Reverse cycle air conditioning

It's an air conditioner that works both ways. In summer it moves heat out of the house to cool it; in winter it reverses and moves heat from the outside air into the house to warm it. That makes it a heat pump, and it's why one unit covers both jobs instead of a separate heater and cooler.

Yes, and by a wide margin on a Melbourne winter. A heat pump delivers roughly three units of heat per unit of electricity, so for the same warmth it costs about a third of what gas ducted does to run. The saving grows every time gas prices rise.

A split heats and cools the room it's in, so it's the answer for a bedroom, a living room or a granny flat. Ducted puts one system in the roof and vents every room, zoned so you're not paying to condition empty bedrooms. Three or four rooms without going ducted is where a multi-head fits. We size it to your house at the quote.

Yes. Modern reverse-cycle systems hold their rated heating output down to around 2 °C and keep working well below that — the Mitsubishi Hyper Heating range in particular is built for it. For the frost pockets up in the hills we spec the cold-climate models rather than a standard unit.

In most cases, yes. Reverse-cycle upgrades are a core Victorian Energy Upgrades activity, especially replacing an old gas or electric heater. Where your property qualifies we handle the paperwork and take the rebate straight off the installed price at the quote.

A single split starts from around $2,199 installed; a whole-home ducted system is a bigger job. Because the range is so wide we quote it to your house rather than a 'from' number, and the VEU rebate comes off where it applies. The written quote is the number you pay.