Gas Ducted Heater Replacement in Sunbury: Your Three Real Options

When a Sunbury gas heater is finished

Sunbury gas ducted heaters do a full winter every year and most give fifteen to twenty years. The usual end comes when the heat exchanger cracks, when the heater needs a fan motor and a control board in the same winter, or when it becomes the thing you cannot rely on in July. At that point the decision is not just “which heater” but “which kind of system”, and because Sunbury homes so often have the heater outside or under the floor, and because Sunbury summers make cooling worth having, the answer is less obvious here than it once was.

We install gas heaters, the Braemar Dominator and full ducted reverse cycle systems, so the advice you get is about your house rather than about what we happen to sell.

Option one: a new gas ducted heater

A new Brivis or Rinnai gas ducted heater, matched to the home’s heat load and connected to the existing flue, gas supply and ductwork where they are suitable. This is the quickest and usually the least expensive path. For a Sunbury home with sound ductwork, a good gas connection and a separate evaporative cooler that still has years in it, it is often the right one.

We size the new heater on the house, not on the badge of the old one. Heaters were often oversized in the past, and a correctly sized modern unit runs longer, quieter cycles and heats more evenly. We are factory-trained dealers for both Brivis and Rinnai and buy direct from the manufacturers.

Option two: Braemar Dominator direct replacement

The Braemar Dominator is designed by Braemar as a direct replacement for a gas ducted heater mounted outside the house or under the floor: an electric reverse cycle unit that goes in the position the gas heater came out of and connects to the existing ductwork and outlets where they are suitable. It heats and cools through the same vents, so a Sunbury home gets refrigerated cooling for the humid days evaporative cooling struggles with, without holes in the ceilings.

To be upfront about what is involved: the return air is upsized, a new return air duct and a new supply duct are run, and the first fitting is replaced. That work is part of the quote. Whether your particular ductwork meets the manufacturer’s conditions is something we confirm in the roof at the site visit, not something we assume.

Option three: whole-home gas to electric conversion

Replacing the gas heater with a ducted reverse cycle system that heats and cools the whole house, usually with support from the Victorian Energy Upgrades program. In our experience a proper conversion commonly involves removing the gas heater, often removing the evaporative cooler, and installing a new ducted system with new ductwork and outlets, because the ducts that served a gas heater are frequently too small or too poorly insulated for reverse cycle airflow. It is the biggest of the three jobs and the one that transforms the house most. The Sunbury gas to electric page goes through it in detail.

How we help you choose

The site visit is where this gets decided. We inspect the heater, flue and gas supply, get into the roof space to look at the ductwork, return air and outlets, ask how the house is used and which rooms matter, and check whether the household is likely to be eligible under the VEU program. Then we put the realistic options in writing with what each includes, so you can compare them properly. If only one option makes sense for your home, we say so.

The warranty

Our 9 Year Labour & Workmanship Warranty covers the installation work on every replacement we do. The heater or reverse cycle unit carries the manufacturer’s product warranty, which we manage for you. Existing ductwork and components that are reused are not covered by our warranty, which is why we only reuse what we have inspected and are prepared to stand behind.