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Room Decision System

Air & comfort

Cooling, cooker extraction and airflow — the systems that keep a Sarawak home comfortable and mould-free.

Each decision below is shown three ways — what it changes in use, which way it moves the cost, and how it looks. Price-free; ALUMAX confirms the figure.

Room

Specialists: Air-conditioning & ventilation

Design concept showing air & comfort realised in a room
Design concept

Air-conditioning

SpecialistAir-conditioning & ventilationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Fans only / no ACBaseline
  • Wall split unitEssentialLow
  • Ceiling cassetteSignatureModerate
  • Concealed ducted / zonedBespokeHigh
See what each option changes
Fans only / no AC
In use
Ceiling and wall fans move air but do not cool or dehumidify — in Sarawak's heat and humidity rooms stay warm and still air invites mould.
Cost impact
Baseline — specialist quotation required
How it looks
No indoor unit or piping on the wall — the cleanest ceiling and wall lines.
Wall split unit
In use
The standard room-by-room cooler — one indoor unit per room, easy to service; the condensate drain and copper must be planned before the ceiling closes.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A wall-mounted indoor unit sits high on one wall; piping is concealed when planned early.
Ceiling cassette
In use
Recessed into the ceiling and blowing from four sides for even cooling, it frees the walls — but needs ceiling depth and an access panel.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A flush square grille in the ceiling — no wall unit, the calmest walls.
Concealed ducted / zoned
In use
Hidden air-handling ducted to slim linear grilles gives whole-home zoning and the quietest, most even comfort — the most planning and ceiling void.
Cost impact
High — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Only a slim linear slot shows — the unit disappears entirely.
Take this into your room plan

Cooker extraction

SpecialistAir-conditioning & ventilationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Recirculating hoodBaseline
  • Ducted to outsideEssentialLow
  • Heavy-duty / semi-outdoor exhaustSignatureModerate
See what each option changes
Recirculating hood
In use
Filters and returns air with no ducting — easy to retrofit, but in a Sarawak wet kitchen it cannot clear heavy wok grease and steam well.
Cost impact
Baseline — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A compact hood over the hob; no external vent needed.
Ducted to outside
In use
Pulls grease, steam and heat right out of the house — essential for daily wok cooking; the duct run to an external wall is planned early.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A hood ducted through the wall or ceiling; the duct is concealed above the cabinets.
Heavy-duty / semi-outdoor exhaust
In use
A powerful exhaust for a semi-outdoor wet kitchen clears the heaviest smoke and keeps the dry kitchen clean; sized to the run.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A larger canopy or wall exhaust — a purpose-built look in the wet zone.
Take this into your room plan

Ventilation & air movement

SpecialistAir-conditioning & ventilationTechnical decisionGet specification / site review
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Natural / passive ventsEssentialBaseline
  • Mechanical exhaust fanLow
  • Ceiling fanLow
  • Fresh-air / heat-recovery systemBespokeHigh
  • Louvred / adjustable ventsSignatureModerate
See what each option changes
Natural / passive vents
In use
Designed-in openings — high-level wall vents, air-brick grilles, ridge or eave vents — that let hot, damp air rise and escape with no power at all. In Sarawak's constant humidity they stop a room turning stale or mouldy, and they keep working through a blackout.
Cost impact
Baseline — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Almost invisible — slim grilles or louvred slots tucked high on a wall or into the eaves, reading as quiet architectural detail.
Mechanical exhaust fan
In use
A powered fan that pulls cooking grease, steam and heat straight outside — essential over a wet-kitchen hob and in a windowless bathroom, where Sarawak humidity would otherwise breed mould and lift paint. Wipe the grille clean every so often.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A compact grille on the wall or ceiling — functional and discreet; slimline or backlit models read tidier over a feature counter.
Ceiling fan
In use
Moves air across a whole room so skin cools even when the air is hot and sticky — the everyday answer to Sarawak heat, and far cheaper to run than air-conditioning. A direct-drive quiet motor sips power; blades need an occasional dusting.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A ceiling centrepiece as much as a function — timber-blade, matte-black or brushed-metal models set the tone; keep the drop-rod right so blades clear sightlines.
Fresh-air / heat-recovery system
In use
A ducted system that continuously swaps stale indoor air for filtered fresh air, stripping humidity and dust on the way in; a heat-recovery core keeps the incoming air near your cooled indoor temperature, so it adds little to the air-conditioning load. It holds mould, pollen and haze at bay in a sealed home — filters need periodic changing.
Cost impact
High — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Almost nothing shows — only slim supply and extract grilles in the ceiling; the plant sits hidden above a bulkhead or in a service void.
Louvred / adjustable vents
In use
Angled blades you can open, close or tilt — draw in a cross-breeze on a dry day, then shut them against driving rain or a flood-season downpour. Aluminium blades shrug off the damp and will not rot or draw termites the way timber can.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A crisp run of horizontal blades that doubles as facade or screen — reads as a deliberate architectural line and casts a soft banded shadow indoors.
Take this into your room plan

Each decision's badge shows who supplies it. A real figure belongs only to what ALUMAX supplies; appointed-trade works — electrical, air-conditioning, ceiling, flooring, painting, data and security — are quoted by the trade, and loose items are the owner's own purchase. ELS specifies and coordinates throughout. Cost is a relative direction only, never a price; maintenance is described in each option's “In use”.

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Air & comfort — Room Decision System | ELS