HOW MUCH DOES DUCTED AIR CONDITIONING COST?
On a January afternoon in Brisbane, the bitumen softens and the air above the footpath wobbles. You walk into a four-bedroom house and feel the heat sitting in the hallway like an uninvited guest. That is when the question becomes concrete: how much does ducted air conditioning cost? Not the brochure figure, not a quote with a caveat at the bottom—the real installed price for an ordinary home. This page sets out that number, what hides inside it, and what the same house would cost with split systems.
A typical four bedroom house
For a typical single-storey four-bedroom home in Brisbane—say 180 to 230 square metres of living space, brick veneer, tiled roof, easy roof access—you should budget between $12,500 and $18,000 inc GST for a quality ducted reverse cycle system. That is not the floor. Budget-brand systems with minimal zoning can sneak under $11,000; a premium Daikin or Actron Air with six zones, air purification, and app control can push beyond $22,000.
What’s actually in that quote
A recent written quote for a 1970s chamferboard in Bardon, four bedrooms, 185m², landed at $15,300: 14kW Mitsubishi Electric, four zones, seven outlets, standard wall controller. Another for a double-storey home in Carindale reached $19,800 because the installers had to run ductwork through two roof spaces and add a small switchboard upgrade.
Ductwork and outlets
When you recieve a quote, do not fixate on the bottom line alone. A ducted air conditioning quote looks like one figure until you open it. Then it becomes four or five lines, each with its own weight. You do not need to be an electrician to read it; you just need to look for the pieces below.
The indoor and outdoor unit
The equipment sits at the heart of the quote. For a four-bedroom Brisbane house, a 12.5kW to 16kW cooling capacity is normal. The outdoor unit—a squat metal box on rubber feet, humming behind the side fence—and the indoor fan coil tucked above the hallway might account for $4,500 to $7,000 supply only. Brands matter less than sizing and installation quality. An undersized unit runs flat out and never reaches set point; an oversized one short-cycles and leaves the air clammy.
Zoning and controller
Zoning is what makes ducted air conditioning livable in a house where bedrooms sit empty all afternoon. Basic quotes include two or three zones—living by day, sleeping by night. Each extra zone adds a motorised damper and another control wire. Depending on the number of zones and the controller type, expect $1,200 to $3,500. A simple wall controller with a schedule costs less; a touchscreen or phone app adds more. The real difference is not the gadget. It is whether you can cool only the rooms you are using at six o’clock on a school night.
COOLING DIAGRAM + COSTS FOR SPLIT SYSTEMS
Ductwork is the hidden skeleton of the system. Flexible insulated ducts snake through the roof, branching from a central plenum to round ceiling outlets. A typical four-bedroom home gets seven to ten outlets, and the ducting plus fittings can run $3,000 to $5,500. Cheap ductwork with tight bends, long uninsulated runs, or badly sealed joints bleeds cold air into the roof cavity. You will not see the ducts after the ceiling is patched, but you will feel them every hot afternoon.
DUCTED INSTALLATION COSTS AND COOLING EFFECT
We can see from the above diagram that the ducted system cools thew house more evenly than the split systems. There are ten outlets in the ceiling and this equates to about 14kw of cooling capacity in the main units. The installation would take 3 men a full day to complete, though this would usually be done at frame stage during construction. The most important question for most readers is the cost difference. Is it worth an extra $5000 up front to have those hallways and peripheral areas cooled to the exact temperature of the lounge? Are you running a hospital or infirmary where the temperature needs to be so tightly controlled? Are you aware that the running costs for the ducted are around double that of the splits on the opposite side? These are questions that need to be addressed before you outlay $12,500.
The same house in split systems
Take the same four-bedroom Brisbane home and instead of one ducted system, install four split systems—a 7.1kW unit for the open living space and 2.5kW units in each bedroom. Installed, that package typically lands between $6,500 and $9,500 for mid-range brands, or $10,000 to $12,500 for premium units with Wi-Fi. You get individual room control, no roof ducts, and a lower upfront price. What you lose is the quiet arrival of cool air through a ceiling register in every room at once. You also gain four outdoor units along the wall, each with its own filter cleaning schedule and potential fault.
HOW DO THE TWO SYSTEMS COMPARE?
Take the same four-bedroom Brisbane home and instead of one ducted system, install four split systems—a 7.1kW unit for the open living space and 2.5kW units in each bedroom. Installed, that package typically lands between $6,500 and $9,500 for mid-range brands, or $10,000 to $12,500 for premium units with Wi-Fi. You get individual room control, no roof ducts, and a lower upfront price. What you lose is the quiet arrival of cool air through a ceiling register in every room at once. You also gain four outdoor units along the wall, each with its own filter cleaning schedule and potential fault.
Is ducted more expensive than splits?
The installed price is only the first bill. Ducted air conditioning costs money every time the compressor starts. A 14kW system running on a Brisbane summer afternoon can draw four to six kilowatts. At 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, that is $1.20 to $1.80 per hour. Over a five-hour afternoon, you add $6 to $9 to your daily electricity use. Over a three-month summer, the running cost can reach $700 to $1200—more if the house leaks air through old windows or an uninsulated ceiling.
Then there is maintenance. Expect an annual service at $150 to $250, plus the occasional blocked condensate drain or failed capacitor once the unit is out of warranty. None of this appears on the quote. It appears on the electricity bill and the service invoice that follows the first heatwave.
ZONING OFF THE DUCTED AIR CON TO SAVE MONEY
Some ducted air conditioning salesman will tell you that you can cut those costs by zoning your system to cool only certain areas. That’s true, but to cool two rooms you are still running your 14kw condenser. When you move into a new home do you even know how to zone the air con? Most people turn it on or off – that’s all we know how to do.
SPLIT SYSTEM RUNNING COSTS = HALF
DUCTED AIR CONDITIONING REPAIRS COST YOU MONEY
The reason AC Expert knows how much more efficient splits are than ducted air conditioning is because I moved into a home in Stretton in 2017 which had a ducted installed. I ran it sparingly from September through to December and got my first $1000+ power bill. I was shocked. Air Conditioning Installation was my line of work so I put in 3 splits straight away, and ran them all through the summer.
The house was just as cool, if not cooler. I ran the 7kw and 5kw Mitsubishi all day every day – and kept the bedroom one off until night time. I ran the bedroom one 7 nights a week from 9pm to 5am and when the next bill came in March – it was down to just over $400. We run a home office from there, and all the usual appliances. The bill hasn’t climbed past $450 for a quarter since then.
I will never install a ducted air conditioning system now I know how much they cost to run, and I advise you to do the same.
SPLIT SYSTEMS – THE MOST EFFICIENT APPLIANCES
A typical Australian home on a hot summer night – only the master and one other bedroom are occupied. It’s January in Queensland so the air con must be on to get any sleep. If you had two splits installed you’re only running 2.5kw each as opposed to the14kw ducted all night, every night. Then during the day, the bedroom splits go off and the living room ones go on. You’re still in front.
DUCTED AIR CONDITIONING MAINTENANCE
As if the case for split systems wasn’t already strong enough, the final thought must go to the maintenance and upkeep on the ducted. What if something goes wrong with your condenser? Maybe the evaporator? Anything at all. You lose all your air conditioning.
Now imagine something going wrong with one of your split systems. You still have three more. Your house will be mostly cool, you can live in the parts that are if you have to. You won’t lose all your air conditioning because your splits are sharing the load.
DUCTED AIR CONDITIONING OR SPLIT SYSTEMS FOR YOUR HOME?
There really is no comparison. The splits win every category. Every time.
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DUCTED AIR CON: WHATS IT COST?
The question that’s going to be asked thirty times a day this summer is ‘Ducted vs Split system. How much do they cost, what’s the difference and which would you get? We’re all busy so I’m not going to make you scroll. Here’s your answers.
DIFFERENCE: Ultimately? Nothing. They both output cold air. Ducted cost about $12k – 20k with an average 3/4 bedroom house in the next street over about $14k – installed complete. You will get something good quality for 14k. Whole house done. Splits doing the same job will cost you $8-9k to install complete, for almost the same coverage of cold air.
COVERAGE: Slightly better with the ducted. You can stick ducts in the cupboard if you really must. Splits will do every room you want it to, but the area between rooms may very temp by around 5c. Ask yourself when was the last time you did your tax return in the hallway? That’s right. All your working sleeping or scheming is done in one of the rooms. Your best scheming is done with a cool head. And a stick to point at stuff
COST: Ducted cost significantly more. They are incredibly time consuming to install. Your power bills will have an extra zero. I shit you not. Many moons ago I moved into a rental house with a ducted. Used it sparingly. First power bill $1100. Not about to cop that I installed 3 splits in key locations. Yes its easier for me because that’s what do, but I don’t sook when you do your own whatever it is you do. Next power bill $300. And by now it was mid summer. I flogged those things. Bill never went above $400 not for the next five years I was there. SO, four bills a year, at $650 difference, $2500 a year saved in power. Expect your split to last 15 years if you buy an MHI. You’re on a winner. I don’t recommend splits because I sell them. I sell them because They are the most reliable, efficient way to warm or cool your home.
AVERAGE HOME IN THE SUBURBS
You can keep reading if you want but there’s your answer. Below here is just finer details. Now I would guess you’re asking: Why do I have to scroll and click – click and scroll, scroll scroll scroll, enter my email address and donate a kidney on other sites just to get that same basic information? Get ready to be disappointed in mankind.
If you scroll to the bottom of this page before leaving google gives me more scroll depth. If you visit an extra page or click more targets I get higher click through rate. What that means is google thinks the sun shines our of my website because people are clicking away. Now do you see why they – bang slap a pop up over the page, that’s one click, put all their answers at the bottom, or a bottom + just click here for your free redirect to somewhere you never wanted to go.
They waste your time for their gain. To me that’s pretty rude. Here you get your answers up top. No clicks. You can be on your way in 2 mins job done. If you’re silly enough to keep scrolling then that’s your problem. I still don’t know what’s down the bottom of this page. Maybe Godzilla.
Ductwork is the hidden skeleton of the system. Flexible insulated ducts snake through the roof, branching from a central plenum to round ceiling outlets. A typical four-bedroom home gets seven to ten outlets, and the ducting plus fittings can run $3,000 to $5,500. Cheap ductwork with tight bends, long uninsulated runs, or badly sealed joints bleeds cold air into the roof cavity. You will not see the ducts after the ceiling is patched, but you will feel them every hot afternoon.
INSTALLING A DUCTED SYSTEM
A typical single-storey four-bedroom home in Brisbane – 180 to 230 square metres of living space, brick veneer, tiled roof, easy roof acces will set you back between $12,500 and $18,000 for a quality ducted reverse cycle system. That is not the floor. Budget-brand systems with minimal zoning can sneak under $11,000; a premium Daikin or Actron Air with six zones, air purification, and app control can push beyond $22,000. These systems are great, they cool quietly and effectively, all year round – for a cost. That cost is not something you want to be locked into for all eternity. Some ducted air conditioning salesman will tell you that you can cut those costs by zoning your system to cool only certain areas. That’s true, but to cool two rooms you are still running your 14kw condenser. When you move into a new home do you even know how to zone the air con? Most people turn it on or off – that’s all we know how to do.
We can see from the above diagram that the ducted system cools the house more evenly than the split systems. There are ten outlets in the ceiling and this equates to about 14kw of cooling capacity in the main units. The installation would take 3 men a full day to complete, though this would usually be done at frame stage during construction. The most important question for most readers is the cost difference. Is it worth an extra $5000 up front to have those hallways and peripheral areas cooled to the exact temperature of the lounge? Are you running a hospital or infirmary where the temperature needs to be so tightly controlled? Are you aware that the running costs for the ducted are around double that of the splits on the opposite side? These are questions that need to be addressed before you outlay $12k +.
RUNNING A DUCTED SYSTEM
Ducted systems cost a lot more to run than split systems. How much more? According to other industry professionals 3 – 4 x as much to run. That’s a per square metre comparison! According to Ergon energy, running your ducted just 4 hours per day will add $1662 to your annual power bill. In a Queensland summer, the air con must run all night just so you can sleep. When you add even part of the day, those costs are astronomical. One customer reported his power bill going from11kw/h per day to 44kw/h per day after the install of his ducted air conditioner. These are no isolated incidents. According to an energy watch website, the main cause of abnormally high power bills is ducted air conditioning. Once that bill comes in there’s no disputing it. There’s no refunding your outlay, you’re stuck with that ducted air conditioning system – and its associated costs – for the life of that unit.
RUNNING FROM GODZILLA
Dear Mr Oki Mura. We in Australia wish to petition for a name change for your most feared god of Destruction. We think that Albanese is a more suitable name, for a beast that lays waste to entire suburbs of houses in one foul swoop. How would you feel about a homestay student swap? You take our Albanese and we’ll take your Godzilla. Yes well, it’s not really fair is it, ok how about we throw in 12 Minke whales, a dozen dolphins and some fair penguins to make it fair? You can chop them into Sushi just don’t tell the greens or we’ll be planting trees from now until the end of days. Godzilla can live in Seaworld for a bit and then we will come up with something. Just don’t let Albanese near your immigration policy or tax office and you should be right. Don’t worry he’s got no friends here either. Unless you count the sixteen million Uber Eats drivers he just gave permanent residence to. Keep him we don’t want him back. Godzilla was a good swap.
SHOULDA RUN FASTER
If your frigy gets eaten by Godzilla before he’s finished, be sure to hose off the roof and grab his tools. Then you’ll need a few split systems in your house – so call us. Remember what we talked about. If you keep going with that ducted you will need to go into drug smuggling or pimping just to pay for it. I’m not suggesting those aren’t perfectly legitimate career choices but if you work a regular job like the rest of us, $1000+ per month is far too much to be spending on power.
WHAT IS REQUIRED HERE
You could take the same four-bedroom Brisbane home and instead of one ducted system, install four split systems—a 7.1kW unit for the open living space and 2.5kW units in each bedroom. Fully installed, that package is around $9,000 for premium split system units with Wi-Fi. You get individual room control, no roof ducts, and a lower upfront price. You don’t get the quiet arrival of cool air through a ceiling register in every room at once with one central control that can’t be lost. But you don’t get a $1000+ per bill every month for the rest of your life and probably long after your dead either. That is something that should be avoided at all costs.
So, to recap. When you and your wife were discussing what kind of air conditioning the house needs, she was really trying to tell you to get a jetski. It’s a trick they all read in Cosmo. The theory goes that – If you’re married to her – by now you should understand her wants and needs. She should not have to tell you that ‘I think its time we put in air conditioning’ meant spend all our savings on a Supercharged Yamaha GPR 1800. And when she said something about taking her to her mothers next Sunday what she really meant was play golf and go fishing. Just ask ACExpert for all the best relationship advice. We’ll get you back in the good books faster than you can say divorce.
On the off chance you get caught sneaking out with your boating cap on, you are the wife. Maybe you’re just a chicken – we will sell you an air con. We will need to see some evidence you tried to buy a personal watercraft first. This air con – its not going to help you pick up chicks down gold coast on a Sunday, but I’m sure its useful for something. See the prices page.
FUTURE RUNNING COSTS
It all comes down to one question. Three Questions. Do you want a Jetski or an air conditioner? If you choose air con then you must ask yourself. Are you sure a jetski would not be way more fun? And then only then if you are still set on buying an air conditioner – ask yourself do I want to owe the power company eight hundred million dollars to pay off at $1000+ every month for the rest of my life and ten years after I die? If the answer to that is no. Then put in splits. Or move to Canada.
There’s nothing more to see. Its time for you to go.
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