Any Experience With Ducted A2A?

[Caddy]

I've been getting quotes for an A2A system for my small 5 room stone cottage. Heat loss calc came out at 5.9kW and I've been getting quotes for 3 indoor wall unit systems (2 x 2.5kW and 1 x 3.5kW) normally. These have been coming out in the £5750 to £6000 range depending on which manufacturer they use. I was trying to decide to which installer/system to go with and how best to route the pipes so there is not a mass of pipes on the gable end of my house.

 

Then, one supplier has quoted me for a ducted system with a 7kW Daikin outdoors unit with a single concealed unit in the loft distributing a ducting run to each room. There will have to be some vertical drops through the upstairs rooms to get to the ceiling of the first floor but the layout of my house makes this really simple and easy to hide. I've not really thought about this kinds of system and wondered if anyone has had one intalled? It will provide the same heat output to all the rooms at the same time and so is not super controllable by room, but I have a small house with few doors so it might not be an issue anyway. I like the thought of an A2A system without the wall units and it seems to be a fairly simple system with just the one run of refridgerant from the outdoor unit up to the loft. The return air pickup would be on the landing and as this is open to my living room as the stairs are also open, this would also pick up any heat from my stove and re-distribute the hot air around the house (and any smells?).

 

Anyone had any experience with a system like this? The units seem to be from more on the comercial side of the industry but are all hidden apart from the outside unit which would be a Daikin Skyair Alpha. We have talked about a MHVR system add-on but Im not sure it makes much sense for me. Single person, living alone and eating a lot of sandwiches, not sure how much heat there would be to revcover for the added expense and complexity of installation.

 

The quote for the ducted system was ~£7500 depending on control systems.

[Kelvin]

That seems quite dear for what is supposed to be an inexpensive option. You don’t fit MVHR for the heat recovery as the primary reason. 

[RichardL]

Only tip from installing A2A multisplit is check how its controlled.
These systems seem to default to battery remotes each with their own time-clock - so while the flexibility of per-room temps is good - keeping all those timers at the right time is less than ideal.

 

There are more central control systems available however the price seems massively high and easier to install DIY.

Similar with ducted - I think you have central control then active dampers if individual room temp control is required.
In any event you would need some sort of duct dampers, even if fixed, to manage relative temps and avoid that workplace issue of the 'hot meeting room'

[Caddy]

On 25/01/2023 at 22:46, Kelvin said:

That seems quite dear for what is supposed to be an inexpensive option. You don’t fit MVHR for the heat recovery as the primary reason. 

 

Just had another quote from another local aircon company for 1x7kW outdoor unit and 2x2kW and 1x2.5kW indoor wall units. It was £10.4k 😮 £4.6k more than a quote for a similar system from another local company. Makes £7.5k for a ducted system seem ok to me. Prices seem to be all over the place to be fair. 

[Caddy]

On 29/01/2023 at 20:50, RichardL said:

Similar with ducted - I think you have central control then active dampers if individual room temp control is required.
In any event you would need some sort of duct dampers, even if fixed, to manage relative temps and avoid that workplace issue of the 'hot meeting room'

 

I think they balance the outlet heat/air flow at each outlet when installing, but then it's fixed and you get the same output at each vent in each room. It's this lack of individual room control thats making me pause to be honest in getting this ducted system. A wall unit system is more controllable. I could make the ducted system the same but it would be another ~£1500. The installers argument for me is that the house is so small (58sqm total) that individual room control is pretty pointless and the house would level out at a standard temp anyway.

[Kelvin]

Contact appliances direct. They sell A2A systems and can arrange installation. The quote I got was pretty good but unfortunately they don’t offer installation in Scotland.