When it’s time to invest in a new home heating or cooling system, you may have heard about ductless mini-split systems. These provide both heating and cooling for any home environment. However, like any system, it makes sense to know its benefits and disadvantages before deciding if it’s right for your home.
Offers Heating and Cooling
One of the biggest advantages of investing in a ductless mini-split system is that it will provide both heating and cooling for your home. Thanks to its internal refrigerant, ductless mini-split systems are capable of transporting heating indoors during the wintertime and outdoors during the summertime. This can save you a bundle as you won’t have to invest in separate centralized heating and cooling systems.
Allows for Zone Control
With ductless mini-split systems, you’ll be installing them in the main rooms of your home. Each unit will come with its own remote, where you can set the individual temperature you want for that room. This can allow you to keep your bedroom colder and your living room warmer. It also gives you the ability to save on your energy bills by being more efficient with your temperature settings.
Great for Existing Homes
If you have an existing home that lacks traditional ducting, then it can be extremely expensive to add it. A contractor would essentially have to rip out sections of your walls and floors to install the ducting. Ductless mini-split systems are a great alternative that simply requires a small hole to be drilled through your exterior walls. These units get positioned directly on the room walls or ceilings without any necessary renovations.
Energy Efficient
Ductless mini-split systems work on a heat pump system. This is extremely energy efficient as your system isn’t producing heat. Rather, it’s transporting heat from one location to another. When running your ductless mini-split system in the wintertime, it’s cheaper than furnaces or baseboards when temperatures are above freezing.
Great for Home Additions
If you’re one of the many homeowners who has decided to invest in a home addition, you’ll need a way to properly heat and cool it. If there are no viable connections for your existing heating or cooling system, you may want to consider a ductless mini-split. This system is very versatile to install and will ensure that your new addition stays comfortable all year round.
Auxiliary Heating Can Be Expensive
While ductless mini-split systems are fairly cheaper to run than most other types of heating systems, they do have their drawbacks. When temperatures dip down below freezing, these systems are very efficient. They have trouble extracting heat from the air outdoors.
When this happens, they’ll switch over to auxiliary mode. This involves an electric heating element that is used to create warm air. When a ductless mini-split system is operating in auxiliary mode, it can be expensive. In this case, having a dual heating system, such as a ductless mini-split system paired with a traditional oil furnace, can be efficient for your budget.
Take Up Space
Another disadvantage of investing in ductless mini-split systems is that they do take up space. While the main compressor unit will be positioned on the exterior of your home, all of the indoor units will be installed directly onto your walls. They tend to stick out and become an eyesore for most rooms.
More Expensive
When it comes to upfront costs, ductless mini-split systems are about 30% costlier than traditional forced-air heating systems. Their price is going to vary depending on the number of rooms that need to be heated, the size of your system, and the level of efficiency that your system can operate at.
More Maintenance
With a traditional forced-air system, you’ll need to replace its air filter every two to three months. However, with a ductless mini-split system, you’ll need to wash the filter at least once a month. If you have multiple pets or a plethora of people living in your household, you may need to clean your filter more often to ensure it’s functioning optionally.
Professional Ductless Mini-Split Services
Polar Express Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning offers professional ductless mini-split services for the entire Elsinore, CA community. Our helpful HVAC technicians can assist with all of your heating, cooling, duct cleaning, air purification, air filtration, and home humidification needs. Simply contact us today to schedule your next service appointment.
