Ducted Air Conditioning Engadine

Local knowledge

Ducted in Engadine homes

Ducted in Engadine follows the era of the house. The 1960s and 70s single-storey brick homes have tiled hip roofs with a cavity a technician can move around in, so the fan coil sits centrally and rigid ducting reaches every room with short runs. We zone them as bedrooms, living and the rumpus or extension out the back, because on these big blocks the house has almost always grown toward the bush and that back room is the one with the most glass. The 1980s two-storey homes are zoned by level: the fan coil goes in the upper roof cavity, the upstairs bedrooms get their own zone so they can run alone at night after a day of heat under the tiles, and the downstairs living zone carries the afternoon load.

The climate driver here is stillness in summer and cold in winter, not breeze or salt. Without the nor-easter the living zone has to carry a 38°C afternoon on its own, so we size for that rather than a coastal average, and the same system heats the bedroom zone on a foggy July morning when the coast is still mild. The condenser goes on the side of the house away from the bush, off the leaf-litter line and on a non-combustible pad, with an ember screen fitted on BAL-rated blocks. Running cost is roughly $1–$2 per hour whole-home, and with the bedroom zone alone running overnight it sits at the bottom of that range. The annual service includes a proper coil clean, which is what keeps that number honest on a bush block.