I have found most aircon shops can tell you what will be best for your needs, which are quieter etc. usually the cheaper ones are noisier and less energy efficient. We bought one for our last house for our bedroom from retrovision, they were very helpful and we bought one with low noise setting (quiet mode). Most reputable companies are very helpful. You can just buy them from retrovision and privately installed and still get good advice, we have a 130 metre square house and we have Panasonic 3kw, it easily does half the house. The house is well insulated, and we a door in living area that closes the area off from rest of house. We have a smaller fijitsu in front of house which is pretty good as well. No complaints with either.

Hi there! I know how you feel so this is what I would do.... Choose the bed that doesn't fight with the white shutters eg unfortu ately the leather..beautiful, my choice but the criss cross padded buttoning will have the horizontal stark white shutters above .I would want that stunning leather bed be the hero piece. Personally if possible I would change shutters to black same as wall if they have to be there. Sorry I'm not answering your question however although it's not my favourite, the plainest wooden style would probably be the easiest (but not the most stylish) choice. Good luck and all the best!

You could get an AC tech to come out and take a look, but you'll have to pay them. Otherwise, you'll need to get up into the ceiling and have a look. Check that none of the ducts have come loose from any sockets, that there are no rips or missing insulation. Ideally the ductwork should look shiny and not deteriorated. 8 years shouldn't be long enough for it to wear out too much. Have a look at where all the outlets are. Is there one in each room? You want to make sure the system has been designed properly in the first place. Try and find the model number written on the outdoor unit, and look up the kilowatt rating online. As a rough guide, the system should be sized to at least 100 Watts per square metre floor area in the house. So a 200sqm house would need 20kW (rule-of-thumb estimate, there are many other factors). Look for the return air grille (usually egg-crate style). It will probably be located in a hallway or similar area. These tend to collect dust on the ceiling side where they draw air back up into the system. If the house is for sale it might have been cleaned. You should be able to open it up and have a look at the filter. This will give you some idea of how frequently the AC has been serviced (if at all). Lastly you could turn the system on and see how noisy it is. Very noisy fans may indicate that bearings are wearing out and might need to be replaced. Fortunately Daikin are a mainstream brand, there's lots of companies that can service them and should be able to get parts if need be. An 8-year-old system should be readily serviceable, but I guess you're hoping to avoid a breakdown as soon as you buy the house. Heating & cooling is usually the biggest energy expense in a house (hot water is second place) so if you can get the last year's worth of power bills you can have a look if the running cost is reasonable. Overly-high running costs would indicate either a design problem with the system (not set up correctly) or with the house (inadequate insulation or shading) or a mechanical fault in the AC. No point having an AC system that you can't afford to run. Hope that helps!

Hi T Whit, Firstly, congratulations. How lovely to have 10 acres and a view! Also really glad that you are taking the sensible approach and aren't rushing into anything. Perhaps the best place to start is finding an architect or building designer with whom to work through your ideas and come up with a concept. Whether you engage an architect or building designer really depends on three things: your budget, the size of your project and, probably the most important thing, finding a professional person with whom you feel comfortable working. The whole process will always run more smoothly when a good working relationship is established. Once you have a plan you are happy with, it may also make sense to engage an interior designer to look it over prior to submitting to council or beginning construction, to see whether the flow of the internal design is optimal and where any adjustments might be made. Once you have council approval, it's costly and time-consuming to make significant changes as you'll then need to re-submit the plans. An interior designer can also help with exterior colours and finishes, selection of all the internal finishes, lighting, fixtures & fittings and would be able to provide detailed design of kitchens, bathrooms, built-in joinery etc. which trades will need. There are so many details to consider in any building project, so best to have as much of it as possible worked out before the project gets underway. Having said that, it's also an "organic" process and your ideas and tastes may well change during the design process, so it's good to have people you can trust on board to help with important decision-making and to workshop ideas. Best of luck with your project!