Do you see yourself having difficulty cooling or heating a specific room or garage? Do you just want to be able to control the temperature in each room where you spend a majority of your time? The mini-split could be your cooling & heating solution.

 

You may have heard about ductless mini-splits and wondered about their cost, efficiency, or benefits compared to a traditional AC unit or furnace. Guess what, you are not alone.

 

Rooms That Benefit The Most From Ductless Mini-Split Systems

An ideal location for a mini split system is typically a master bedroom, bonus room, or a garage. It’s under-insulated and susceptible to outside temperatures. Installing duct work is both costly & complex, and the ducts can’t be installed in garages.

 

Maybe you want the temperature in your master bedroom at 72 degrees, but you want the house to be 80 degrees. If you set the thermostat to 72 degrees, your entire house cools, not just one room. With a ductless mini-split system, you won’t be breaking the bank on your ridiculously high electric bill to try and cool your master bedroom.

 

If you plan on building an addition, you will eventually increase the work load on the total system if you add ductwork. (Even if you don’t add ductwork, the total square footage has changed, and your central AC system may become under-sized, which means the entire house suffers.) Supplemental heating and cooling may be the solution if your current system is potentially maxed out.

 

A ductless mini-split system would help with the temperature balance inside different areas of the home. Plenty of home owners have converted their garages to home gyms, home office, workshop, a man cave, or as an additional living space.

 

Your garage or room may be loaded with electronics or heavy appliances producing heat inside (E.g. computers, printers, monitors, refrigerators, freezers, & other work-related machinery. Are you looking to keep it cooler without the hassle of a heavy or bulky air conditioning unit sticking out the window or taking up floor space? The ductless mini split system would be the wise choice.

 

Benefits Of A Ductless Mini-Split System

Ductless systems are more efficient than air conditioners or heat pumps. Why is that? The biggest reason for this is you are in control of one specific room at a time instead of the entire house. For example, maybe you have a four-bedroom house, and all four people like to be at different temperatures. One person likes it at 65 degrees, another likes it at 72 degrees, and another wants it at 78 degrees. You’ll probably feel overwhelmed and your head would be spinning. Well guess what? You can actually keep the house at a moderate temperature and cool those rooms separately. Pretty cool right? Instead of running your central AC unit to cool the entire home, therefore increasing your energy bill, you can just cool specific bedrooms.

 

The mini split ductless system is environmentally friendly because it’s super energy efficient. If a room doesn’t need to be cooled, you can shut it off to consume less energy.

 

You can have the flexibility of both heating and cooling. Just like a heat pump, the mini split system can make your room comfortable year-round. When it’s in cooling mode, the air handler takes in all the excess humidity from your room.

 

Ductless mini split systems are versatile enough to provide both heating & cooling with those problem areas of your home without any ductwork. Your central air conditioner and furnace can only handle so much. Ductless mini-split systems can focus on the areas where they are deficiencies with your heating or cooling.

 

 

Ductless Mini-Split Systems - Energy Efficiency

Ductless systems are more energy-efficient than standard HVAC units for the following reasons below:

 

1. You can switch off air handlers in rooms that are not in use. By doing this, it reduces your energy consumption, hence your electric bill.

2. Ductwork may have areas of leakage and could make your traditional HVAC unit work harder because the cool air is not maximized on its output. According to www.energy.gov, duct losses can account for more than 30% of energy consumption for air conditioning. You can avoid this problem entirely with a ductless mini-split system.

3. Most standard air conditioners use one or two-speed compressors that cycle on and off to keep your home at the set temperature. As a result, they consume more energy. Ductless mini splits use variable speed compressors that adjust to keep the house at the set & consistent temperature. Since they don’t cycle (turn on and off) throughout the day, they are more energy-efficient.

4. If you want to compare a mini split system to a heavy & bulky window AC, these units have a SEER rating of around 10. Mini-splits start at approximately 13 and go into the 30+ range. The SEER rating measures air conditioning and heat pump cooling efficiency. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient it is. The minimum standard SEER rating is 13 for air conditioners. Most air conditioners have a SEER rating that ranges from 13 to 21. In the near future, AC units with a SEER rating of 16 & below will eventually be discontinued in the US because of its inefficiencies.

 

Why Might You Want to have Zone Controlled Temperature?

In many cases, hot and cold spots in your home are not necessarily a ductwork issue. It’s often an insulation issue. For example, if you we’re considering cooling or heating a room or a garage, the ceiling & walls may lack insulation.

 

You can’t install ductwork in a garage because there’s too much risk of exhaust fumes, which contains carbon monoxide being circulated back into the home. There are code-specific requirements that state ductwork cannot be done because of safety reasons. This entails that you would have to create a separate temperature zone for that.

 

Ductless mini-splits are the perfect solutions for these types of problems. It’s easy to target an exact area with a zone control ductless mini-split system.

 

Why Should I Consider A Ductless System?

You should consider ductless mini-splits because they resolve the problem of a room being too warm or too cold. Instead of trying to figure it out yourself, you can address the problem with a ductless mini split system and be comfortable in every room all year round.