Installation
Complex and custom installations
Some houses do not suit a system out of a catalogue. Solid brick with no roof cavity, a split level added in the seventies, raked ceilings, a heritage frontage you cannot touch, or a property with a main house and two other buildings. If you have been told your place is too hard, this is the part of the job we are best at.
Prefer to talk? 1300 369 400
- 9 Year Labour & Workmanship WarrantyOur installation workmanship is backed by a nine-year labour and workmanship warranty.
- Fully in-house team, no subcontractorsThe people who quote your installation are the people who turn up to do it.
- Options explained, written quoteWe talk you through the suitable options and what changes between them, then put it in writing.
Why so many Ranges homes get written off
The Macedon Ranges has a housing stock most installers are not set up for. Goldfields cottages, weatherboard farmhouses, grand old places on Mount Macedon, mud brick, rammed earth, and a lot of architect-designed homes built on difficult blocks. Very few of them look like the standard suburban house that heating systems are designed around.
What usually happens is an installer prices the job the only way they know how, finds the house does not allow it, and tells the owner it is not possible or quotes a number designed to make them go away. The house is not the problem. The approach is. We take these jobs on because they are the interesting ones: working out how to get conditioned air into a 130 year old house without touching the cornices, or how to heat a place with a double-height void that has never felt right.
The situations we get called for
If your home is on this list, it is exactly the sort of job we want
- Period and heritage homesSolid brick, stone, lath and plaster, ornate ceilings and no roof cavity worth using. The work has to go around what makes the house worth keeping, not through it.
- No roof spaceFlat roofs, cathedral ceilings, or a cavity you physically cannot work in. Usually solved from underneath or outside rather than abandoned.
- Split levels and additionsHouses that grew over decades, where each part behaves differently. These need a zoning strategy, not one system pointed at the whole place.
- Raked ceilings and voidsHeat behaves completely differently in a double-height space. Outlet placement and sizing matter far more here, and getting it wrong is why some rooms never feel right.
- Large and multi-building propertiesMain house, studio, converted barn, guest wing. Sometimes one system zoned well, sometimes two that suit how each building is actually used.
- New builds and renovationsBring us in early and duct routes, plant positions and electrical capacity get designed in rather than worked around. Cheaper and neater than retrofitting later.
- Mud brick and alternative buildsRammed earth, mud brick, strawbale and passive designs all hold and lose heat differently. Sizing these off a floor plan alone is how people end up disappointed.
- Solar and off-grid homesIf you are running solar or a battery, the system should be chosen and controlled around it. Plenty of Ranges properties can shift most of their heating and cooling load onto their own generation.
What a complex job actually looks like
We look properly first. Subfloor, roof cavity, wall construction, ceiling type, electrical capacity, where plant can realistically sit. You cannot design around a house you have not been under.
You get options, with trade-offs. Usually there is more than one way to do it. We lay out what each approach costs, what it involves and what it compromises, then let you choose rather than presenting one number.
Nothing hidden until invoice. If a job needs extra work, you hear it at quote stage. We would rather lose the job up front than surprise you halfway through with something we saw coming.
Straight answer either way. If something genuinely is not worth doing, or another approach suits you better, we say so.
Worth knowing: an external or underfloor system solves a lot of homes that get written off for having no roof space, and a multi-head system covers several rooms without any ductwork at all. Where the job replaces gas heating, the VEU program may apply.
Questions we get asked
I have been told my house cannot be done. Is that true?
Rarely. Usually it means the installer priced the job the only way they know how and the house did not allow it. An external or underfloor system, a multi-head system, or a properly zoned design solves most homes that get written off for having no roof space.
Do you charge for the site visit?
No. A complex job is won or lost before anyone picks up a tool, so we look properly first: subfloor, roof cavity, wall construction, ceiling type, electrical capacity, plant positions.
Will you give me options?
Yes. Usually there is more than one way to do it. We lay out what each approach costs, what it involves and what it compromises, and you choose.
What if it is genuinely not worth doing?
We say so. Sometimes the honest answer is a smaller job than you came to us for, or a different approach that suits you better.
Get in touch
Got a house nobody else wants to quote?
Prefer to talk? Call 1300 369 400, monday to friday 8:00am to 5:00pm, Saturday 9:00am to 1:00pm.