Central Air

In the US, and Australia (among others) the terminology used for central ducted type of air conditioning system is central air. The process is exactly the same, with stale unconditioned air being sucked” from the room into a air handler (also referred to as a Fan Coil Unit > FCU Evaporator or Air Handling Unit > AHU). This air then transverses across a return air filter which removes air borne impurities and toxins, before being brought across the evaporator coil. This is where the temperature of the returned air (and humidity) is conditioned before being released via the evaporator fan motor through the discharge plenum (this can either be a single duct, multiple duct or prism duct scenario) where it travels down suitable sized and insulated duct work tube to the supply air grills. The air enters the room at a temperature controlled by the internal unit thermostat, which this continues until the target temperature, and RH level has been suitably achieved within the conditioned environment. This is a recirculation system with the difference of being able to clean/ adjust the temperature and dehumidify the air before being entered back in the seem proximity.

Why should I go for a Ducted air conditioning solution?

Ducted Air Conditioning is the quietest and most versatile of all systems is often the most practical choice for large applications or where air distribution becomes beyond the reach of normal “split-type” units. The grilles can be placed virtually anywhere you wish and will blend unobtrusively with any interior decor. Architects and consultants favour ducted style systems as the offer a degree of flexibility of positioning with regards to the main fan coil unit, whilst allowing the ability to transport conditioned air to the relevant location for diffusion.

What are the benefits of Ducted Air Conditioning in my application?

Because the grilles can be placed wherever you want and blend with any interior décor. The grilles allow uniform temperature distribution in large or heavily partitioned areas, catering for numerous rooms within a household/offices/hotel/apartment etc. from a solitary fan coil unit and condensing unit. Not only are concealed ducted fan coil units visually unobtrusive, they are also among the quietest types of air conditioning available.

Is it more expensive than standard air conditioning?

If you were trying to cool/heat a solitary small sized room, then the ducted unit would be more expensive in comparison to lets say a wall mounted unit. However if we look at the example of a typical domestic dwelling with 4 bedrooms, then the single ducted option is quite affordable. This is because multi split air conditioning systems, such as the multi wall mount, have individual services that need to each run back to the external condensing unit. Copper prices and the labour intensive nature of several wall units make ducted air conditioning possibly a cheaper option to consider, especially on a large dwelling with sizeable rooms.

So for my house I can just buy one ducted unit?

Maybe. A ducted unit requires somewhere to locate the fan coil unit (the indoor unit) such as a loft or storage area. This must be within easy access of the rooms to be conditioned, as there will be several ducts of at least 150mm to travel to those rooms from the air handling unit (or evaporator). Also to be considered is the fact that the fan coil units need to be located ideally in a loft scenario, a standard domestic loft hatch will be too small for a large ducted fan coil unit.

What size of unit I need?

Well, each room is considered individually. Various aspects effect what size of unit is required to adequately cool/heat those rooms. Also the heat gain within those rooms needs to be considered, i.e. solar gain from large windows, or computer equipment within a home office. The correctly sized unit must be selected in order to make sure that the duty requirement is met, to avoid performance problems, or worse still, system malfunction. In fact the easiest way to do this calculation is to just ring or email us and let us take this headache away. You can still use ducted air conditioning when one room is larger than another, it is just that the airflow will need to be balanced accordingly. This is to prevent the system from over cooling/heating the smaller area based on the performance criteria of the larger area.

No Obligation Site Survey

At Eco Temp Ltd. we pride ourselves on our ability to assess a project over the phone to provide an estimate in most cases. However with ducted solutions it is tricky to try and gauge the feasibility of ducted air conditioning within a site as there are so many commanding factors. Our network of skilled and qualified engineers provide efficient support nationwide, however having our HQ in London means that the free of charge site surveys are within the London area and surrounding suburbs..

Which Ducted Air Conditioning manufacturer should I use?

We use all the top names for ducted air conditioning, the most popular ducted air conditioning manufacturers being Daikin, as they have proven over a long period of time their unbeatable reliability and performance. This is our recommended brand, however due consideration would be given to any brand air conditioning system.