Melton
VEU Gas to Electric Heating and Cooling Upgrades in Melton
Melton's established suburbs are full of homes that were built with a gas ducted heater and an evaporative cooler in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and many of those heaters are now on their last winters. The Victorian Energy Upgrades program exists for exactly that situation. This page explains what a proper whole-home conversion involves in a Melton home, where cooling matters as much as heating.
- Gas heater removed and decommissioned to program requirements
- Ducted reverse cycle system designed for Melton's hot summers as much as its cold winters
- New insulated ductwork and outlets, because the gas ducts will not carry the airflow
- Eligibility checked at the site visit and confirmed in the written quote
What a real conversion involves in a Melton home
A lot of VEU quotes describe the job as swapping the gas heater for a reverse cycle unit. In a typical Melton home a proper whole-home conversion is more than that. The gas ducted heater is removed and decommissioned as the program requires. The evaporative cooler is usually removed too, or kept if it is sound and you want it. A new ducted reverse cycle system is installed, sized for the house, with completely new insulated ductwork, new supply outlets and a proper return air. It heats the home in winter and cools it in summer from the one system, and it usually takes one to two days on site.
The ductwork is the part that matters most, and the part most often skipped. The ducts that served a gas heater were designed for a gas heater: smaller, less insulated and laid out for warm air. A reverse cycle system moves more air at a lower temperature, and in a Melton roof space in January a poorly insulated duct loses a large share of its cooling before the air reaches the room. Our guide on reusing gas heating ducts explains why we never reuse them.
Designed for Melton’s summer
Melton is a cooling town first. The system is sized on the home’s real heat load in both directions, with the cooling side calculated for a 40 degree afternoon on a west-facing estate home with little shade. Zoning follows how the household lives, and in double storey homes upstairs and downstairs are zoned separately, because the bedrooms upstairs hold heat long after the living areas have cooled. The outdoor unit is positioned for airflow, noise and service access on Melton’s compact blocks, and the switchboard and circuit are checked for the new load as part of the assessment.
The systems
We install ActronAir and Rinnai ducted reverse cycle systems, for which we are factory-trained dealers buying direct from the manufacturers, and we have substantial hands-on experience installing Mitsubishi Electric ducted systems. For whole-home comfort in a family home ActronAir is our premium recommendation; the Melton ducted reverse cycle page explains the zoning and variable-capacity operation that keep running costs down through a Melton summer. We recommend one system for your house rather than list three.
Where a full conversion is not the right answer
Some Melton households only want the heater replaced and the cooler kept, in which case a new gas ducted heater may be the better spend, and in some homes a Braemar Dominator direct replacement suits the existing ductwork. Our guide on keeping the evaporative cooler when going electric covers the cooler question. We install all of these, so the recommendation follows the house rather than the incentive.
The program, briefly
The replaced gas heater must be decommissioned so it is permanently unusable and removed, and the work must be documented. Only accredited providers can apply the discount, and only approved equipment qualifies. VEU rebate administration for Macedon Ranges Gas & Air projects is processed under Melbourne Gas & Air, another trading name of the same legal entity; the accreditation details that apply to your job are shown in your written quote. We handle the decommissioning, the documentation and the discount as part of the installation. Eligibility rules and discount amounts change, so we confirm them for your home at quote time rather than publishing a figure here; the VEU eligibility page explains what we check.
Local knowledge
What we see in Melton
A cooling town that also needs heating
Melton gets Melbourne's hottest, driest summer days and cold winters. In a Melton conversion the cooling side of the system is not an afterthought: the capacity, the duct insulation and the zoning are designed for a 40 degree January afternoon as carefully as for a July morning, and upstairs and downstairs are zoned separately in double storey homes because the top floor holds heat into the evening.
1980s to 2000s gas heaters reaching the end
Melton, Melton South, Melton West, Kurunjang and Brookfield have a large stock of homes whose gas ducted heater has done twenty or thirty winters. When a heater that age fails, the money is being spent either way, and the question is whether it buys another gas heater or a system that heats and cools the whole house. We install both, so the comparison is honest.
Heater and cooler due together
In the established Melton streets the gas heater and the evaporative cooler are usually the same age. A whole-home conversion heats and cools through its own ducts, so the heater is removed and the cooler is kept or removed after inspection, which settles both decisions in one job.
Compact blocks and neighbours
Melton blocks, especially in the newer estates, put the outdoor unit close to a neighbour's bedroom window or fence line. We choose the outdoor position for airflow, service access and noise, with the neighbours in mind, and select equipment that runs quietly at part load.
Our own team in Melton
Our local team services Melton and the surrounding suburbs. The assessment, the installation and the follow-up are done by our own in-house team, not a subcontracted crew.
Why our installations perform
The MRGA Standard
What a properly designed and installed system includes, and what our quote is built around.
Sized for your home, not a rule of thumb
We size heating and cooling from the home: floor area, ceiling heights, insulation, glazing, orientation and how the rooms are used. An oversized unit short-cycles and an undersized one runs flat out on the coldest and hottest days, which is exactly when you need it.
New, correctly insulated ductwork on every ducted reverse cycle installation
Ducted systems live or die by the ducts. A new ducted reverse cycle installation gets new ductwork, sized for the system's airflow, insulated to the current standard, sealed at every joint and supported so it does not sag or kink in the roof. We do not reuse old gas-heating ductwork for a new ducted reverse cycle system. When a gas ducted heater is replaced like for like, the existing ducts can stay where we have inspected them and they are suitable.
Return air and outlets placed for even comfort
Outlet positions, return-air size and location decide whether the back bedrooms are as comfortable as the living room. We design outlet placement and return air for the floor plan and confirm it with you before installation day.
Zoning and sensors where they help
Zoning lets you heat or cool the rooms you are using. Where a system is zoned we set the zones around how the home is lived in, and place temperature sensors where they read the room rather than a hallway or a draught.
Factory-trained dealers
Trained by the manufacturers, buying direct
We are factory-trained dealers for ActronAir, Brivis and Rinnai and purchase equipment directly from these manufacturers.
We also install, service and repair all major heating and cooling brands, including Mitsubishi Electric.
Accountability
9Year Labour & Workmanship Warranty
It applies to the installation work our own team does. Equipment is covered by the manufacturer's warranty, repairs and servicing carry their own workmanship warranty, and pre-existing or reused components are not covered by the nine years.
Gas to Electric Whole-Home Upgrade in Melton: your questions
Is my Melton home eligible?
Eligibility depends on the program's current rules, the heater being replaced, the equipment going in and the provider doing the work. We check your situation at the site visit and confirm the discount that applies to your job in the written quote. Amounts change and depend on the home, so we do not publish them on this page.
Can the new system use my existing gas heating ducts?
No. Every ducted reverse cycle system we install gets new, correctly insulated ductwork sized for its airflow. Gas heating ducts are commonly too small, poorly insulated and laid out for a heater rather than air conditioning, and in Melton's summers poorly insulated ducts in a hot roof space cost you cooling before it reaches the room. New ductwork is in the quote from the start.
Will it cool the house on a 40 degree day?
Yes, when it is sized for it. We calculate the cooling load for the house as it is, including orientation, glazing and the roof space, and select a system with the capacity to hold the set temperature on the hottest Melton afternoon rather than one sized for a mild day.
What happens to my evaporative cooler?
It can stay or go, decided with you after inspection. Many Melton households remove an old cooler in the same job because the new system cools through its own ducts; others keep a sound cooler for cheap dry-day cooling. Our guide on keeping the cooler when going electric sets out the trade-offs.
How long does a Melton conversion take?
Typically one to two days on site, depending on the size of the home and how much ductwork is being replaced.
Get in touch
Request a written quote in Melton
Prefer to talk? Call 1300 369 400, monday to friday 8:00am to 5:00pm, Saturday 9:00am to 1:00pm.