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We all love to joke about the Melbourne weather and how we have to dress for four seasons in one day, but when it comes to making sure our families are suitably cool or warm at home, we want that same adaptability.
And while Melbourne’s winters are notoriously bitter, the summer months can be fairly savage too! It means that finding the best year-round, whole-home climate solution for your family home is crucial.
READ MORE: Why Gas Ducted Heating is the most popular solution to Melbourne’s bitter winters
And this is where Add On Cooling comes into its own. In this blog, we want to explain exactly how it can be the perfect summer climate-control solution for your home – and help you see that while Add On Cooling’s name doesn’t exactly do it any favours, this type of Air Conditioning system should never be seen as a compromise or afterthought.
But before we start, there is one major sticking point with this type of system. Add On Cooling is only pairable with Gas Ducted Heating. But since Gas Ducted Heaters are now the most popular choice for Melbourne homeowners in the winter months, this may not prove to be a hurdle at all.
So if you already have central gas heating, or you are in the market for a new, efficient, environmentally friendly year-round home climate solution, Gas Ducted Heating with Add On Cooling is where it’s at.
But what is Add On Cooling?
The Add-On Cooler is simply the refrigerated cooling unit that bolts onto your Gas Ducted Heater. It delivers reliable, deliciously cool air through the same ducts and vents used by your central heating, with super-fast start up. This cooler has two components to it: an indoor coil and an outdoor condenser.
By combining the heater and cooler, you get an all-in-one home climate-control system, known as Heating with Add-On Cooling, or a Dual-Comfort System.
This type of set-up is great for larger homes, where the breeze from a wall air conditioner may not be able to effectively reach all desired rooms.
As suggested by the name, Add-On Cooling becomes an extension of your Gas Ducted Heating system, whereby delightfully cool air is circulated throughout your home using the existing duct and vents. When the system is in heating mode, the cooler becomes idle and allows the air from the heater to pass through. When the system is switched to cooling mode, the fan on the heater pushes the air through the cooling coil, which produces the cool air.
The indoor component of the Add-On Cooler (coil) is connected to the outdoor unit via refrigeration copper tubing. The outdoor compressor generates the cool refrigerant flow, which passes through the indoor coil, then the fan from the heater blows through this coil and generates nice, crisp refrigerated air.
Because it is refrigerated, it is the perfect solution for hot and muggy weather, where a cold blast of frigid air is the only solution. In essence, it is a ducted, refrigerated, reverse cycle system.
For the best heating and cooling in Melbourne, you can consider buying a complete Gas Ducted Heating system with Add-On Cooling or add one down the track if provision has been made for this during installation.
Here’s why Add On Cooling is hard to beat
Having devoted many years to installing Add-On Cooling in Melbourne homes on behalf of our satisfied customers, we at Plum Trade Services wanted to share some benefits of investing in Add-On Cooling for your home.
Benefits of Add-On Cooling (with gas ducted heating)
- When operating, Add On Cooling is almost completely silent
- Reliably heat and cool your home through one system, using the same ducts and vents
- The system heats by using gas, and cools using electricity
- Cooling becomes cost-effective if you have solar panels
- Clean natural gas is environmentally friendly
- Zone different areas of your home
- Cooling performs flawlessly on humid days
- Perfect dual-climate control for your whole home.
- WiFi optional, to allow operation from your smart device
Requirements for an Add On Cooling system
These systems are not perfect for every home. A few key factors come into play when considering if this ducted heating and cooling system is right for you. Such as:
- Do you have adequate space in the ceiling for Heater and Add-On Cooling indoor unit and ducts?
- Is there space with clearance for the outdoor unit?
- Insulation on ducting must be R1.5 rated
- Insulation on the BTOS (branch take offs on the duct system)
- Must have 4, 5 or 6-Star Heater to be compatible
- Was your existing Gas Ducted Heater installed Add-On ready, with upsized filtered return air vent and outlets 200mm (8”)?
Call Melbourne and Geelong’s most trusted Heating & Cooling experts
Please be assured, if ducted heating and cooling is not for you, our expert Plum Trade Services team can steer you toward a more suitable, but equally effective, Ducted Reverse-Cycle system, or help you explore other options.
We pride ourselves on our customer service and always act with honesty and integrity.
Call us today on (03) 8360 9622 in Melbourne, or (03) 5292 2219 in Geelong. Or, you can contact us via this link https://www.plumheatcool.com.au/contact-us/
