Samsung ducted air conditioning Melbourne, for the home that already runs on an app

Every ducted unit on Samsung Australia’s current list carries Wi-Fi in the name, and that is not marketing. The system joins the same SmartThings app that runs Samsung fridges, washers and TVs, on Android or iOS, and from there you switch it on from the car, change the temperature from bed, and see the house on the Map View, a 3D plan of your home with every connected device on it. Voice control comes through Bixby, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. If you own a Galaxy phone, a Quick Remote pops up when you walk near a supported unit so you can adjust it without finding the controller.

The features we point out on the call are the energy ones. SmartThings AI Energy Mode learns how you use the system and trims the room temperature and compressor speed to cut power use, and SmartThings Energy shows you what the air conditioning is drawing so the bill stops being a mystery. Good Sleep mode nudges the temperature through the night and can start on its own when a Galaxy Watch decides you have dropped off.

Two honest notes. All of this needs a Wi-Fi connection at the indoor unit and a Samsung account, so we check the signal in the roof space before the office confirms the unit. And app control does not replace zoning: which rooms get air is still decided by the zone dampers in the ducts, laid out on your floor plan before anything is ordered. Our zoning guide shows the layouts that suit Melbourne homes.

Samsung Australia lists three ducted series, all reverse cycle on R32 refrigerant. The Wi-Fi Slim-Line Duct System comes in 7.1, 8.5, 10.0, 12.1 and 14.0 kW in single phase, with 10.0 to 14.0 kW in three phase. Samsung builds it around a lightweight, compact indoor unit, the one we look at for a three or four bedroom brick veneer with a standard tiled roof.

The Wi-Fi Premium Splittable Duct System runs from 10.0 to 18.0 kW in single phase and to 20.0 kW in three phase. Its fan section and heat exchanger section separate so the unit can be manoeuvred into a tight roof, and the larger models have a tapered fan-motor section that fits between roof trusses, with hanging brackets positioned to get in the way as little as possible. That is the answer to the period home with a small manhole and to the big double-storey on one system.

The Wi-Fi High Efficiency Splittable Duct System covers 10.0 to 18.0 kW in single phase with the same splittable, tapered design and a higher efficiency rating for the home that runs it all day. Across the range, Auto ESP Adjustment sets the external static pressure to the ductwork on its own, so the back bedroom is not starved and the hallway does not roar, and it can be fine-tuned from the controller. Samsung Australia states a 5-year warranty on its air conditioners.

Which size is right comes from floor area, glazing, insulation and storeys, not the bedroom count. Our ducted sizing guide explains how we work it out before the office quotes.

We clean and service ducted systems across Melbourne for a living, so Samsung’s hygiene features get a fair hearing rather than a sales pitch. Freeze Wash rapidly freezes and then defrosts the indoor heat exchanger at the push of a button to shed the build-up on the coil surface, dries it, and reminds you when it is due again. Auto Clean runs the fan after the system switches off cooling or dry mode so the coil dries out rather than sitting damp, which is where that musty start-up smell comes from. Both are genuinely useful in a Melbourne summer of humid nights and damp roof spaces.

What they do not do is clean the return air filter, the ducts or the outlets. Dust still lands on the filter and still has to be washed out; the ductwork still collects whatever the old system left in it. A self-cleaning coil pushing air through twenty-year-old ducts is a clean coil and a dirty house. If the Samsung is going onto existing ducts, we inspect and photograph them and tell you plainly whether they should be cleaned or replaced.

Servicing has been thought about too. Samsung gives the Premium Splittable indoor unit 3-way service access, so it can be reached from the top, the side or the base, which matters when the unit is wedged in a low roof. Our ducted service guide and Samsung service guide explain what a yearly visit covers.

Townhouses, estate lots and subdivided blocks put the outdoor unit close to someone else’s bedroom, and this is where the Samsung range earns its place. Night Silence mode drops the outdoor unit’s sound level by 3, 5 or 7 dB(A), either automatically six hours after the day’s peak temperature or on a timer you set, based on Samsung’s own testing. We still place the outdoor unit for noise and service access first, on a pad or brackets, away from the neighbour’s window where the block allows it.

The Samsung ducted job we are asked about most is replacing a gas ducted heater. The old heater comes out of the roof or from under the floor. The gas line is capped by a licensed gasfitter. The ducts are inspected and photographed. Then the indoor unit is hung on isolation mounts, a licensed electrician runs the dedicated circuit, ARC-licensed technicians connect the refrigerant and commission the system in heating and cooling, SmartThings is set up on your phone, and the roof is photographed before it is closed.

That changeover is the job that can attract the Victorian Energy Upgrades discount, when the heater is still connected, is the home’s main heating and the new unit is an eligible model. We arrange the discount through our accredited installation partners so it comes off your quote up front. The gas ducted to reverse cycle guide and the replace gas ducted heating page set out the conditions.