Air Conditioning Charnwood
Charnwood's established Belconnen housing stock benefits significantly from modern reverse-cycle upgrades.
- ARCtick licensed
- 5-year workmanship warranty
- 4.9★ Google rating
- 10+ years across Canberra
What we know about Charnwood homes
- Older gas ducted replacements
- Ducted retrofits common
Air conditioning in Charnwood — what actually matters
Charnwood is quintessential 1970s Belconnen — single-storey brick-veneer on quarter-acre blocks, most with original ceiling insulation that's now compacted to about half its rated R-value.
Charnwood's housing stock is broadly 1970s, which means clean truss roof cavities, generous eaves for outdoor unit placement, and enough block area on most sites to sit a condenser well away from bedroom windows. That combination makes Charnwood one of the more predictable ducted retrofit suburbs — quotes rarely surprise us on site.
A big share of Charnwood homes still run their original gas ducted heating from the 1980s or 90s — typically Brivis, Vulcan or Bonaire. As those systems fail we replace them with reverse-cycle ducted, reusing the existing ductwork where a pressure-and-leak test passes. When it doesn't (about a third of jobs) we re-duct with insulated flexible duct rated for the new system's static pressure.
Near Charnwood shops we do a steady stream of switchboard upgrades ahead of ducted installs — a lot of the original 1970s boards were built for single-phase 63A supply and don't have the spare capacity for a 14 kW ducted outdoor unit plus induction cooking plus EV charging. We coordinate the electrical upgrade in the same visit.
Typical pricing in Charnwood
Indicative supply-and-install ranges for standard Charnwood homes. Every quote is fixed after an onsite check.
| System | Range (installed) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single split (2.5–3.5 kW) | $2,100–$2,800 | Bedroom or study add-on |
| Living-area split (5.0–7.1 kW) | $2,700–$3,700 | Standard back-to-back install |
| Multi-split (3 heads) | $6,200–$8,200 | Common for extension retrofits |
| 4-zone ducted (12–14 kW), single-storey | $12,000–$16,000 | Typical Charnwood 4-bed retrofit |
| Switchboard upgrade (add-on) | $1,800–$3,500 | Common on pre-1990 wiring |
Case example — Charnwood 4-bed brick veneer ducted retrofit
Original 1982 four-bedroom near Charnwood shops with a failed 30-year-old Brivis gas ducted system. Existing ductwork passed leak testing after minor resealing, so we reused it and fitted a Mitsubishi Electric 14 kW ducted unit with 4 zones and MyAir 5 controls. Switchboard was upgraded from an old ceramic-fuse board to a modern 100A three-phase unit in the same visit. Owners report holding 21°C set-point through a cold July week at roughly half the running cost of the old gas system. Two-day install.
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