Ducted Cooling for Albury-Wodonga — Evaporative and Refrigerated

It depends on the house and on which days matter most to you. Evaporative suits dry heat, costs very little to run, and works well in homes where opening windows is not a problem — it is a genuinely sensible choice for a lot of properties here and we install plenty of them. Refrigerated holds a set temperature regardless of humidity, works in a sealed house, and does not fall away on a muggy forty-degree afternoon, but it costs more to buy and more to run. We look at your house, your ductwork, your budget and how you actually live in the place before recommending either.

For a typical home, a new ducted evaporative system generally runs about $3,000 to $6,000 fully installed, with larger homes, difficult roof access or a full set of new ductwork pushing above that. The main variables are the capacity your house needs, how many outlets are being run, whether existing ducting can be reused, and the water and power connections available at the unit's position. We quote fixed-price after an inspection rather than over the phone.

A fully installed ducted refrigerated system in Australia typically runs $9,000 to $18,000, with most three to four bedroom homes landing in the $9,000 to $14,000 band and complex retrofits pushing past $20,000. A changeover from evaporative sits at the harder end of that range by definition, because it is a retrofit into an occupied house. The variables that move the number are how much ductwork can be reused, the capacity your house actually needs, how many zones you want, and where the outdoor condenser can physically go.

Yes — evaporative servicing is a large part of what we do through spring. A typical service covers pad condition and replacement, the pump, float valve and water distribution, bleed-off, belt tension and bearings on belt-drive units, the controller, and a check for leaks and salt build-up. Aspen pads generally need replacing every couple of years depending on water quality; rigid media pads last considerably longer. Most units that people write off as finished are actually just overdue.

For a like-for-like evaporative replacement, often yes — the new unit is asking the ducting to do the same job as the old one, so sound, correctly sized runs can usually stay. Changing from evaporative to refrigerated is a different story: evaporative moves a much larger volume of air at low pressure, so the ducting is often a larger diameter and lighter grade than refrigerated wants, and there is usually no proper return path. We assess it run by run before quoting, because it is the single biggest swing factor in a changeover price.

Possibly not. Add-on cooling fits a refrigerated evaporator coil above your existing gas furnace and an outdoor condenser outside, so you keep the furnace and the ductwork you already have and get refrigerated cooling through the same outlets. It is usually the cheaper path when the furnace still has years in it and the ducting is in reasonable condition. If the furnace is old or the ducting is poor, a full reverse cycle system often makes better sense than spending money around a unit you will replace shortly anyway.

A straightforward evaporative installation or like-for-like replacement is usually a single day on site. Most refrigerated changeovers are done in one to two days. Jobs that need substantial new ductwork, extra zoning, switchboard work or awkward condenser placement can run to three. We give you a realistic timeframe with the quote, including whether you will be without cooling overnight in between — which matters if we are working through a hot week.