Start here
Types of heating and cooling systemsStart with the rooms you actually use.
For a whole home, the real choice is usually between split systems room by room, a multi-head that runs several rooms from one outdoor unit, or ducted for the lot. Evaporative coolers, portables and window units fill narrower gaps. Find the line below that sounds like your house and start there.
Is central air conditioning the same as ducted?
Yes. Central air is the American name for what we call ducted: one hidden indoor unit, an outdoor unit, and a duct to a vent in each room. Ducted reverse cycle heats and cools, while gas ducted heating only heats.
House size is the first filter. The ACT Government's buyer's guide draws the line at 180 square metres: under that, splits usually make sense, and over it, ducted or a multi-head.
The three whole-home options side by side
| Split systems | Multi-head split | Ducted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's in the house | One indoor unit per room or open area | Several indoor units sharing one outdoor unit | One hidden unit and a vent in each room |
| Outdoor units | One per indoor unit | One | One |
| Efficiency in the ACT guide (CoP) | 3.7 average, 6.4 excellent | 3.7 average, 5.1 excellent | 3.5 average, 5.0 excellent |
| Running only some rooms | Switch on just the units you need | Rated very good: unused rooms turn off | Limited to good, depending on the system |
| Read more | Split systems | Multi-head splits | Ducted systems |
Systems for particular jobs
No good wall for an indoor unit? A ceiling cassette sits in the ceiling, and a floor console sits low, which also suits heating.
Hot, dry summers? Evaporative coolers need windows open and do nothing in winter.
Renting, or one hot room? Read portable or split first, and window and wall units if there's already a box in the wall.
Heating is the main job? See heat pumps for heating.
Comparing models? The inverter and energy ratings pages explain the labels, and the sizes pages cover kW.
What we'd do
Where we'd start
Write down the rooms you heat and cool on a normal day, then think about the size of the house. One or two rooms points to splits. A large home, or most rooms in use, points to ducted or a multi-head. Still torn? The split or ducted quiz takes a couple of minutes, and an installer who does your kind of system every week can settle it on site.
System types
- Split systems explainedWhat a split is, how it heats and cools, and the rooms and homes it suits.
- Ducted systems explainedHow ducted works, which homes it suits, and what makes one job bigger than another.
- Multi-head splits explainedOne outdoor unit, several rooms: how multi-heads work and the catch to know.
- Ceiling cassette air conditionersSplit systems that sit in the ceiling: where they suit a home, and what to check.
- Floor-standing air conditionersFloor console splits: why they suit heating and rooms short on wall space.
- Window and wall air conditionersBox units in a window or wall: where they still make sense, and their limits.
- Portable air conditioner or a split system?How portables really perform, when one makes sense, and when a small split is better.
- Evaporative coolers explainedHow evaporative cooling works, where it suits, and how to get the most from one.
- Heat pumps for heatingHow reverse cycle heats from outside air, and how it copes on frosty mornings.
- Inverter air conditionersWhat inverter means, how it differs from fixed speed, and what to check instead.
- Energy ratings and efficient air conditionersHow to read the zoned label and find an efficient air conditioner for your climate.
Read next
- 01Split or ducted?Four questions that point you towards splits, a multi-split or ducted.
- 02Split systems or ducted?House size, the rooms you use, zoning and efficiency: how to pick between splits and ducted.
- 03Split system sizesEvery split system size from 2 kW to 10 kW, and the rooms each one suits.
- 04What size air conditioner do I need?Rough kW sizes by room, what changes them, and how an installer should check the number.
- 05Evaporative or refrigerated cooling?How each kind of cooling works, why humidity matters, and what each one needs from your home.
- 06Reverse cycle or gas heating?Efficiency, cold mornings, carbon monoxide and the Victorian gas rules, in plain terms.
Where this information comes from
- ACT Government, Sustainable Household Scheme Heating and cooling your home: a guide to reverse cycle systems (PDF), 27 March 2023
- Mitsubishi Electric Australia Air Conditioner Buying Guide, 28 October 2026
- Seeley International Reverse cycle vs evaporative cooling: what works best in Australian homes?, 28 October 2026
- Seeley International How does evaporative cooling work?, 28 October 2026
We don't publish prices. Every home is different, so an installer's written quote is the only real number. How we write and check these pages.