How Much Does Ducted Air Con Cost?

If you’ve been sweltering in summer, a ducted air conditioner is the ultimate cooling solution. Luxury does come at a price, however, and ducted air conditioners certainly aren’t the cheapest units available. So how much should you fork out for a quality ducted air con system?


©Peter Hull Architects

Why Choose Ducted Air Con?

With a central unit that distributes cool air via a series of ducts, ducted air conditioners can cool the entire home. This means that every room in the home will be the same temperature – no more hot zones! Of course, cooling unused rooms can be costly, which is why many models now offer the option of zoning to only cool the spaces being used. For example, your bedrooms could be Zone 1 and living areas Zone 2 and you could have option to control these separately via your dedicated control panel.

Ducted air conditioners also look good. Gone are bulky systems mounted on walls, replaced by subtle ceiling or floor vents. And even though the wires and cables are out of sight, they’re easy to access for repairs and maintenance.

Moreover, so long as there is plenty of ceiling space, ducted air conditioners can be installed in virtually any home – old or new. So retrofitting to your existing home is a possibility.

Work Out Your Budget

There’s a ducted air conditioner out there to suit most budgets, it all depends how large your home is.  Reverse cycle air conditioners cost more than a simple cooling system, but they do offer year-round temperature control which is worth taking into account.

Before you start shopping around, have a clear idea of what you want to spend and stick to it. This will help prevent budget blow-out, while ensuring you receive the ideal system to cool your home. Major considerations when working your budget out include:

• The area of your home, expressed in square metres
• The number of outlets (in each room) and zones you require
  
• A multi-storey home will require vertical ducting, which will add to the total cost
• How much noise the system generates - inverters are generally quieter than non-inverter models

What You Get For Your Money

Essentially, what you pay for a ducted air conditioner comes down to the system’s energy output. This is measured in kilowatts (kW), with some units having outputs around 4.2kW and others as high as 30kW.

This doesn’t mean you should choose the cheapest model with the lowest output.  Instead, you should go for a unit that will work efficiently in the space you want to cool. Small apartments can probably get away with a smaller 3.5kW ducted system. On the other hand, larger homes will need a more powerful system to ensure optimal cooling and/or heating - anything in the 10kW - 20kW range should suffice depending the area to be covered.

Of course, you’ll also need to hire a professional to install your new ducted air conditioner. This can push up the total price of air conditioning to between $6,000 and $12,000 fully installed, depending on the scale of the installation. In terms of ongoing maintenance you will need to clean the filters periodically on your ducted air con. Clogged filters will reduce the running efficiency of your unit.

Getting Quotes for Ducted Air Conditioners

If you’ve decided that a ducted air conditioner is for you, get the ball rolling with our free Get Quotes service. Just enter a few details about your requirements and three air conditioning professionals will get back to you with their quotes.