I'm Nick. If your tenancy needs three or four rooms done and there's only one sensible spot for a condenser, a multi-head is usually the answer. The design, the install and every service after it are all me, and the work happens while your doors are shut.
A multi-head runs several indoor units off a single outdoor unit. You'll also hear it called a multi-split or a multi-zone system, and they all mean the same thing. Every indoor head has its own controller, so the front office, the treatment room and the staff room each get set to whatever suits the people in them.
The heads don't have to match. I can put a ceiling cassette in the reception area, wall units in the back offices and a slimline bulkhead unit where there's a ceiling void to hide it in. One condenser outside does the lot, which is the whole point when you've got one usable position on the roof or one corner of a car park and four rooms that need cooling.
Where the outdoor unit can go is usually what decides it. One workable condenser position and three or four rooms that need doing is the exact situation these systems were built for, and the rest of the list is what you get on top.
Most pages on this subject list the good parts and stop. Here are the two things that actually decide whether a multi-head suits your building, and I'd rather you heard them from me than found out afterwards.
One outdoor unit means one mode across the whole system. Switch it to cooling and everything that's on is cooling, so you can't heat the front office while a comms cupboard runs cold off the same unit. That catches businesses out more than anything else about these systems. It's fine in a shop or an open office where everyone wants the same thing. It's a problem the moment you've got a server rack, a comms room or a kitchen that needs cooling in the middle of winter.
If that's your building, you want VRV, which does run different modes at once. I'll tell you that at the site visit rather than sell you the wrong system and sort it out later.
Smaller multi-heads run happily on single phase. Once you're loading up an outdoor unit to cover several rooms, a lot of models want three phase, and plenty of older tenancies don't have it. Finding that out after you've signed is an expensive surprise. I check the switchboard on the first visit, and if there's a problem you'll know about it before there's a number on the quote.
There's a third one worth saying plainly. A multi-head is usually a bit dearer to buy and install than the same number of separate splits, because all the pipework and wiring runs back to one position. It earns that money back when outdoor space is tight or the appearance matters. When it doesn't, I'll say so.
Three systems that look similar on a quote and behave very differently in a building.
Each room gets its own indoor and outdoor unit. Cheapest way to do two or three rooms if you've got somewhere to put the condensers, and a fault only ever takes out one room.
Several rooms, one outdoor unit, individual control in each. The right answer when condenser positions are limited, when the building's appearance matters, or when you'd rather maintain one unit than four. All heads share one mode.
The step up. Runs more indoor units, covers bigger floors, and can heat some rooms while cooling others at the same time. More money and more design work, and worth every bit of it when the building genuinely needs it.
If the whole floor wants conditioning rather than specific rooms, ducted is a fourth option and sometimes the better spend. Check out my commercial ducted systems page.
I don't have a system I'm trying to sell you. Show me the tenancy and how you use it, and I'll tell you which of the four fits, including the ones that make me less money.
Multi-head work arrives as two very different jobs, and they turn up for completely different reasons.
Most multi-head jobs I do are tenancies being fitted out or reworked. Offices and suites with several rooms off a corridor, medical and allied health practices with consult rooms that each need their own setting, salons, small gyms, and shops with a front of house and a back room that behave nothing alike. If you're working with a builder or a shopfitter I'll fit in around their program, and I'm happy to talk to them directly rather than through you.
The other half of the work is consolidation. A business ends up with three or four wall splits fitted at different times by different people, all reaching end of life together, with a matching set of tired outdoor units on the roof. Replacing them with one multi-head clears the roof, gets everything on one warranty and one service schedule, and usually solves whatever the landlord or the body corporate has been complaining about. I take the old gear away when I'm done.
The equipment is the smaller cost on a job like this. The bigger one is the day you spend not trading, and nobody puts that on a quote.
Multi-head installs suit out-of-hours work well, because most of the noisy, disruptive part happens in one or two rooms at a time. I'll book the work for evenings, weekends or before opening, and scheduled out-of-hours work doesn't cost you extra. Tell me your trading hours and I'll build the job around them.
Where the tenancy is too big to do in a single stretch, I'll work through it room by room so you're only ever losing one space at a time, and you'll know in advance which room is out and for how long. The place gets cleaned up properly at the end of every visit, because you're opening in the morning.
Breakdowns are different. If something fails mid-trade I'll come out after hours, and that one does carry a higher fee. You'll hear the figure before I agree to come.
Multi-head jobs go wrong at the design stage, not on the tools. Undersize the outdoor unit against the total load of every head, or run the pipework too far to the awkward room, and the system looks fine in April and gives up in a January heatwave with a full shop. By then the bloke who drew it up has moved on and you're explaining your building to somebody new.
I do the load calculations, I plan the pipe runs, and then I'm the one on the ladder making them work. Nothing gets lost handing the job from a salesperson to an installer, because there's no handover.
I plan the job properly before I quote it, so the figure you sign is the figure you pay. If something genuinely unforeseeable turns up behind a wall, I stop and ring you rather than spending your money on a guess.
If your existing systems have a few years left, or a multi-head is the wrong shape for your building, that's what you'll hear. Seventeen years in the trade means I diagnose quickly and correctly, and most of what you're paying for sits in that judgement.
Brielle runs the office, I'm on the tools, and most of our work arrives through referrals and repeat customers. We know exactly what a lost trading day feels like.
Multi-head systems ask more of the equipment than a single split does, because one outdoor unit is carrying the lot. For commercial work I usually point people at Mitsubishi Electric or Daikin, which hold up under long hours and have parts available quickly when something does need attention. Midea, Gree and TCL all build capable multi-head ranges and I'm glad to fit them where the budget is the deciding factor. Tell me what you want to spend and how hard the rooms work, and I'll lay the options side by side.
From the first call to the final handover, here's how the job runs. Nothing in it should come as a surprise.
I walk the tenancy, measure the rooms, check the switchboard and work out where the outdoor unit can realistically live. No charge, no obligation.
I size the outdoor unit against the total load, map the pipe runs and put it in writing in plain English. If a different system suits you better, you'll get that priced too.
A deposit holds the job and I order the gear. When the supplier confirms it's ready we pick a date and time that works for your doors, not mine.
Heads mounted, pipework run, sealed and pressure tested, outdoor unit set and secured, then every head run under load before I call it done.
I'll show whoever runs the place how to drive each controller, set them up sensibly for your hours, and leave the space ready to open.
Six months on I'll come back and service it for nothing. After that we set a rhythm based on how hard the rooms work, and a reminder lands ahead of each visit so you're not keeping track of it.
A multi-head has one outdoor unit doing the work of several, so keeping it clean and running properly matters more than it would on a single split. Servicing, maintenance agreements and breakdown response all live on their own page.
Before you hand anyone a key to your tenancy, these are the four things worth asking about. All of mine are current.
Home base is the Gold Coast and I work the length of it, down through Tweed Heads. Bigger commercial jobs are worth travelling for, so Brisbane, the Northern Rivers, Toowoomba and Warwick are all on the table. Send me the address and I'll tell you whether it's a yes.
Weighing something up? Ring me and you'll get a straight answer, quote or no quote.
Not on a multi-head. All the heads share the one outdoor unit and it can only be in a single mode at a time, so the whole system either heats or cools. If you've got a comms room or a kitchen wanting cold air while the rest of the space wants heat, VRV is the system built for it. I'll tell you which one your building needs when I look at it.
There's no honest single answer, which is why you'll see everything from five to fourteen quoted online. What matters is the capacity of the outdoor unit against the combined load of every head you want to run. Some tenancies take four comfortably, some take more, and a couple of rooms with a lot of glass can change the maths entirely. I work it out on site.
Usually it's a bit dearer to buy and install, because all the pipework and wiring runs back to one position. It's worth it when outdoor space is limited, when appearance matters, or when you'd rather look after one unit than four. I'll price both ways so you can compare properly.
Smaller systems generally run on single phase. Larger outdoor units often need three phase, and a lot of older tenancies don't have it. I check the switchboard at the site visit, so if there's a cost involved it's in the quote instead of turning up halfway through the job.
Yes, and scheduled out-of-hours work carries no premium. Evenings, weekends, early mornings, whatever keeps your doors open. Emergency call-outs during a breakdown are the exception and do cost more, quoted to you before I head out.
Often, yes, and it's one of the most common reasons businesses call about them. It clears the roof or the wall of mismatched units, puts everything on one warranty and one service schedule, and I take the old equipment away.
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