlled air conditioning from your ducted system all summer long. While the heat of the Australian summer, or the freezing cold winter of the southern states bears down all around you, you are wrapped in your cocoon of temperature-controlled air. Ducted systems is the ultimate for your home, controlling every facet of your air all year round. With a range of features from zoning off areas to remote Wi-Fi access to turn on your system while you are away, you can come home to a perfectly temperature-controlled property every time.
There are some key elements in order to establish the best ricing for your new ducted system as outlined below.
Should you install ducted air conditioning in a new home or existing dwelling?
Although there are ‘general rules’ when it comes to pricing ducted air con if you are building a new home or retrofitting an existing dwelling, there may be differences in costs.
While the actual system costs may not vary too much, the installation costs, pipes and other key elements of your ducted system may. A new build can take into consideration the requirements of a ducted system, such as roof cavity space, access to multiple levels – for houses with more than one floor – as well as other key elements.
On the other hand, an existing dwelling that may have other elements to contend with such as limited access, space or even a heritage listed property can drastically impact on the costs associated with your installation, so it’s a good idea to always take this into consideration.
Is the size of the system and your home suitable?
The size of your system will impact your running costs overall, so ensure this is factored into your thinking around installing a ducted system. The higher the kilowatt, the more effectively it will cool your home, however systems that are a larger size will be more expensive. While the smaller kilowatt systems cost less initially, they will need to work a lot harder to cool the same space, so the running and maintenance costs over time are far greater.
However, as a general rule, the size of your home will determine the cost of the unit.
A guide to your air con system costs including installation would be:
– Apartment or small home – $5500+
– Average 3-4 bedroom home – $10,000 – $12,000
– Large or two-storey home – $15,000+
While these prices are general, there are always differences in the brands, features and as mentioned above the installation environment in which the unit is being installed.
Do specific brand names that make a difference?
There is no doubt if you are looking to get the best results for your home, that brand named systems offer a tried and true offering, features, warranties and offers that make their offering extremely competitive. There are many well-known manufactures in the ducted air conditioning space, however, when it comes to reliability, features and all round performance the market leaders are:
– Mitsubishi
– Toshiba
– Carrier
– Braemar
– Actron
There are many benefits of buying from a reputable brand name, but most of all is their downstream service providers such as installers, resellers and service agents are experts in the products. This leads to you as a customer being better informed and a solution tailored to your specific home requirements, rather than an ‘out of the box’ solution.
Features of ducted systems you should look for
There is no secret that when it comes to air conditioner systems features cost money. There are a vast range of features that the major brands offer, so in an effort to limit your costs, you may wish to review putting all or some of these into your budget depending on your requirements.
The key features being offered in ducted air conditioning systems currently are:
– Reverse cycle: Having the ability to both heat and cool. This is something that is fairly standard in ducted AC systems, although in tropical areas, may not be necessary.
– Zoning: Being able to section off areas of the house when you are not using them is a great way to not only cool certain areas of your house more quickly but save a lot of money in the process. If you are working from a home office or only need air conditioning in the master bedroom, you can shut off the system, so it doesn’t pump air through the ducts in the rooms and waste energy.
– Wi-Fi connectivity: Being able to remotely access your ducted system, turn it on and come home to a perfectly temperature controlled home is a relatively new function that will add costs to your system, but will add a new level of technology and comfort to your home.
– Ducts: The type and number of ducts you have around your home will certainly add or remove costs to your home.
– Sensors: Sensors control your room temperature and increase efficiency and adjust the temperatures in rooms where there is no activity to the most efficient running mode.
How to determine when is the best time to purchase
While it is always a great time for you and your family to purchase and install a ducted air con it is no secret that there are often many times throughout the year to purchase that are better than others. These times include stock take sales, end of year sales, end of season sales and start of season sales. These sales are all dependent on the retailer, the state, the manufacture and the season this will all change.
There are however some great offers such as free upgrades, cash back offers and gift cards that are often offered to lure in customers to one brand or another. So if you are seriously considering purchasing a ducted air conditioner unit, then it pays to look for the deals as they come around.
How to decide on the best payment option for your ducted unit
As many companies offer extremely flexible payment options, often with little to no upfront cost, these offers for flexible payment sometimes can come at a cost to you. In some instances, companies may not be able to negotiate on price or receive a discount due to the apparent ‘costs’ that the retailers have to bare in order to provide the flexible payment options.
Other than giving these a slight challenge, there may not be too much that can be done on this in regards to lowering your price – you may need to choose if you want to put the cash into the system or put it on a payment plan. Many people won’t have an option, so it’s not a choice, but for those of you that day, it pays to review the true costs. There are many considerations that can affect the costs of your ducted system purchase. While there are hundreds of options out there, you need to ensure that the solution you decide upon is based on exactly your needs from a cooling and budget perspective and not a sales commission push by your salesperson. Speaking with an expert is the first step to a new, temperature controlled home. Highly experienced AC professionals can assist in finding the best solution to suit your budget, requirements and functionality.
For more information prices and benefits of installing a ducted system in your Adelaide property speak with a qualified and experienced air conditioning specialist from Rite Price Heating & Cooling today to discuss the best options.
