What Baldivis homes usually need
Baldivis is the City of Rockingham's biggest suburb, with 37,697 people at the 2021 Census. Its western half was zoned for housing in the 1990s, starting with Stockland's Settlers Hills, and it has filled in estate by estate since. East of Baldivis Road it's still mostly flat rural land.
Newer single-storey houses with a ceiling space are about the simplest homes there are for ducted air conditioning. One outdoor unit, ducts through the roof and outlets in each room. Reverse cycle gives you heating for winter nights too.
Zoning is what makes ducted sensible in a big house. ActronAir says it works through dampers in the ducts that open and close, and Daikin's example puts bedrooms in one zone and living areas in another. ActronAir also notes the whole system heats or cools at one time, so zones can't run one hot and one cold.
Baldivis at a glance
Houses, mostly new
Separate houses made up 95.5% of the 12,397 occupied homes in 2021, with townhouses and semis at 3.3% and apartments at 0.4%. The City of Rockingham as a whole grew from 24,740 people in 1981 to 135,678 in 2021.
Mortgaged and owner-occupied
59.3% of homes were owned with a mortgage and 22.2% were rented. If you've recently bought, find the builder's handover papers: the model, the installer and any warranty conditions will be in there.
Inland of the beach
Baldivis sits about 11 km south-east of Rockingham. In Bureau of Meteorology averages, January maximums climb as you move inland from the coast, so plan for warm afternoons once the sea breeze fades.
Rural blocks to the east
On the rural side, outdoor units and evaporative coolers can sit a long way from the switchboard. Ask how the cable and pipe runs will go, and where the drain water ends up.
Questions to ask before signing a ducted quote
- Did you work out the size from a heat load for this house, or from floor area alone?
- How many zones, and which rooms are in each?
- Where will the outdoor unit and the return air grille go?
- Who does the electrical work, and what's their EC number?
- What maintenance does the brand's warranty need, and who can do it?
What we'd do
If it were our Baldivis home
We'd get ducted reverse cycle sized from a proper heat load, with at least a living zone and a bedroom zone, and we'd compare written quotes at our own kitchen table, not on the spot. If the house already has a system, we'd have it serviced before summer and only then decide whether it needs replacing. And we'd want someone who does ducted systems week in, week out.
