Reverse cycle air conditioning

A Reverse cycle ducted air conditioning system is a very efficient way of heating and cooling your whole home.

The reverse cycle ducted system consists of a condenser located outside your home, and a indoor fan coil unit which is located in your roof space. The fan coil unit recirculates the air through your home by means of sheet metal duct work coming off either side of the fan coil unit commonly know as the supply air  and return air starter sets.

The supply air starter connects to large diameter lengths of flexible ducting which then splits into smaller diameter lengths of flexible ducting by using a y piece. The flexible ducting then runs off and is connected to your outlets. Depending on your living needs and the area of your home, the ducted reverse cycle system has to be split into what we call in the industry zones. The average house would have 3-4 zones however as the home gets larger or your living needs require it more zones can be added. Each zone is controlled by a motorised damper that opens and closes . The size of  your air conditioning unit determines how many outlets can run at any one time.

Unlike evaporative ducted systems the reverse cycle ducted  system is not cooling or heating your whole home at once. The reverse cycle ducted system heats or cools up to 2-3 zones at a time. Each zone can consist of any where from 1 outlet to multiple outlets.

When the air is distributed through the outlet it is then recirculated back through a grille that is located centrally in your home know as the return air grille. The Return grille has a box connected to it which is located in the roof space, and has lengths of flexible ducting leading back to the return air side of the fan coil unit then the whole process starts again.

One of the most important things is to make sure when buying a system you compare each part of the system on its own merits e.g. kw size of machine and brand, warranty on machine, the insulation thickness on the flexible ducting and the quality of components used e.g. motorised dampers metal or plastic, and lastly the Air diffusion used .

Panasonic condenser unit

Panasonic fan coil unit

Panasonic wall controller