recommendation on a ducted evaporative air conditioner please.

Anyone recently installed an evaporative ducted air conditioner?  Doing a reno and at the stage of selecting the air con system. Can anyone recommend a brand of ducted evaporative air conditioner? I have checked previous posts but much of the information is several years out of date and a lot can change in that time. I also don't need to be sold on the merits of evaporative versus refrigerative. I intend to run both. Evap during the day to keep the themal mass of the house down whilst running off the PV panels and split refrigerative in selective living areas if necessary. Any thoughts on your experience with a brand either positive or negative would be welcome.


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Thu, 2017-06-08 23:47

 We are installing R/C ducted throughout our new home once its completed this year. (325m2 living area).  18kw daiken. RZQS180AY1.

 

What have you narrowed it down to?

 

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wasn't quite sure of your

Fri, 2017-06-09 09:54

wasn't quite sure of your post and you prob know but you cant run both evap and refrig at the same time in the same area. (you mean refrig at night?)

chris raff's picture

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 Not recent but about 10

Fri, 2017-06-09 11:15

 Not recent but about 10 years ago went with a local manufacturer “ Jarrahdale”  in Maddington very competitive and hasn’t missed a beat .. though have replaced the pads 

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Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”

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 Chris, what is the

Fri, 2017-06-09 12:22

 Chris, what is the recommendation regarding monitoring the units for Legionnaires.  In hone units especially.

  Our club rooms (10 years old now) has now isolated the bug in significant numbers (>1000 cfu/ml) in one of the two units.  We are worried as the units are serviced every two years.

chris raff's picture

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 That’s a little beyond my

Fri, 2017-06-09 12:39

 That’s a little beyond my technical expertise .. I just know how to turn it on 

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Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”

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service more often

Sat, 2017-06-10 18:00

 servicing every 2 years is nowhere near often enough. Australian standards call up at the start and end of each cooling season and quarterly during use.  The temperature range for legionella is between 25 to 42 degrees.

 

Ways to limit your risk is to ensure a dump valve is fitted to the unit so it dumps each time the unit is turned off, have a constant bleed set up so water is bled of and topped up with new and service quarterly including cleaning the sump.

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 Breezeair and Cool Breeze

Fri, 2017-06-09 13:45

 Breezeair and Cool Breeze seem to come up as popular choices. I would only intend to run split system at night in a few select areas. It is comparitively expensive to run. At least with evaporative, during the day you can run it off your PV array without drawing from the grid. 

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Air Con

Fri, 2017-06-09 14:28

 Yep second Jarrahdale , they care about what they do, a profssional outfit for sure. Have a look at getting refrigerated reverse cycle, its more expensive but the results and comfort are in a different league to evaporative. Evaps are crap imo, but cheapest to run.

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Based on the quality of their

Fri, 2017-06-09 15:58

Based on the quality of their woodfire, I went with a Jarrahdale evap unit as well. Mistake, rough as guts install and a cheaply built unit. Two new motors in 6 years. Something to do with the design I think of pulling the moisture laden air past the motor. Then again it was some time ago and they may have improved significantly. I still use their woodfire but now run Breezeair which hasn't missed a beat in 17 years.

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I havnt had much to do with

Sat, 2017-06-10 10:32

I havnt had much to do with them in the last 10 years but I used to do warranty work on a few brands and used to wire them up.  The stand out brand for me was breezair models with the centrifugal fan.  They are much much quieter than axial fan models and compared to other brands had way less warranty issues. 

tot's picture

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yep Breezair are good

Sat, 2017-06-10 10:52

I dont do swampys nowdays but I but agree with your comments.

Dont expect anything decent with an evap on a humid day. If you have tiles be ready to slip haha - they transfer moisture and thats about it!

Personally I would go ducted reverse , one motor outside , solar covers a lot during the day , zone it out day/night areas. 

Panna or Daikin with Myair(advantage air)

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Reverse cycle a/c supply and install - Ducted and wall splits

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 Yep we ended up putting in 2

Sat, 2017-06-10 18:24

 Yep we ended up putting in 2 x daikin with myair 5!

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Thanks for the responses

Mon, 2017-06-12 20:11

 Breezeair is firming as the supplier of choice. I do understand that ducted reverse is much better at cooling however we have a massive open area (No doors to zone off) to cool. It would require a very large system resulting in large running costs. I work in a  similar sized area at work and they are running evaps. It does make a noticeable difference especially if you run them before you allow the room to heat up.