🌞 Winter Specials! | 🌡️ AC, Heater & Split System Cleaning | 💧 Evap Cooler Service | 🔍 HVAC Inspections | 📞 Call Today for a Free Quote!
🌞 Winter Specials! | 🌡️ AC, Heater & Split | 💧 Evap Cooler | 🔍 HVAC Check | 📞Free Quote!
Refrigerated add-on cooling fitted to an existing gas ducted heater across Melbourne, 7 days a week. A cooling coil goes in line with the heater, a condenser goes outside, and the same ducts and vents deliver cold air in summer. We check the heater and the ducts first, tell you plainly if a full changeover is the better spend, and you pay after the job.
Tick two or more and it is time to book — every one of these gets worse, never better, on its own.
Add-on cooling keeps your gas ducted heater and gives it a second job. A refrigerated cooling coil is fitted in the roof space, in line with the heater, so the heater’s own fan pushes air across it. A condenser goes outside on a slab or a wall bracket, and insulated refrigerant pipework links the two. The coil sheds water as it cools the air, so a condensate drain is run to a proper outlet and never left to drip onto the ceiling. The heating-only controller is swapped for one that runs both, and a licensed electrician wires the dedicated circuit the condenser needs.
Not every heater takes an add-on. The coil has to physically fit, the heater’s fan has to move enough air for cooling, and the two have to be able to talk to each other. Heaters sold as dual heating and cooling systems are built for it; many older units, and units already short on airflow to the far rooms, are not. That is why the job starts with a look at the heater model, the fan and the roof space rather than a price off a chart.
The whole thing is installed by licensed electricians and ARC-licensed technicians, with the refrigerant lines pressure-tested and vacuumed before a valve is opened. You get photos of the coil, the condenser and the drain when it is done.
Add-on makes sense when the gas heater is in good order with years left in it, the ducts are sound, and what you want is summer cooling through the same vents without touching the heating. It is one coil, one condenser and a controller, and the heater keeps doing the winters it is good at.
A full changeover makes more sense when the heater is getting old, the gas bills are climbing, or you would rather be off gas altogether. A ducted reverse cycle system heats and cools from one electric unit, and because it replaces the gas heater rather than sitting beside it, that changeover is the job the larger Victorian Energy Upgrades discount is built around. Add-on cooling is not: a cooling-only unit does not heat, so it does not qualify at all. We say that up front because a lot of advertising for add-on cooling implies otherwise.
The honest maths is age plus ducts plus gas. A younger heater with tidy ducts is an add-on candidate. A heater near the end of its life with tired ducts is a changeover, and the discount usually settles it. Tell the office the heater’s brand and age and they will talk you through both, with a free estimate for each. Our guide to adding cooling to ducted heating covers the third option too: split systems in the rooms that matter.
Heating ducts were sized and insulated for heating. Cooling asks more of them. The coil adds resistance, so the fan has to push harder through the same runs, and a duct that was already borderline on the far bedroom becomes a duct that barely delivers. And a cold duct lying in a roof space that runs far hotter than the air outside on a January afternoon sweats and warms up unless its insulation is good and its joints are sealed.
So before we recommend an add-on we look at the ducts the way we look at them on a cleaning job: the size of the runs, the state of the insulation, the joints and the outlets, and the size of the return air. Some older homes pass with a clean and a few resealed joints. Some need a bigger return air grille so the fan is not starved. Some have flattened, split or uninsulated flex that should be replaced before anyone spends money on a coil. We photograph all of it and show you.
Sometimes the right answer is not add-on at all. If the ducts are at the end of their life, new ducts plus a ducted reverse cycle unit is a better spend than new cooling through old ducts, and it is the version that comes with the discount. Our duct replacement guide explains what we look for, and our ducted heating cleaning crews are the ones who look.
No VEU discount applies to add-on cooling. The Victorian Energy Upgrades heating and cooling discount is for installing a high-efficiency reverse cycle air conditioner that both heats and cools, and the larger ducted discounts are tied to a gas heater being decommissioned as part of the job. An add-on coil and condenser only cool, so the product rule is not met, and the gas heater stays connected, so there is no decommissioning to claim either. Any advertising that attaches a rebate figure to add-on cooling is describing a different job, and you should ask which one.
If the discount matters to your decision, the path that carries it is the full changeover on our replace gas ducted heating page, where FreshDuct arranges your VEU discount through our accredited installation partners and it comes off the quote up front. The office will put both figures in front of you on the same call, so you are choosing between two real quotes rather than a headline. Our VEU heating and cooling discount page explains how the discount works and who it is for.
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Every item below is part of the job, not an extra line on the invoice.
Brand, rough age, how many outlets and where the heater sits. The office gives you a free estimate over the phone for add-on and for a changeover.
Heater model, fan, roof space and ducts are checked and photographed. The office confirms the firm price before any work.
The coil goes in line with the heater, the condenser outside, the pipework and circuit are run, and the system is commissioned in both modes.
You see the coil, the condenser and the drain, run it yourself, and pay after the job.
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“Cannot say enough about Gabriel and his team. They were very professional with their job. He taught me what I am supposed to know about vents and how to take care of them. They did an amazing job.”
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“Our ducts had not been cleaned in 9 years. I was really happy with their professionalism and speed. They respected our house rules and the air in my home is really fresh and clean.”
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“Outstanding service! Manny was very professional and polite. This is by far the most thorough cleanup that we have experienced. All vents were cleaned and sanitised.”
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“Adam and his team were professional and very service oriented. They provided detailed before and after pictures to confirm the work and effort. Highly recommend FreshDuct.”
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“Tom and Eddie did an outstanding job cleaning my air ducts. I scheduled my appointment yesterday and the job was completed within 24 hours. Very satisfied with the service.”
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“We had pet stains and a bad smell in the carpet and air ducts. After FreshDuct visited, the house smells fresh and clean again.”
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“Our house flooded in the storms with over a metre of water. FreshDuct came recommended by our neighbours and arrived the same day.”
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“They were clear up front about pricing and exactly what was included. Very thorough from start to finish.”
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Often, yes. If your gas ducted heater has the space, the fan capacity and a compatible control board, a refrigerated coil is fitted in line with it and a condenser goes outside, so the vents you already have deliver cooling in summer. Older or undersized heaters sometimes cannot take an add-on, and that is what the compatibility check settles before anything is ordered.
It is quoted per job, because it depends on the heater, the capacity of coil your home needs, how far the condenser sits from the roof space and what the ducts need. The office gives you a free estimate over the phone, confirms the firm price before any work, and you pay after the job. We put the full changeover figure beside it so you can compare.
No. The Victorian Energy Upgrades discount requires a reverse cycle unit that both heats and cools, and the larger ducted discounts are tied to decommissioning the gas heater. Add-on cooling only cools and the heater stays connected, so it does not qualify. If a discount matters to you, the changeover to ducted reverse cycle is the path that carries one.
Many do, some need work and a few should be replaced. Cooling needs sound insulation, sealed joints and enough return air, and heating-only ducts were not always installed with that in mind. We inspect and photograph the runs before recommending an add-on, and if the ducts are at the end of their life we say so, because new cooling through failing ducts disappoints everyone.
Heaters sold as dual heating and cooling systems are built for it, and some models from the major gas ducted brands have a matching coil available. Older heaters, heaters with small fans and units already struggling to push air to the far rooms are the usual ones that cannot. Give the office the brand and rough age and they will know quickly.
For cooling on a hot day, a properly sized add-on through sound ducts performs well. The differences are in the rest: a ducted reverse cycle unit also heats, gets you off gas and is the version the VEU discount applies to. If the heater is young and the ducts are good, add-on is the sensible spend; if not, changeover.
Yes, if the system is set up for it. Motorised dampers in the duct runs and a zoning controller let you cool the living areas by day and the bedrooms by night instead of the whole house at once, which is where the running cost comes down. Whether your existing duct layout suits zoning is part of the inspection, and we tell you either way.
Many jobs are a single day: coil and controller first, then the condenser, pipework and circuit, then commissioning in both modes. Duct repairs or a new return air add time, and the office tells you the day plan when they confirm the price. The heater is reconnected and running before we leave.
The same ceiling or floor vents deliver the cooled air, so nothing changes in the rooms. The return air grille is the part that sometimes has to change: cooling moves more air than heating and a small return starves the fan, so a larger grille, or a second one, is a common part of the job.
FreshDuct fits refrigerated add-on cooling to existing gas ducted heating across metropolitan Melbourne, with licensed electricians and ARC-licensed technicians. The heater is checked for compatibility, the ducts are inspected and photographed, and the coil, condenser and controller are installed and commissioned in both modes. Quoted free over the phone, firm price from the office before any work, and you pay after the job.
A cooling coil is fitted in line with the gas heater in the roof space, a condenser is placed outside, and insulated refrigerant lines and a condensate drain connect them. The heater’s fan moves air across the coil, so the existing vents deliver cooling in summer and gas heating in winter from one controller. The heater itself is untouched.
Cooling needs better insulated, better sealed ducts than heating alone, and enough return air to feed the fan. Because FreshDuct cleans and inspects ducted heating systems every day, the duct check is part of the job: sound runs are kept, poor joints are resealed, and crushed or uninsulated flex is called out for replacement before any coil is ordered.
No VEU discount applies to add-on cooling. The Victorian Energy Upgrades discount is for a reverse cycle unit that both heats and cools, most often replacing a decommissioned gas heater. A cooling-only add-on with the gas heater still connected does not qualify. The discounted path is a full changeover to ducted reverse cycle, arranged through our accredited installation partners.
All of metropolitan Melbourne, 7 days a week — and if your suburb is not listed, we still come to you. The office confirms the details for your address when they call with your free estimate.
One electric system that heats and cools the whole house through the ducts, new install or changeover.
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The full changeover: gas heater decommissioned, ducted reverse cycle in, and the VEU discount off the quote.
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Roof unit off, condenser in, ducts assessed for reuse, and the roof flashed over.
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Add-on coil, full ducted refrigerated, or splits in the key rooms, compared plainly.
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The duct clean and inspection that tells you whether your runs are ready to carry cooling.
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What the Victorian discount covers, who is eligible, and why cooling-only units are not.
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Tell us the heater’s brand and age and how many outlets you have. The office gives you a free estimate over the phone for add-on and for a full changeover, confirms the price before any work, and you pay after the job.
