Ducted Air Conditioning Plymouth
Ducted air conditioning in Plymouth, designed and installed by HPE Airflow SW Ltd. A ducted system hides the equipment entirely above the ceiling and leaves only slim grilles on show, which makes it the answer for period property, listed buildings and interiors where a visible unit would be wrong.
We are F-Gas certified for the refrigerant work and an NICEIC Approved Contractor for the electrical side, so one team completes the whole job.
How a ducted system works
Instead of a unit sitting in the room, the indoor half is a concealed fan coil hidden in a ceiling void, a loft space or a cupboard. Flexible ducting runs from it to grilles or linear diffusers set into the ceiling. Air is drawn back through a return grille, treated, and pushed out again.
From inside the room, there is nothing to see beyond the grilles, and those can be specified to be genuinely discreet. In a period room a slim linear diffuser reads as part of the ceiling detail rather than as equipment.
One concealed unit can feed several rooms from a single position, which is often more elegant than fitting three separate indoor units and running pipework to each.
Ductwork, grilles and getting the airflow right
With a ducted system the unit is only part of the job. The ductwork determines whether it performs, and it is where corners get cut on cheaper installations.
Duct sizing is the first thing. Push the required volume of air through ducting that is too small and the system becomes noisy, loses capacity and works harder than it should. The noise is the part customers notice: a ducted system should be close to silent in the room, and when it is not, undersized ducting or too many tight bends is usually why.
Route matters as much as size. Every bend adds resistance, and a run with several sharp changes of direction can cost more performance than the equivalent length of straight duct. Planning the route at design stage, before ceilings are closed up, is what makes the difference.
Insulation on the ductwork is not optional. Uninsulated duct running through a cold loft loses the cooling or heating you have paid for before it reaches the room, and in cooling mode it will sweat and eventually drip through a ceiling.
Grille positioning is the last piece. Supply and return grilles need enough separation that the system is not simply recirculating the air it has just conditioned, and the supply should not be blowing directly onto where people sit. In a well designed installation you notice the temperature and not the system, which is the entire point of choosing ducted in the first place.
When ducted is the right choice
Listed and period property. This is the main reason people come to us for ducted. Where a wall box is unacceptable, whether by taste or by planning, hiding everything above the ceiling solves the problem.
High-specification interiors. New builds and full renovations where the design will not tolerate visible hardware, and where the ceiling can be planned around the ducting from the start.
Multiple rooms from one unit. Several bedrooms off one landing, or a run of small offices, can be served from a single concealed unit.
Hotels, holiday lets and restaurants. Guests should notice the comfort and not the equipment.
We cover the commercial side of this in more detail on our commercial air conditioning installation page.
What it costs you in practice
We would rather be straight with you about the trade-offs than sell a ducted system to someone who does not need one.
It costs more than a wall-mounted unit, sometimes considerably more, because there is ducting, grilles and often builder’s work involved. It needs somewhere to hide the unit and route the ducts, so it is far easier during a renovation than as a retrofit into a finished house with no loft access above the rooms in question. And future access matters: the concealed unit still needs servicing, so there has to be a way of reaching it.
Where those conditions are met, it is the best-looking solution available. Where they are not, a ceiling cassette or a wall unit will do the same job for less money, and we will say so.
Heating as well as cooling
Like any split system, a ducted installation reverses and heats. In a period property with solid walls and limited options for radiators, that can be genuinely useful: warmth delivered through the ceiling without touching the plasterwork or the panelling.
For properties with no mains gas, it can take on a large part of the heating load on its own.
Equipment and servicing
We fit Daikin as our main range, with Daikin certification CI35, and we also work with Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Hitachi equipment.
Ducted systems need servicing like any other, and because the unit is concealed, access is planned at installation rather than discovered later. We also take on repairs on ducted systems fitted by other firms, including tracing the causes of poor airflow through badly installed ducting.
Why choose ducted over a wall unit?
Because nothing shows except the grilles. It exists mainly for rooms where a white box on the wall is unacceptable: listed buildings, period interiors, high end refurbishments and hotels. Performance is comparable; the difference is what you can see.
Where does the unit actually go?
The indoor half is a concealed fan coil hidden in a ceiling void, a bulkhead, a loft or a cupboard, with ductwork running from it to grilles in each room. Only the grilles are visible.
Is it more expensive than a split system?
Yes, usually noticeably so, because of the ductwork and the building work around it. We would rather tell you that up front than sell a ducted system to someone who would be perfectly happy with a split unit.
Can it be retrofitted to an existing house?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on whether there are routes for the ductwork. A loft, a bulkhead or a suspended ceiling makes it feasible. A solid floored house with no voids usually does not. It is a survey question, not a phone question.
Does the ductwork affect how well it works?
Considerably. Duct runs that are too long, too tight or poorly insulated lose performance and add noise, and badly positioned grilles create draughts and cold spots. On a ducted system the design of the ductwork matters as much as the equipment.
Does it heat as well as cool?
Yes. Like any split system it reverses, so it heats in winter as well as cooling in summer, and it does so efficiently.
Arrange a survey
Call 07789 373208 or send an enquiry. A ducted job needs a proper look at the building, so the survey is where this one really starts.
We cover Plymouth, Plympton, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge and the South Hams and Launceston. Email info@airflowsouthwest.co.uk