Mini-Split Ductless AC Systems
When you notice a trend going on around you, it is an excellent time to look at what is happening. The switch that many homeowners are making to mini-split ductless ac systems gives you a chance to check it out.
The reasons for the popularity of minis may make sense as you consider their cost, efficiency and durability. Their features make them better and more convenient with superior performance than traditional HVAC systems.
Examining How Minis Work
You can dismiss the feeling that your air conditioning system controls your comfort when you switch to a mini ductless that puts you in charge. Advances in technology give you a responsive system that heats and cools each room instead of the entire living space.
Among the most surprising facts about how they work is that they have no ducts. The silver metallic boxes in your attic that carry treated air to the grates throughout your home become unnecessary with a mini. With a small piece of equipment that hangs on the wall, you can have the temperature that you desire in each room.
Understanding the Components
The two primary components of a mini split ductless ac system include an outdoor unit like your existing system uses. It contains a condensing coil, the equivalent of the compressor/condenser on your traditional HVAC system. The outdoor equipment houses a variable speed compressor and an expansion valve. A fan keeps the condenser coil cool while it works.
The matching piece on the inside of your home contains an evaporator. It serves the same purpose as the air handler on your central system. A fan in the unit distributes the heated or cooled air to the targeted room. Two supportive components complete the configuration.
Supply Lines - A copper tube delivers refrigerant, and it lies alongside a condensation drain and a power cable within a protective conduit.
System Controls - Some systems offer remotes to set temperatures while others use Wi-Fi, and some have wall-mounted controls.
Meeting Cooling and Heating Needs
Some people call mini splits by different names such as ductless heat pumps or ductless systems, but they have no differences between them. By any name, they offer highly efficient performance and straightforward installation.
They serve as the primary cooling and heating system for electrically connected homes. As a replacement for traditional heating systems, they provide a reliable alternative. They deliver warm air for a fraction of the cost of baseboard, wall, ceiling heat systems and electric furnaces.
Split mini ductless systems rely on heat pump technology to warm or cool interior spaces with high efficiency. Even though their name refers only to heat, they produce cold air and control humidity as well. A heat pump moves the warm outside air to the inside when you need it.
The reverse process transfers the heat from the inside to the outdoors when you want relief from high temperatures. The technology capitalizes on the movement of air that transfers heat instead of generating it, making mini splits more efficient than central air conditioning systems or furnaces.
The indoor wall-mounted equipment and the outdoor unit require installation by a professional contractor. You can expect to see a reduction of 25 to 50 percent of the cost of electric heating and cooling with a correctly installed mini. Each indoor mini needs a connection to the outdoor unit to supply power, refrigerant and a drain line to remove condensate.
Outdoor condensers can support up to four indoor air handlers, treating the air in the same room or four separate ones. While you may install a mini without professional assistance, it may create operational problems that you do not want. The sizing of the unit, its location from the walls and ceiling and the attachments that can prevent vibration offer some concerns that may deter a successful installation.
The minis may resemble a room air conditioner by sharing the ability to control the temperature in one room, but their similarity ends there. They offer excellent performance and efficiency while reducing energy consumption, qualities that room air conditioners do not possess.
Getting Increased Efficiency and Durability
Efficiency
The opportunity to increase the efficiency of a heating and cooling system contributes to the trend that attracts many homeowners to choose a mini split. Concerns for the health of the planet provide a reason to prevent inefficient energy use. Many people accept it as a matter of personal responsibility to protect the environment. However, the loss of energy through inefficient ductwork presents a concern that directly affects a home’s budget.
If you look at the ductwork in your attic, you may notice that its construction makes it likely to leak. The tape that holds the sections together suffers from the heat in the attic and loses its stickiness. Leaks may allow as much as 30 percent of heat to escape as it follows the ductwork to a grate in the rooms of your home. The absence of the silver metallic boxes that carry your treated air makes mini splits efficient.
Durability
Some differences between minis and conventional air conditioning systems help explain their superior durability. The status of the compressor has more to do with the life span of an HVAC system than anything else, and ductwork has a significant effect on it.
One of the most influential forces involves the number of times that a compressor experiences a hard start. A system that cycles on and off has a hard start every time as the capacitor discharges its full load. Mini splits avoid the occurrence with advanced inverters that use variable speeds to ramp up gradually instead of all at once.
The ductwork in traditional systems can make the compressor overheat or overamp when they have improper installation or sizing. Dirty evaporator coils can cause the system to overwork when the dust and dirt that enter through leaks can plug the evaporator. Mini-split ductless ac systems avoid the problem by having no ducts and by using advanced compressor technology.
Comparing Ducted HVAC to Ductless
When you wonder whether you need to join the growing trend to a mini split ductless system, you can use some guidelines to help influence a buying decision. One of the primary facts that can govern your choice relates to the availability of space for ducts in your walls or ceilings.
Some homes do not offer enough room to install ductwork, and your decision to choose a mini split becomes an easy one. People may think that a central air conditioning system prevents dust, and it may reduce it to some extent. However, the forced air moves the dust and dirt in ductwork onto floors, carpets and furniture.
When the outdoor temperature in your garage or work area becomes too unpleasant to tolerate any longer, you can use a mini split to control it. If your home already has ductwork, you may consider continuing to use it instead of replacing it.
However, a new space like a sunroom or a room for the new baby may have no way to connect to the central system. A critical advantage that minis give you allows you to select the temperature by your preference in specific rooms. You can make it cool in the dining room when you have guests and make it warmer elsewhere.
Unlike traditional central systems, minis do not require the entire house to maintain the same temperature throughout. Minis may not provide the perfect solution for your air conditioning needs, but they may give you more of what you want for less expense.
Incorporating Minis in New Construction
While you may think that it makes perfect sense to use a mini in an older home, it may not seem so for new construction. However, the choice to install the flexible, efficient and durable equipment during the construction phase may offer some serious advantages. A significant one for most people who go through the expensive prospect of building a new home involves the ability to finish sooner rather than later.
Bypassing the need to install ductwork, a lengthy process, new owners can get a certificate of occupancy as much as a week ahead of schedule. The savings that ductless provides can find a purpose elsewhere. The convenience of installing the conduit that delivers the power and refrigerant to the mini when access to the studs is easy helps speed the process along as well.
Attics that accommodate ductwork must offer limited space for storage and access that never changes if they remain in place. The Energy Star program in the federal government supports the trend to green construction and credits mini splits with saving tremendous amounts on energy bills. You get to plan a layout that emphasizes efficiency when you put the supply lines in place during construction.
Some experts report that homeowners can save up to $1,000 a year on air conditioning with ductless systems. While installation costs may amount to more than you like, they may equal less than half of the expense of a ducted system.
Retrofitting Older Homes
While remodeling contractors may dream of getting to put a new air conditioning system in your older home, you have an alternative that cuts the illusion short. As an affordable option that costs much less than central air conditioning, minis offer comfort as well.
You can get more efficiency and performance from a mini that you control with a remote than you ever got from a window air conditioner or a central system. Minis do not eat up your space for ductwork or an air handler, doing the job efficiently instead with a wall-mounted unit that works quietly.
One outdoor compressor can support as many as four indoor evaporators, giving you tremendous flexibility and control over your indoor environment. The risk of burglary through a window rises when intruders see how quickly they can remove a small air conditioner and expose your family to potential harm.
Savings can result from setting the temperatures that you select for each room. Without duct leaks, poor installation and not enough insulation in homeowners AC systems, you can avoid losing up to 25 percent of heating and cooling function.
Accommodating New Room Additions
The joy of building a new room for the children or grandchildren can quickly diminish when the matter of heating and cooling it occurs. An addition to a house can never have the same inclusiveness as the original ones, but the appeal of extra space makes you pursue the options.
Your existing air conditioning system may have the power to heat or cool another room. However, the installation of the ductwork increases the cost, the inconvenience, the dust and the time it takes to finish the room. It may even require a new furnace and an upgraded air conditioner.
A mini presents a solution that gives you more control over comfort and temperature than a central system can provide. It lets you keep the addition at a different comfort level than the rest of the house. When the new room needs less heating or cooling, you can save on energy costs.
Adapting to Space Requirements
Almost everything that you hear about mini-split ductless ac systems confirms their efficiency, ease of operation, durability and practicality. Maybe the only obstacle to moving ahead with a purchase involves calculating the size, a critically important consideration. Failing to get it right can deny the benefits that make the investment worthwhile.
You do not need any specialized knowledge to determine the size with online calculators that can do it for you. A search for a BTU calculator produces many results, and they show you how to find the size that you need. The best ones lead you through the estimating process with drop-down menus. You can get accurate results when you have this information ready:
Square footage of your room
Ceiling height
Maximum number of occupants at any one event
Description of windows in the room
Amount of sun the room receives
Adequacy of insulation
Number of fans
Type of exterior construction
Exposure to the elements
Purpose of room
Access to adjacent areas
A unit with inadequate capacity cannot cool a room, and one with too much stresses the system and wastes energy.
Calculating the Cost
An investment in a mini split ductless that can heat and cool one zone or room starts at about $2,800 and may go as high as $5,000. While you may consider that much money as a significant investment, it amounts to much less than traditional homeowners AC systems.
Conventional HVAC systems can cost as much as 30 percent or more than a mini of the same capacity. The kind of remote control that you want can add from $15 to $335 to the bill. Labor charges vary, but the average cost of installation of a single unit ranges from $600 to $800.
The work may take about 10 hours to complete. It involves setting up the power and refrigerant lines from the outdoor condenser to the indoor air handler, the unit that you know as the mini. The cost of installing more than one mini does not double the cost of the initial one.
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