If you have a space in your home that's difficult to heat or cool, or you're planning an addition to your home, consider ductless mini splits. These systems are heat pumps that don't require any ductwork to distribute the conditioned air. These systems remove the heat from your home in the summer and harvest it from the air outdoors in the winter to heat your home. These systems provide these benefits:
Easy installation. The two components of mini splits are the indoor air handler and the outdoor condenser. They connect with a conduit that carries the refrigerant, power supply and drain pipe.
Space-saving. Since ductless mini splits don't use ducts, they free up space, an important consideration if you're planning an addition and don't want to lose space to house ductwork.
Energy efficient. Mini splits have to meet the same energy efficiency standards as heat pumps. The cooling efficiency must meet 13 SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) and the heating minimum is 7.7 HSPF (heating season performance factor). In our region, choosing a mini split that has a scroll compressor increases the heating capacity, along with the HSPF, which can increase the heat by 10 to 15 degrees. Each air handler has its own temperature controls, making this type of system even more energy efficient, since you can shut off the conditioning for rooms you're not using. Most systems achieve 16 SEER plus, and some even reach over 20!!
Versatile. The air handlers can sit on the floor, be placed on a wall or hung from the ceiling. Larger condensers can support up to four separate air handlers, making it possible to extend your system in the future.
Quiet. Most of the noise a mini split creates is outdoors and since they don't require ductwork, there's no noise created by air rushing through ducts.
Secure. Unlike wall or window air conditioners, there's no possibility of anyone intruding into your home through the small hole for the conduit.
If you'd like to learn more about ductless mini splits, contact Air Assurance. We've provided HVAC services for Broken Arrow for more than 30 years.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock