Comparing Ducted Air Conditioning Quotes in Albury-Wodonga: What to Check Before You Sign

It is common for a household in Albury, Wodonga or Lavington to get three quotes for ducted air conditioning and find the lowest and highest thousands of dollars apart. Sometimes one installer is simply dearer. More often the quotes are not describing the same job, and the cheap one has left out something you will pay for later, either as a variation on the day or in running costs for the next fifteen years.

This guide is about reading quotes side by side so the comparison is fair. It applies whether you are buying refrigerated ducted, reverse cycle ducted, or doing an evaporative to refrigerated changeover.

Start with how the system was sized

The first thing to check is whether the installer actually worked out what your house needs or simply matched the system to the floor area. A quote that arrives after a five-minute phone call, with a capacity picked from the number of bedrooms, has not accounted for ceiling height, insulation, west-facing glass or the fact that an Albury system has to cope with both a forty-degree February afternoon and a frosty July morning.

Ask each installer how they arrived at the capacity, and whether the heating and cooling loads were checked separately on a reverse cycle system. If two quotes differ by a size or more, one of them has probably got it wrong, and it is worth finding out which before you choose on price. Our guide to what size ducted air conditioner you need explains why both undersizing and oversizing cost you money.

Count the zones, and check the airflow safeguard

Zoning is often where cheaper quotes save money, by offering two zones where the house really needs four or five. Look at the zone count on each quote and ask which rooms each zone covers. A west-facing room lumped in with the living area, or a whole bedroom wing on one damper, will cost you in comfort and running costs every summer.

Also ask how the system protects its minimum airflow when only one small zone is running. A good quote will mention a bypass, a constant zone or a controller that manages it. If none of the quotes mention it, ask each installer the same question and compare the answers. The zoning article on this site covers this in more detail.

Ductwork is the biggest hidden difference

On any changeover or replacement, the single largest swing factor is what happens to the existing ductwork. One installer may have priced full replacement of the ducting, another may be planning to reuse every run as it is, and a third may have allowed for replacing only the sections that are crushed, disconnected or undersized.

None of those is automatically right. What matters is that the installer looked at the ducting in your roof space before quoting and can tell you which runs stay, which go and why. Evaporative ducting in particular is often a larger diameter and lighter grade than refrigerated wants, and there is usually no proper return air path. If a quote for a changeover does not mention return air at all, treat that as a question rather than a saving. Our Ductwork Replacement & System Removal service exists precisely because this is where so many systems lose performance.

Where will the outdoor unit go

Refrigerated and reverse cycle systems need an outdoor condenser, and where it sits affects noise, airflow, pipe run length and price. Check that each quote states the location and whether it includes a mounting slab or brackets, the refrigerant pipe run, and any penetrations through brick or cladding. On older Albury and East Albury homes with narrow side setbacks, the obvious spot is not always a workable one, and a quote that has not considered it may change once the installer is on site.

Electrical work and the switchboard

A ducted system needs a dedicated circuit, and some older switchboards around Lavington and North Albury need upgrading before they can take one. Ask each installer whether electrical work is included, whether they have looked at your switchboard, and what happens to the price if it needs work. This is one of the most common sources of variations after a quote is accepted.

Removal of the old system

If you are replacing an evaporative unit or a gas ducted furnace, check that removal and disposal are included, along with making the roof good where the old evaporative unit sat. A rooftop penetration that is patched poorly will leak in the first decent storm. Older units and the building elements around them should also be assessed before removal rather than after, which a careful installer will mention.

Controls, commissioning and handover

Compare what controller is included, whether each zone has its own temperature sensor or just an on-off damper, and whether the installer commissions the system properly, checking airflow at each outlet and refrigerant performance before they leave. Ask what you get at handover in terms of instructions and how to set the zones sensibly.

Warranty and who stands behind it

Equipment warranties come from the manufacturer, but the installation workmanship is the installer's responsibility. Ask what workmanship warranty is offered, who you call if something goes wrong in year two, and whether servicing is required to keep the manufacturer warranty valid. A cheaper quote from someone who will be hard to reach after the job is not as cheap as it looks.

Putting the numbers in context

As a rough guide, fully installed refrigerated ducted systems in Australia typically fall between about $9,000 and $18,000, with most three to four bedroom homes in the $9,000 to $14,000 band, and changeovers sitting at the harder end because they are retrofits into an occupied house. If one quote is well below that band, find out what has been left out. If one is well above it, ask what extra it includes. Every house is different, so treat these figures as context rather than a price for your job.

Our approach

We inspect before we quote, look at the roof space, the switchboard and where the condenser can go, and give you a fixed price that spells out the capacity, zones, ductwork, electrical and removal work line by line. If you already have other quotes, we are happy for you to compare ours against them on exactly the points above. Get in touch to book an inspection anywhere in Albury, Wodonga, Thurgoona or Baranduda.