What's different about St Ives
High and inland
St Ives is 18 km north of the CBD at 171 m. The Upper North Shore gets cooler in winter the further inland you go, so heating is a real part of the job here.
Bush on two sides
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park lies to the north and Garigal National Park to the east and south-east.
Post-war growth
The suburb's fastest expansion came after the Second World War, spreading from the shops out over the hilltops and valleys. So many houses here are several decades old, and so may be their heating.
Owner-occupied houses
At the 2021 Census, 66.1% of homes were separate houses and 26.1% flats or apartments. 41.8% were owned outright and 39.9% with a mortgage.
Heating and cooling a large St Ives house
The ACT Government guide says ducted or multi-head systems suit houses larger than 180 m2. For a big St Ives home, a ducted reverse cycle system with zones lets you heat the living areas in the evening and the bedrooms overnight, without running the whole house. ActronAir notes zoning needs the right temperature sensors to stay efficient.
Compare heating capacity, not just cooling. The energy label shows heating output at 2 degrees, and that's the figure for a cold Upper North Shore morning. If you're replacing old ducted gas heating, the ACT Government says the old ducts are too narrow to reuse for reverse cycle. More on ducted heating replacement.
Next to the bush
Leaves and twigs collect around an outdoor unit near trees. Keep a clear space around it, and ask the installer to place it where it gets air and won't fill with litter. If it's in a hard-to-reach spot, every service takes longer, so think about access on a sloping block.
What we'd do
What we'd do in St Ives
We'd look at a zoned ducted reverse cycle system for a large house and choose it on heating figures first. If the old system is ducted gas, we'd plan for new ducts rather than assume the old ones can stay. We'd keep the outdoor unit clear of the bush litter. We'd want a ducted specialist who works on the Upper North Shore regularly. Tell us about the job: licence-checked local installers who do that work will see it, and only the one who takes it gets your contact details. Should nobody near St Ives take it within 48 hours, installers elsewhere in New South Wales may see it too.
