This question is asked all the time and the best answer is – whatever suits your budget and application. 

We can work off the old adage – good, better, best. 

Its good to have this… 

Better to have this..

Best to have this..

Whatever you choose, it will make a significant difference to your comfort and work well.

Depending on your situation too, you may not have a choice in what is applicable to you as you may only have electricity to the property and no gas. This shouldn’t be a negative though as the Australian government is making a conscience effort in eliminating all gas appliances by the year 2030. For the last few years, the Australian government has rolled out a scheme called The Home Heating and Cooling Upgrades Program that is to remove any gas appliance present in a home and replace it with a high energy rating split system. 

This scheme is in place to eliminate methane leakage from gas plants and work towards Australia’s net zero carbon goal by 2050. 

But going back to the original question of what appliance is best, lets look at your application and circumstances. Ask yourself these questions first:

• What type of climate do you live in?
• How many people are living in the home or space?
• How often do you experience hot and cold weather?
• How often do you plan on using the appliance?
• What is your budget?
• Is it a rental or home you currently live in?
• Do you have gas, water and electricity to the property? 
• Are you on or off grid? 

 

Once you have answered these questions then we can move on to the pros and cons of each method of heating and cooling. 

 

Heating: 

Depending on how cold it gets in your area, a gas ducted heater may suit your application as they are fast reacting heat source. Heat pumps are also very efficient for heating as well but they may defrost more often in colder climates as they are designed to reject cold air from inside and reject it to the outside atmosphere. In doing so, the condenser coil can reach temperatures into the negatives and to avoid icing up the coil, it will turn off and defrost for 5-10 mins. 

This should not deter you from heat pumps though, they can be a very effective and efficient heat source. They are very inexpensive to operate and are quiet, air quality is generally very clean due to their filtration system and in conjunction with solar panels, as they are run 100% on electricity, solar power can help offset the costs of operating a heat pump system as opposed to gas source heating. 

Gas heating may also be cheaper to install if you are looking for a budget friendly centralised system, it is limited to just heating though. For a reverse cycle ducted system – (heat pump) – they can offer both heating and cooling, thus the price difference. With a heat pump, you get the best of both worlds while keeping everything organised with 1 system instead of 2. 

Cooling: 

Most methods of cooling are very effective and again, it really depends on your budget. As mentioned above, heat pump systems offer both heating and cooling. The heat pump system is often called a split system, these are very common now and are extremely effective when it comes to cooling. The principals off a heat pump system is the same principals that are in your refrigerator, it uses the same method to cool the area down with a compressor in the outdoor unit and a evaporator coil in the indoor unit. 

This form of cooling is our number 1 choice for many reasons such as the bonus of dehumidifying the area and eliminating moisture and humidity from the area, keeping it nice and cool – no more sticky feeling. It also offers a constant flow of cold air, air quality is maintained via the filtration system, inexpensive to run and can be offset with the addition of solar power. 

Evaporative cooling is very economical as it only requires a water source for the most part and a power point. Evaporative cooling is a great way of cooling your house, business or factory down affordably and effectively. These systems are effective mainly in the cooler, dry climates as they do not work to well in humid climates so be weary, they also need to be cleaned once every 2 years or so to eliminate water stagnation. 

 

Heat load: 

It is also worth considering how often and how many people will be living in the space. 

This is very important when it comes to installation, operating and maintenance costs.

If you have a family that is occupying all areas in your home all the time then may a centralised system is best suited for you. 

Most case though, people aren’t always occupying every space of the house and as a result you end conditioning an area where no one is living in. This is a big waste of money and often results in a system that is oversized and not suitable for your application. 

When deciding on what system you want, think about how many people will be in those areas at the same time and weather or not its better to have individual units installed or whether individual climate control is something your family fights over. 

For example – a family of 4: Mum, Dad and 2 young children living in a 3 bedroom home.

1 parent may usually be at work and the other at home, 1 child is in school and 1 is at home. That means that in a normal 3 bedroom home, majority of the time there would be only 1-2 spaces occupied at the same time. In this situation, you have to ask yourself if its viable to run a centralised system for a home that may only have 2-3 people living in it at a time. 

By having multiple split systems or a multi head system for example, you can turn on multiple air cons at the same time and turn off the ones you aren’t using. In this example, your energy costs have reduced as you are only using what you turn on and are not conditioning unoccupied areas. We love the fact that a multi head system can have up to 6 rooms connected to the 1 system.

If this sounds like you, contact us at Kingston Air and we can provide you expert advice on what best suits your needs.