Selecting the most appropriate cooling system for your requirements is vital to ensure you will be able to cool your home in the most efficient and effective manner possible. With the array of choices that are on the market, this might seem like a daunting exercise; however, it needn’t be as it really just requires following a number of logical steps to arrive at a solution. We have provided a few tips below which should help you to get started.

Considerations for choosing an air conditioner in Melbourne include:

  1. Whether you already have heating installed or you want your cooling system to also provide heating. If the latter applies, then you should consider a reverse cycle air conditioning system for your home, which will provide both heating and cooling on demand.
  2. Whether you wish to cool your whole house with air conditioning or only certain sections. For a whole-house solution you should consider a ducted evaporative system or a refrigerated multi-head split system. For a single area or room a single-head split system should meet your requirements.
  3. Whether you would like your system to come with zoning. This enables you to switch off cooling to different parts of the building when they are not in use, which will in turn reduce your costs.
  4. Your budgetary constraints for both purchase and installation and for ongoing running costs. It’s important to bear in mind that you can save on running costs by choosing a system with a higher number of energy-efficiency stars, but it may cost you more upfront.
  5. The features you want in your cooling system. Examples are quiet modes, sleep modes, sensors, timers, or capacity for remote (away-from-home) control.
  6. Design features. This may also be an important consideration for you if you want your system to match with your home décor.
  7. Design and layout features of your home such as orientation, location, and internal layout.
  8. The size of the area you want to cool. It’s important to ensure you install a cooling system that matches the size of your space in terms of kW. This may depend on several factors, such as:
    • Ceiling area in m2.
    • Type of ceiling/roof – e.g. insulated or uninsulated metal, tiles.
    • Floor area in m2.
    • Type of floor – whether suspended timber or concrete slab and whether it is insulated.
    • Ceiling height of the rooms to be cooled.
    • Total area of the space to be cooled in m2.
    • Building materials – i.e. insulated / uninsulated weatherboard, brick veneer, block masonry, mud brick or another material.
    • The size of the windows on each aspect of the home or room and whether they have external shading.
    • The number of home occupants.

Next steps to take

The best thing to do to ensure you get the right system for your needs is to gather as much initial information as you can and then to consult with a professional air conditioning company to discuss your needs. At Staycool we provide free in-home consultations and no-obligation quotes on air conditioning installations. Call us for more information if required.