18 September 2009

Evaporative Cooling in Canberra?

| Confusedwouldwe
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I am looking to have evaporative cooling installed in my house and want to know what people’s experiences have been with companies and products and if anyone has the following quoted unit and how much the purchase and install cost?

One company has done an inspection and quote, recommending a Bonaire VSS65 unit with 7 ceiling vents for $4600 (minus a few hundred $ without a remote control). Also note we have climate master ducted gas and the control panel can be used for the cooling too.

Our house is a 4 bedroom house, total living area approx 175 sq metres, bedrooms are 3 x 3m x 3.6, main bedroom is 4.5m x 3.5m, family room/kitchen is 5.7m x7.5m areas, living room is 3.7m x6.7m.

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Don’t waste your money. Evap cooling is the biggest con ever. I have Brivis evap cooling and have had nothing but problems with it. Consider… 1. you’re paying a lot of money for install as they are complicated to install. 2. On a 39 deg day you may get around 27/28 inside at best. 3. They chew threw water! 4. They are a maintenance nightmare. Solenoids break. Pumps break. Water level sensors break. Etc. 5. They have big a$$ fans that are noisy.
I’ve recently installed a big Panasonic reverse cycle and used my heating ducting to transfer air throughout the house. Ahh much better and the cost is cheaper too as now I don’t have to use my ridiculously expensive Brivis gas heater.

Hi mate,

Almost all of them are charging the same range, what you should be looking for is the experience and quality of the service.

Recently we had our hot water installed from Capital Gas works and then eventually watching the quality of their work we got ducted gas heating installed from them as well.

Mike is the guy who did the work. ?I have the web address http://capitalgasworks.com.au/ .

My 2 cents.

Is bonaire, brivis, coolair or breezeair the better system? Anyone have any problems? Thanks

Gerry-Built said :

@lizw: A Real Estate agent once told me a ball-park conversion (meters to squares) was to divide by 10 than add 1… seems a pretty good, simple conversion for most ‘average’-sized houses… ie 150m/10=15, add 1 to get 16 squares… seems pretty accurate according to the current version of the “Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (aka Wikipedia)

Even easier think of the old Mazda 929. For squares to m2 divide by 9.29. For m2 to squares clearly multiply by 9.29.

Up The Duffy12:13 am 19 Sep 09

I have a over-sized Coolair I installed myself. And I have close-able vents with draft stoppers on top them in the ceiling. With the cooler set on auto it idles away all summer making no effect on the power bill, and all the windows and doors shut and locked. The cool air is being forced into the ceiling space reducing the roof space temperature. And in turn the insulated living space remains comfortable 24/7.

I installed my system in the winter too, and took my time using extra duct tape and duct hanging straps. If you can renovate your own home, to a tradesman like standard then you can install a evaporator cooler. Just need a plumber for water and the roof flushing and a sparky to wire it up.

@lizw: A Real Estate agent once told me a ball-park conversion (meters to squares) was to divide by 10 than add 1… seems a pretty good, simple conversion for most ‘average’-sized houses… ie 150m/10=15, add 1 to get 16 squares… seems pretty accurate according to the current version of the “Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (aka Wikipedia)

Evap cooling is awesome best thing i ever did. You will get ripped off by any company installing it. Your system is close to what i put in myself. I got a coolair unit. Most of the units are same ol so brand name doesnt matter. In real cost mine cost me at trade prices $1600 in material all up. But getting up in a roof space is murder and thats where the cost blow out comes into it.

Fyshwick Home and Heating 62805522 do an excellent job and are very knowledgeable.

I had a Brivis Countour L33 installed earlier this year by Heating and Cooling services in Fyshwick for about $4400, to 6 outlets. So your price seems to be about on par.

One old square is approximately 9.24 square metres.

We’ve had a bonaire box on the roof for 5 or 6 years, and wouldn’t be without it. Our house is 17 squares in the old language (don’t know what it is in m2) and cost about 5000. We don’t have a remote control.

What I love about it, as do my neighbours who also have the boxes, is that there is always fresh air in the house, as you need to leave windows open in each room.

Woody Mann-Caruso11:05 am 18 Sep 09

As always when this thread comes around, I recommend a Brivis system installed by Luxaire in Fyshwick. Best $4K you’ll ever spend.

Seems a good enough price for me. Do it before too long though as we got ours put in (similar size house) in January after ordering it in November. Once it starts getting warmer the wait times will rise. We had ours done through ACTEW AGL but I think the prices are all in the ballpark so go with who you’re most comfortable with.

Our was a brivis and the price was closer to $5k IIRC.

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