Fully Ducted Air conditioning

[MTR]

Hi All
Would like your opinion on this.

I am building 3 villas shortly and will have reverse cycle air conditioner in the family room. It will be substantially more to have fully ducted, do you think it actually adds value??

As it is Perth its shocking in summer, however would I get more for the units, I somehow doubt it, however probably a nice feature/luxury, perhaps easier to sell??

Also, on another point, my builder mentioned that most of the units/villas he builds do not have baths, this would have saved $1500 per unit, live and learn.


Thanks
MTR

 

[MRO]

What suburb and what is the expected sales price?

As you know, different markets will expect different levels of fit outs.

The layout would also effect the need too.
My place has good verandas and the bedrooms stay relatively cool so we just have ceiling fans and a wall unit in the living room.

 

[Macca]

IMO ducted air adds twice what you pay for it in value to the unit.
Makes them easy to rent at a premium which means you get slightly better tenants (hopefully )

I also believe it improves the sale price as people think of it as being a little luxury that is already there so can be justified.

 

[sanj]

Hi All
Would like your opinion on this.

I am building 3 villas shortly and will have reverse cycle air conditioner in the family room. It will be substantially more to have fully ducted, do you think it actually adds value??

As it is Perth its shocking in summer, however would I get more for the units, I somehow doubt it, however probably a nice feature/luxury, perhaps easier to sell??

Also, on another point, my builder mentioned that most of the units/villas he builds do not have baths, this would have saved $1500 per unit, live and learn.


Thanks
MTR

spearwood villas? no way would it be worth getting ducted imo. i dont think the units will sell for a dollar less if they have only got splits, aircons are relatively cheap for people to get installed nowadays anyway (for splits)

design your places right in terms of orientation, have anticon/similar under roofs, use a tin roof instead of dark tiles, have eaves and insulate them right and youre already on the way to making a huge dent in perth's shocking summers.

would be an utter waste of money imo.

 

[Snoopy]

i am in the same situation; either put in splits (will need 2 as there is an attic as well) or fully ducted. In my case i think the answer is easier as the difference between 2 splits and fullu ducted is not great...

Another option is to have the ducting done which is not as expensive but the buyer can decide if they want to pay for the fully ducted system.

 

[westminster]

For Gwelup I'm going ducted because that is the market but for other areas I think a split system is fine.

For Spearwood I would think split system would be fine or at the most ducted evaporative. No way would I be spending $10-15k on ducted reverse cycle as I doubt I'd be seeing a profit - even a break even on that.

A bath? I would spend that $1500 to make it appeal to everyone. I think there is the potential to turn off more people than appeal.

 

[MTR]

spearwood villas? no way would it be worth getting ducted imo. i dont think the units will sell for a dollar less if they have only got splits, aircons are relatively cheap for people to get installed nowadays anyway (for splits)

design your places right in terms of orientation, have anticon/similar under roofs, use a tin roof instead of dark tiles, have eaves and insulate them right and youre already on the way to making a huge dent in perth's shocking summers.

would be an utter waste of money imo.

Sanj
Yes, Spearwood.

I think your comments are wise, have to weight everything up. For this area I also think split is OK.

Westminster
I would do Gwelup project with ducted as well, different entry level, you would need this I think.

Interesting about the baths, I posted a while back on SS and that is in part why I went for baths to appeal to a broader market. As I said my builder mentioned that he rarely has these included, perhaps this is the way the market is going. Will see what RE agents have to say about this.

 

[Joe D]

As it is Perth its shocking in summer,

In our PPOR in Perth we had rc ducted aircon installed for heating.

Cooling in summer was a bonus!

I would also recommend having a bath, particularly if renting to families.

 

[sanj]

Sanj
Yes, Spearwood.

I think your comments are wise, have to weight everything up. For this area I also think split is OK.

Westminster
I would do Gwelup project with ducted as well, different entry level, you would need this I think.

Interesting about the baths, I posted a while back on SS and that is in part why I went for baths to appeal to a broader market. As I said my builder mentioned that he rarely has these included, perhaps this is the way the market is going. Will see what RE agents have to say about this.

Personally i would include the baths in yours simply because it isnt a lot of money.

having said that though my perth project i did 3 or so years ago was a $1m 3x3 house without a bath and not a single person commented on that. same with my current maylands 2x1 duplexes where i removed the bath and added a 2nd toilet, no one mentioned it as an issue.

with yours being a 3x2 in the suburbs though i think it's more likely to maybe have kids living there so would probably be wise

i disagree with myf's post about ducted evaporative though, i would consider that to be a waste of money as most people nowadays would look and it and say that they would have to pay for aircon to go in

 

[MTR]

Sanj
Do you mean that no one wants evap anymore, it is cheaper to run??

 

[MTR]

In our PPOR in Perth we had rc ducted aircon installed for heating.

Cooling in summer was a bonus!

I would also recommend having a bath, particularly if renting to families.

We do to, I would not be without this, our summers are just way too hot.

Back to baths, I think I am going to stick with keeping these in for reasons you all mentioned, it is not really a lot money, could cost me more if I can't sell.

 

[neK]

If im a buying a brand new house and I saw evap cooling, my mentality would be "what else did they cheap out on".

Retro fitting an older house is different to buying a brand new house.
If i was worried about cost, why would I buy a brand new house when i could buy an older house?

That said, im from Sydney, so don't know the perth at all.
In my IP's i put in A/C (splits) to attract potentially better tenants. I would not waste my time with ducted.

The only time i would put ducted is
1. There's a chance i might move in myself
2. I'm selling it and its an upmarket area.

 

[sanj]

Sanj
Do you mean that no one wants evap anymore, it is cheaper to run??

it may be cheaper to run but it is also a bit rubbish on the hottest days which is when you would want them. imo it is also a bit of a perception issue as per nek's post below.

doing a lot of the things i mentioned a few posts ago would drastically reduce the need for aircon anyway which would mean it is just necessary on the hottest days and some nights and the evap of course wouldnt work well on those hottest days.

 

[westminster]

Yes I would only do evap as last resort. I think a split system in a small house/villa is much better. Because split systems are so much better and economical I think the evap market has all but disappeared.

The 6 star energy rating and therefore better design of current housing makes them a lot better than houses most of us currently live in. So a split system is quite capable of cooling much of a 6 star villa.

Those black roofed, no eaved, 'tuscan' villas of the 90/00s must be torture to live in.