Ducted Air Conditioning Cost in Perth [2026]

The ducted air conditioning cost in Perth is typically $8,500–$15,000 installed for a reverse cycle system in a single-storey home (AUD, prices include GST), rising to $15,000–$20,000 or more for double-storey homes. Because Perth’s summers are dry, ducted evaporative cooling is a genuine, cheaper alternative at roughly $3,500–$7,500 installed, so price both before you decide.

Here’s what Perth installers charge by home size, what sits inside a quote, how reverse cycle and evaporative compare in Perth’s climate, and what each one costs to run on WA’s electricity tariff.

Perth’s Dry Climate Makes This a Two-Way Decision

In most Australian cities, choosing ducted air conditioning means choosing reverse cycle. Perth is different. It shares a climate zone with Sydney and Adelaide, but its summers are far drier than Sydney’s, and dry air is exactly what evaporative cooling needs to work well. That’s why so many Perth roofs already carry an evaporative unit.

Evaporative cooling has one clear limit: it can’t heat. Perth winters are mild, but you’ll still feel the cold in an uninsulated home, and a reverse cycle system handles heating and cooling from the one unit. So the real question in Perth is whether you want the lowest cost for summer cooling, or one system that covers the whole year. If you’re weighing up the same decision in Brisbane, the answer flips: humidity rules out evaporative there, as our guide to ducted air conditioning cost in Brisbane explains.

For how the physics works and how every major city compares, see our evaporative cooling cost guide.

Ducted Air Conditioning Cost in Perth by Home Size

Four Perth sources publish prices for ducted reverse cycle systems: installers Global Cool Air, Ford & Doonan and Perth City Air, plus sparky.fyi, which collects what homeowners actually paid. Together they give these ranges:

Home size	Typical system	Typical installed cost
Small (2–3 bedrooms, single-storey)	~7–10 kW, 4 zones	$8,500–$11,500
Medium (3–5 bedrooms, single-storey)	~10–14 kW, 4–6 zones	$10,500–$15,000
Large (4–6 bedrooms, single-storey)	~14–16 kW, 6 zones	$12,200–$16,000
Double-storey	~16–20 kW, 6–8 zones	$15,000–$29,000

Prices include GST (September 2026). The double-storey band is wide because it covers everything from a modest two-level home to a large one with eight zones and twelve outlets.

Treat installers’ “from” prices as the floor. Perth City Air starts at $8,500 and Ford & Doonan’s calculator at $9,950, yet seventeen Perth homeowners who shared what they actually paid between 2023 and 2026 report a median of $16,950 (sparky.fyi). Before you compare two quotes, ask what each “from” price includes: zones, outlets, the controller and removal of your old system are where the number grows.

What’s in a Perth Ducted Quote

Few price guides break a quote down. Global Cool Air does, and it’s a useful checklist for reading your own:

• The unit: from about $2,800 to more than $10,000 on its own, depending on brand and capacity (kW).
• Installation: around $2,500 for a small single-storey home, $3,500 for a medium one and $5,000 for a large double-storey home, on top of the unit.
• Controller and zoning: smart controllers and zoning systems add $1,200–$2,500+. One homeowner reported paying $2,500–$3,000 for an AirTouch controller alone.
• Extra zones: each additional zone adds roughly $700–$1,000 in parts and labour.
• A second storey: the biggest jump. On Ford & Doonan’s calculator, a 16 kW system for a large single-storey home comes in at $13,500–$16,000, while an 18 kW double-storey system runs $17,000–$29,000.

Ask each installer to list these as separate lines. When two quotes for the same house differ by thousands, the controller, the zone count and upper-floor ducting usually explain most of the gap.

For how zones and capacity move the price nationally, see our ducted air conditioning cost guide.

Ducted Reverse Cycle vs Ducted Evaporative in Perth

Global Cool Air publishes prices for both systems, so the comparison comes from the same installer:

Home size	Ducted evaporative, installed	Ducted reverse cycle, installed
Small, single-storey (2–3 bedrooms)	$3,500–$5,500	$8,500–$11,500
Medium, single-storey (3–5 bedrooms)	$5,500–$7,500	$10,500–$15,000
Large, multi-storey (4–6 bedrooms)	$7,500–$10,000+	$15,000–$20,000+

Evaporative costs roughly half as much to install, and far less to run. Global Cool Air puts evaporative running costs at $0.14–$0.35 an hour at around 30c/kWh, depending on the unit’s power draw. Sustainability Victoria’s modelling shows evaporative running at a quarter to a tenth of the cost of an unzoned reverse cycle system, depending on the reverse cycle system’s efficiency.

Water is the cost Perth homeowners forget. Water Corporation, WA’s state water utility, says an evaporative unit can use up to 100 litres an hour in Perth’s hottest weather, and more than 30,000 litres over a summer of six-hour days. Check the water use as well as the electricity before you settle on evaporative.

Already have evaporative and want reverse cycle? You can’t reuse the ducts. Evaporative ducting isn’t insulated for refrigerated air, so switching means removing the rooftop unit, patching the roof and installing new insulated ductwork. Air & Water, a Perth installer, confirms the conversion costs more than a standard new installation, though it doesn’t publish a figure. Budget for it at the full new-installation prices above, not at replacement prices.

Running Costs in Perth

Most WA households pay a single regulated electricity rate, Synergy’s A1 tariff, and from 1 July 2026 it’s 33.26c per kWh plus $1.19 a day, including GST (WA Government; Synergy). Unlike the east coast, there’s no open retail market to shop around in, and no peak or off-peak split on the standard tariff, which makes your running cost simple to work out.

Multiply your system’s power draw in kW by the hours you run it, then by 33.26c. For evaporative, that works out at the $0.14–$0.35 an hour above. For reverse cycle, the draw depends on the unit’s efficiency and how many zones you run at once, so ask your installer for the unit’s rated power input and use that figure rather than its cooling capacity: a 14 kW system doesn’t draw 14 kW of electricity.

Two habits cut the bill whichever system you choose: zone the home so you only condition the rooms you’re using, and book a service before summer. Global Cool Air charges from $350, including GST, for a standard ducted service.

Finding a Perth Installer

• Check the ARCtick licence. Anyone installing refrigerated air conditioning in Australia needs one to handle refrigerant.
• Get two or three quotes. The gap between the $8,500–$9,950 “from” prices and the $16,950 median homeowners report is the best argument for comparing.
• If you already have evaporative, ask for both options in one visit. Have each installer quote a like-for-like evaporative replacement and a switch to reverse cycle after looking at the same roof space, so you compare the two with the same information.

The Bottom Line

In Perth, ducted reverse cycle costs $8,500–$15,000 for most single-storey homes and more for two storeys, while ducted evaporative costs about half that and much less to run. If summer cooling is all you need and water use doesn’t worry you, price evaporative seriously; if you want heating too, reverse cycle is the system to quote. For evaporative prices by brand and a closer look at running costs, read our evaporative cooling cost guide; for zone and kW pricing, our ducted air conditioning cost guide.

Frequently asked questions