One of the biggest questions Melbourne homeowners ask about ducted reverse cycle is what it actually costs to run. The honest answer is that it depends — mostly on how well the system is zoned, how efficient it is, your electricity tariff, and how much you use it. The good news is that a well-set-up system is genuinely economical, because a heat pump delivers several units of heating or cooling per unit of electricity, and zoning means you only condition the rooms you are using. This guide explains what drives the cost and how to keep it low.
What Drives Running Cost
Four things determine what a ducted reverse cycle system costs to run: its efficiency (COP), how it is zoned, your electricity tariff, and your usage. Efficiency sets how much electricity it takes to deliver a given amount of heating or cooling. Zoning sets how much of the home you are conditioning. Your tariff — including whether you have solar or off-peak rates — sets the price per unit of electricity. And usage is simply how often and how long you run it. Get the first two right and the system is economical; the chart below shows how much zoning alone changes the bill.
COP — the Efficiency Multiplier
The reason a heat pump is cheap to run is its Coefficient of Performance (COP). Because it moves heat rather than generating it, it delivers more energy as heating or cooling than it consumes as electricity — typically a COP of 3 to 5. A COP of 4 means every dollar of electricity buys about four dollars’ worth of heat compared with a simple electric heater. This multiplier is what makes reverse cycle competitive with gas and far cheaper than electric resistance heating. A higher-COP system costs a little more to buy but less to run, paying back over its life. See our how it works guide.
How Zoning Changes the Bill
Zoning is the biggest lever you control. A ducted system can condition the whole home or just selected zones, and the difference in running cost is substantial — conditioning only the rooms in use can cut the bill by up to around 30% compared with running the whole house. In practice that means heating the living areas during the day and the bedrooms in the evening, rather than every room all the time. A well-zoned system is the difference between ducted reverse cycle being expensive and being economical. See our zoning guide.
Indicative Annual Running Cost
For a medium Melbourne home, a well-zoned ducted reverse cycle system used sensibly for both heating and cooling across the year might cost in the region of $900 to $1,500 a year, while running the whole home unzoned can lift that to $1,400 to $2,200. These are indicative figures only — your actual cost depends on tariff, usage, the system’s efficiency and especially whether you have solar. They are shown to illustrate the impact of zoning, not as a quote.
How It Compares to Gas
Against gas ducted heating, a modern, well-zoned reverse cycle system is comparable or cheaper to run for heating in Melbourne, and the gap widens with higher efficiency and better zoning. Crucially, electrifying removes the gas daily supply charge — a fixed cost you pay regardless of usage — which improves the all-in comparison further. And of course the same system also provides cooling, which gas heating cannot. See our full reverse cycle vs gas comparison.
How to Reduce Running Cost
- Zone aggressively — only condition the rooms you are in.
- Set sensible temperatures — every degree of extra heating or cooling adds cost.
- Run on solar where possible — daytime cooling and heating on self-generated power is nearly free.
- Keep filters clean — restricted airflow makes the system work harder.
- Service it annually — a tuned system runs at its rated efficiency.
- Insulate and seal — less heat loss/gain means less work for the system.
FreshDuct services and optimises ducted reverse cycle systems across Melbourne. Call 0431 918 137.