Combined Ducted Heating and Cooling

[trevcasta]

Hi, I am currently looking at installing a ducted heating system into my house for the coming winter. I am also looking at installing Cooling in the future and am thinking that putting them in at the same time may save me some money. Can cooling and heating be run through the same ducts and vents?. I know heat rises and cool air falls. so i would assume this to be a problem. If vents were to be located in the ceiling would that give me sufficient heating in the winter? I also have ceiling fans.
Also any suggestions on types of systems or possibly DIY kits.
I have spoken to a number of people and have mixed answers about running them together.
Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[Honorary Bloke]

Can they be run together? Of course they can! 99% of heating/cooling systems in the States are run through the same ductwork.

Vents can be placed up or down, as best suits your comfort and also minimising the work of fitting it out.

Putting them in at the same time may save you some money since the installer will be doing it all at once. Since in combined systems the cooling and heating use the same air handler (distribution fan), your purveyor can be certain your AC and heat units are both compatible with the air handler. :)

[atregent]

You can't have ducted heating and evaporative cooling running through the same ducts, but heating and refrigerated air con you can.

When we had out heating installed, we were told that to accomodate an add on cooling unit it was best to run the duct work in the ceiling. The ducting also needed to be a larger diameter and insulated.

[Smurf]

Assuming you are looking at refrigerated air-con and not evaporative, I would suggest that you just get a reverse cycle unit installed. Heating and cooling fixed in one go for about the same cost as just putting in cooling.

Reverse cycle air-conditioning works fine for heating in Tas (practically every house in my street has it as the sole source of heating) so it should be fine anywhere in Australia apart maybe from high up in the mountains etc.

Running cost should be similar to gas unless you've got either very expensive electricity and/or cheap gas compared to most. Only reason it's popular in Tas is because it's cheap to run.