Ductless Air Conditioners
A ductless air conditioner works like a regular central air conditioner but without the ducts. How’s that possible? First, it helps to understand how traditional systems work.
Traditional Air Conditioning Systems
Traditional systems work thru the following steps.
- An indoor unit blows warm air from your home over cold evaporator coils.
- The refrigerant running through these coils absorbs the heat from the air
- The outside unit is where the refrigerant dumps all the heat
it pulled from your home’s air.
Now in a regular air conditioner, the indoor unit is in the attic or closet. Ducts carry your home’s air to this central location, where it is cooled and then returned to your home via more ducts. Unfortunately, ductwork is often inefficient, restrictive, dirty, leaky and noisy.
Ductless Air Conditioning Systems
But in a mini-split ductless system, the smaller indoor unit is actually in the room it’s cooling.
The indoor unit being in the room eliminates the need for air ducts. The indoor unit simply pulls in warm air from the room it’s in and blows cold air right back into the room.
Ductless split systems provide targeted heating and cooling comfort when conventional central HVAC equipment is too costly or impractical to install. Widely adopted in Europe and Southeast Asia, ductless technology continues to gain popularity in the U.S. as consumers and businesses look for cost-effective alternatives to window units, PTACs (packaged terminal air conditioners) and inefficient ducted systems.
“But can a ductless system cool a whole home, then?”
Good question. Yes, it can.
Here’s how: Multiple indoor units can connect to a single outdoor unit to provide air conditioning to your entire home.
And there are a variety of indoor unit styles to fit different rooms.
“When Should I Consider Ductless Air Conditioning?”
A mini-split ductless air conditioner can has several advantages over a traditional central AC. Namely:
- Easier Installation if you don’t have existing ductwork. If you are adding AC to a room that doesn’t’ already have ductwork in place this is a great alternative to installing additional ductwork.
- Can heat and cool. Since most ductless systems are heat pumps, they can both heat and cool your home or room. This eliminates the need for a separate heater.
- Control temperature room by room. Since each area of your home may have a separate unit you can more precisely control temperatures in each room.
- Better energy efficiency. Ductless split systems offer exceptional versatility, low noise and enhanced levels of comfort. Through the use of exclusive inverter technology, ductless air conditioners have the highest SEER ratings in the industry.
- No ducts. Which means that you won’t be losing cool air thru leaks nor will the system have to cool the ductwork itself when the ductwork is in a hot attic like they typically are in Florida. ENERGY STAR estimates that in a typical home “about 20 to 30 percent of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts.”
“Are there any downsides?”
Sure. In general, ductless systems are about 30% more expensive than a central air conditioner—but that’s not including ducts. The basic units also aren’t super attractive, though you can upgrade to the recessed versions.
“How much do they cost?”
There are multiple factors that affect the cost including:
- Energy efficiency rating (SEER)
- Size (tons) of the system
- Number of evaporator/blower units
- Brand
Many consumers ask, “How much does ductless AC cost?” By eliminating the need for an air distribution network, a ductless air conditioner saves substantially on labor and installation costs.
For an exact price for your home contact us online or call us today to set up a free, in-home estimate for a mini-split system.
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(727) 669-4300