When it comes to ducted air conditioners, choosing the one that will best suit your needs can be tricky. When you know a little more about how air conditioners work, you can help make better decisions about what systems are suitable for your needs, so keep on reading below to find out more.
What are ducted air conditioners?
Historically, ducted air conditioners were used in commercial settings and workplaces. However, these days almost every new home built in Australia will have a ducted air conditioner included.
That’s because ducted systems are typically better suited to full home air conditioning, as they typically provide more powerful conditioning than other types of air conditioners (like wall hung split or multi-head splits). They’re able to deliver conditioned air to all the different rooms in your home, via ductwork that runs inside your ceiling to vents inside the rooms, where the air is then delivered. This makes them well suited to larger spaces or homes, and allows them to give you the ability to pick and choose which parts of your home to cool or heat.
What parts make up a Ducted system?
Ducted systems typically come in two parts—the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. The outdoor unit is installed outside your home (in Australia that’s usually down the side of the home next to the neighbour’s fence – check out our Vertical Discharge video to see how we uniquely design our systems to suit Australian homes better). The outdoor unit is then connected to the indoor unit via copper piping (which carry the refrigerant) and electrical cables.
The indoor unit is located inside your roof cavity, where it connects to ductwork that is installed throughout your ceiling space. These ducts will allow your unit to deliver temperature-controlled air to your rooms via a vent or outlet – typically installed in the ceiling.
So really, a complete ducted system consists of a lot of different elements: the outdoor unit, refrigerant, the indoor unit, indoor fans, and zone barrels (that sit inside the ductwork).
With so many elements needing to work together, at ActronAir we uniquely design and build more components of the overall system to specifically work together to achieve the best results – learn more on our unique Unity IQ here.
How do Ducted systems work?
When cooling, the ducted systems work by extracting hot air from inside the room. This air is then run over coils containing refrigerant, which absorbs the heat and transforms it into a gas. Air is then blown over the coils, where it cools down and is then delivered back into the room at the desired temperature.
Meanwhile, the heat that has been converted into gas by-product is sent to the outdoor unit, where it’s pressurised by the compressor and converted into a liquid that flows through the outdoor unit’s coils. A fan then blows the heat from the liquid and expels the hot air from the unit. The treated liquid from the unit is then sent back up to the indoor unit to repeat the cycle.
And if you’re looking to heat instead of cool the process is the same but in reverse, with the air conditioner removing cold air from your home and converting it into heated air – hence the name “reverse cycle” air conditioning.
How to find the perfect system for you
While all reverse cycle air conditioners use the same principle to cool or heat air, not all will have the same performance levels.
To make sure you choose a ducted unit that will meet your requirements, there are many things to consider, such as the size of your home, the number of rooms you choose to cool, the type of control options you want, and the number of zones you’d like to control individually.
How ActronAir stands out from the crowd
ActronAir ducted air conditioners are uniquely designed for Australian conditions, specifically built to perform in our harsh climate. That’s why they come with Tru-Blue technology, meaning they’re guaranteed to work in hotter temperatures, provide more powerful cooling in extremes, and are built to last in tough Australian conditions.
And for true energy efficiency and comfort ActronAir ducted units come with Tru-Zone technology, Australia’s best zoning, which gives you more choice, more inclusions, and smarter performance.
When it comes to controls, we don’t rely on third-party control upgrades like other brands. We believe that the best results come when controls and air conditioners are designed and built with each other in mind, which is why we offer a wide range of premium controls designed and built by us, for us. Thanks to our unique approve, these controls are precisely designed to match our systems
Finally, we’re proud to design and build our systems right here in Australia, supporting them with the best local service and support.
So when it comes to choosing the right ducted air conditioner to be in your element at home, make sure you ask for an Actron.