23/09/2026
Which Is Actually Cheaper Long-Term? Ducted or Split System
It’s one of the first questions we get asked on almost every job: ducted or split system, and which one actually saves you money over time? The honest answer is “it depends”, but not in a cop-out way. It depends on a few specific things about your home and how you use it.
Upfront cost: split systems win, easily
There’s no getting around it, a split system is the cheaper option to get a foot in the door. A single quality split system typically lands somewhere between $2,500 and $3,500 fully installed. Ducted air conditioning is a bigger investment: for most homes you’re looking at anywhere from $8,500 up to $18,000-plus once you factor in the indoor and outdoor units, ductwork, zoning, a controller, and all the electrical and refrigeration work. Larger or more complex homes can push that higher again.
Running costs: it comes down to how much of the house you’re actually cooling
This is where it gets more interesting. A single split system is cheap to run because it’s only conditioning the one room it’s in, no ductwork, no losses along the way. If you’re only ever cooling one or two rooms, a split system will almost always be the cheaper option to run, year after year.
But most households don’t stay in one room. If you’re regularly running two, three, or four split systems around the house to keep everyone comfortable, the running costs start adding up, and a well-designed, properly zoned ducted system can end up matching or even beating the combined cost of multiple split units, while giving you even, whole-of-house comfort instead of a hot hallway between cool rooms.
The long-term picture
Add it all up over, say, a ten-year period, and split systems generally still come out cheaper in raw dollars, largely because the upfront cost gap is so large that running-cost savings from ducted rarely close it within that timeframe. Ducted air conditioning does have one thing going for it beyond comfort, though: it tends to add more to your home’s resale value than a scattering of split systems, which can offset some of that upfront cost if you’re planning to sell down the track. It’s just not usually something that pays for itself purely on power bills alone.
So which one should you actually get?
If you’re cooling one or two rooms, or you’re renting, or budget is the main driver, split system, every time. If you’re building, renovating, or trying to cool most of the house and you’re sick of a patchwork of wall units, ducted is worth the bigger number, both for comfort and for what it does for the value of the place.
The truth is the “right” answer depends on your home’s layout, insulation, how many rooms you actually need cooled at once, and your budget, which is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to get right from a blog post and easy to get right with someone standing in your house.
If you’re weighing it up, give the team at Ford & Doonan a call. We’ll look at your home, talk through how you actually use it, and give you an honest answer on what makes sense, not just the option with the bigger commission.
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