Mete Erdogan and Georgia King were deep into their house hunting journey when they stumbled upon an unexpected gem in Melbourne’s north. With an orange vinyl bar in the living room, wild shag carpets and retro 1970s light fixtures, the home was full of eccentric charm. It wasn’t the kind of house they had envisioned buying, but the four-bedroom home was in great condition, spacious and affordable. The couple didn’t think twice.
And so, the “Shag Manor” project began. Determined to preserve the Coburg home’s character while updating it for modern living, the first-time renovators set to work. They pulled up the dated carpet and polished the oak floorboards, replaced patterned wallpaper for brightly painted walls and were excited to enjoy their new home – until the cold crept in.
“I remember taking a video the first time we truly experienced the cold. If only we knew how much worse it was going to get. A couple of months later, our thermostat consistently read nine degrees and we knew we needed a solution,” said Georgia.
“We love every part of this house, but it was just too cold to be in most rooms, so we camped out in the two rooms that had the original split systems – the bedroom and the kitchen.”
Like many Melbourne homes, Shag Manor had an underfloor gas ducted heating system. But when the couple went to switch it on, they discovered a carbon monoxide issue. Now they had the challenge of finding an energy efficient solution to retrofit in their home, that used their existing underfloor crawlspace and offered both heating and cooling for comfort in the extremes of the state’s climate.
After much research, they realised that many systems would only solve half their problem – keeping them warm in winter, but not cool in summer.
When they looked at Panasonic’s electric Ducted system, they felt it had the flexibility they needed. As well as keeping the environment comfortable year-round, it also offered the versatility of underfloor or ceiling installation and would be easy and non-invasive to install.
“Our whole ethos was to restore over renovate, but we found a lot of solutions were quite invasive to introduce to our home,” explained Georgia. “We wanted to keep it underfloor and avoid going through the ceiling as it would have disrupted our pressed plaster, checkerboard panels.”
Installing the Panasonic system was simple and straightforward. Mete and Georgia used the nine existing ducts beneath their house and added one more in the hallway. The system can also be retrofitted into the roof cavity or installed new, making it a versatile option for homes across Australia.
Mete added: “One of the most convenient, easy parts of making this house liveable was installing the ducted heating. Now the entire system sits seamlessly within our existing old house.”
Mark Loecherer from HVAC installers Fraser and Mountain Group (F&M) was responsible for the installation. “Converting from gas to electric heating and cooling with Panasonic is simple. We just need to access under the floor and get our equipment inside to install the indoor unit. All the ducts are interchangeable and the outdoor unit just gets replaced, so it’s very easy for installers,” said Mark.
Mete and Georgia are thrilled with their new system. It keeps them warm in winter, will keep them cool in summer and importantly, it’s quiet, so they can enjoy a good night’s sleep even when it’s on, as well as peaceful mornings and evenings. Their cat Lila is also a fan and curls up over the underfloor heating ducts.
The only room in Shag Manor that does not have underfloor heating is the sunroom because the beautiful, retro terrazzo floors were laid directly on a concrete slab. The large windows meant it was difficult to regulate the temperature, and it was often uncomfortably hot or cold. To ensure that Mete and Georgia can enjoy this room like the rest of the house, a Reverse-Cycle nanoeTM X air conditioner was the perfect solution.
“As the sunroom is Lila’s favourite room – and where her cat tower is – the air purification is particularly useful because it removes any odours that she might come up with… and as an added bonus, it also hydrates the plants!” said Georgia.
For the best experience, Mete and Georgia use Panasonic’s Comfort Cloud App to control the temperature of both systems in the house remotely.
“The new system is great when we’re coming home after watching a movie or having dinner. Once we hop in the car, we open the Comfort Cloud app, switch on the heating and when we get home, it’s the perfect temperature as soon as we walk through the door.”
“It’s great for energy efficiency too because it gradually reaches the correct temperature before you get home. If you go full blast until it’s the right temperature, your power bills go through the roof. Letting it go up gradually saves us energy,” said Mete.
As a final touch in their renovation project, the duo wanted to find a bathroom solution to combat Melbourne’s weather extremes. They turned to Panasonic’s Bathroom Thermo Ventilator and Exhaust Fan – installing one in the master bathroom and one in the laundry. These units warm the bathroom, dry towels and gym gear, prevent mirror condensation, eliminate odours and feature a cooling function for hot days.
“It pushes out the heat so quickly, so it’s always dry and crisp in here, and we don’t have to wipe down the mirror after we get out of the shower. Plus, it also has the drying function so our towels and gym gear can completely dry between uses,” said Mete.
Commenting on the benefits of Panasonic’s solutions, Joe De Bella, Group Manager for Air Conditioning at Panasonic Australia, shared the ethos behind the design and elements of its product development.
“At Panasonic, we continue to pursue innovation and new technologies with versatility, ease of use and reliability always top of mind. It has been a privilege to support Mete and Georgia during their renovation and help them modernise their 1970s property, working together to find the right solutions that don’t compromise the heritage of the house.”
Panasonic’s air conditioning solutions are available for both residential and commercial applications. For more information, to locate a dealer or to request a quote, visit our website here.