Ducted Gas

[maglite]

Gday All,

I did a search but not too much came up on the subject.
Was a mates on the weekend who has it installed, it was great, so i am toying with having ducted gas heating installed also.
Can anyone suggest what kind of $$ i could expect to pay for a 4 or 5 zone unit.
Also, any opinions on the pro's + con's appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Steve

[PAH1]

we have one, although you are better to go one size larger than your real requirements, means the thing does not run all the time to keep up. Here they run from about 3500-4000 installed, depending on the usual variety of factors. We put an outlet in the bathroom, which is not allways possible, and that is brilliant.

[Trav]

We have one too and I wouldn't live without it in Canberra. I think we paid about $4000 or something a few years ago - but it depends on the brand etc. We have Brivis and it works a treat.

I second the motion for a duct in the bathroom. :D

Trav

[jshaw]

Currently doing it tough in our own place with a wall heater instead of the ducted system we had in the rented place last winter. Also in Canberra, but I was never colder than in the unheated unit I had in Perth! I used to keep the gas stove on to try to keep warm.

Can anybody (Trav, PAH1) throw some light on the wonders of zoned systems? Are they worth the extra cash? Me and the missus are also looking into getting a system installed once I start my new job (February, but hey, at least we'll all be warm NEXT winter...). Thanks in advance.

[PAH1]

Jshaw

Not sure about zoned systems, our place is not big enough to warrant the extra. With the non zoned systems you can manually reduce the fan speed and manually shut off a vent anyway if you want to do that on a regular basis. Each unit however has a minimum number of vents that must be open to function. As far as cold goes, unheated cottage in the ranges near inverell get a good mention or -16deg with a howling gale on the bank of the dyke near Modergat in the Netherlands, only time I have seen salt water frozen.

[Trav]

I don't have one but I wish I did. Supposedly you can set the temp in the living areas to a warm temp each evening, keeping the bedrooms cool. Then at bedtime you can change it so that it keeps the bedrooms warm and lets the other parts of the house cool. Supposedly it saves heaps of energy etc.

The downside, now that I think about it, is that you'd need to keep doors shut etc - something I thought I had finally escaped by getting ducted gas!

As they always say jshaw, never buy an umbrella when it's raining. Similarly, getting ducted gas installed in summer is bound to be a better time and there will be better prices around.

Trav

[PAH1]

As they always say jshaw, never buy an umbrella when it's raining. Similarly, getting ducted gas installed in summer is bound to be a better time and there will be better prices around.

Trav

They also do it a lot quicker from the time that you ask them to. Winter waiting is 3wks or so, summer-is next monday too soon?

[ctd]

I think Brivis are running a deal at the moment, get a 5 star heater system for cost of a 4star. I think you are looking at around $5k nowdays, depending on the size of the house of course. Note that for an extra couple of thousand you can have a reverse cycle aircon/heater - but this is risky if you are living somewhere actually cold as the heating doesnt work that well under freezing (plus evap air con is much nicer). Ask around - I know in Canberra ACTEWAGL do installations but for the 2 things I have asked them to quote on, they were beaten both times by quite a lot (by Scandia) and quotes are free.

Zoning is good . . . but. If you dont use your bedrooms during the day, then you can save a bundle by only heating 1/2 the house instead of the whole thing. However, you do have to keep the doors closed. The annoying thing is that you still only get 1 thermostat, which is centrally located somewhere. What this will mean is that you dont get an even temp throughout the house (because its the temp at the thermo location that matters). If (for example) you turn off the heat for the bedrooms during the day but keep on the heat in the living room, if the thermostat is close to the living room then when the heating goes on for the bedrooms (which are cold), the heating cuts out too soon and the bedrooms stay cold. My suggestion is putting the thermostat somewhere normally a bit colder (such as the hallway) and then just setting it to cut out at a low temp (but one which is good for the rooms) (if that makes sense)

Anyway, its probably worthwhile but you need to think about your zonings to get the best benefit.

Dont forget the cost of running the system. My 3bed/120m2 house (facing E/W and with low insulation) cost about $1200 per year to run, 90% of that within the June-Sept period. It was an old heater though, I expect the newer ones would do it for much less than that.


I have lived in houses with heating ducts on the ground and with ducts in the ceiling. In the initial stages of heating (ie from cold to nice), I think the ground ones work better, as the ceiling ones seem to create more air currents and you end up with a heat barrier about 3ft off the ground (underneath which the temp is much lower). However, after 20min or so there isnt really much difference. Ceiling vents dont restrict your furniture placments; but floor vents are fantastic for drying clothes.

I have a vent in the bathroom. I guess it depends on how long you spend there! A 'tastic' does the job better in my view.

oh yeah, your question - central heating of some kind is just brilliant. Lots of people swear by underfloor heating, which is fine if you like tiled floors. And there are some good - albeit more obtrusive - hot water heating systems that are used widely in Europe. Gas heating is drying and not for people with asthma, but it is wonderful.

[EMistral]

We have one that we had installed in april
We paid $3700 for a Braemar 4 stars with 9 standard points and a big one in the kitchen. There is also 1 zone for the 4 unused rooms
For that price, they also removed the old wall furnaces but I had to patch the ceiling and changed the tiles on the roof to remove the old air intakes
I could not leave without it now after experiencing a 30 years old wall furnace
I am still waiting for my first gas bill to see the savings

[EMistral]

Something else to consider is the thermostat location
Wehn they installed the system, the guy from the company asked me where I wanted the controller but he did not specify that the thermostat was integrated in it.
so for convenience, I had it installed in the kitchen on top of the air conditionning controller
Because of the oven, it is always warmer in the kitchen and therefore the heater will stop blowing air when it reaches the preset temperature in the kitchen while in the lounge room it is cooler
The guy should have known his job and recommended to have the controller installed somewhere else than the kitchen

[jshaw]

Thanks for the advice, folks, especially reminding me of the advantages of getting it fitted in summer! As for the zoned systems, I always imagined that there would be different thermostats for each zone otherwise you might as well just close some of the vents over as you need to. Still, plenty to mull over for now.

Cheers,
John

[toolman]

I have a 5 star Vulcan ducted gas heater with 16 outlets (floor). It cost me $4000 fully installed two years ago. Mine has a remote control with the thermostat in the RC so you just sit the RC wherever you want & the heat will adjust to where you have the RC.

I would definitely recommend the vents in the bathroom (and ensuite). Put them under your towel rail for nice warm drying in the morning.

The house is open plan, has 9ft ceilings and a floor area of 250m2. It can heat the entire house from scratch in about 15 minutes.

During winter I set the thermostat on 20 degrees and have set up an autorun program that runs the unit from 6:00 am to 7:30 am & then from 5:00pm to 11:00pm. It costs about $5 a day to run.

Don't forget that you must leave about a 20mm air gap under your internal doors so that the warm air can get back to your return air unit.

I use the floor vents as clothes dryers (we have never owned an electric tumble dryer) and believe there are signifigant savings, as a clothes dryer is one of the highest consumers of electricity in any household.

Consider zoning if you don't have an open plan layout - it will cost about $130 (plus extra installation) per zone motor.

I believe ducted gas to be a very effective method of heating your home. It is relatively cheap to run, is very quiet, heats up quickly, drys your clothes and heats your towel in the morning. What more could you want.

Happy Heating

Toolman

[Wildman]

I have just had a Brivis 5.5 star unit with 4 floor and 3 ceiling outlets and blocked off ducts for another 2 outlets when I finish under the house installed for $3400 which is great. Floor vents for the bedrooms and bathroom, ceiling outlets for the living areas. The ceiling outlets are polyaire downjets which have quite a strong column of air which circulates around once it hits the floor. You dont want to be sitting under it, but there are no cold spots in the room. There are also no floor vents to stick a chair through or affect furniture placement in the living areas.

Cheers
Ben