When adding air conditioning to a new space, such as an addition to your home or a building that was not designed with central air conditioning in mind, you may find it difficult to reach some rooms with traditional air ducts. A central air conditioning system does have its limitations, especially when you are dealing with limited space available for the bulky air handler and ducts. In those cases, ductless mini-splits may provide a solution. From the outside, ductless mini-splits look like any other air conditioning system, as they utilize a single outdoor heat pump or compressor unit. And, on the inside, they also use air-handler units to cool and blow the air, just like in a central air system. The big difference is that instead of one large, central air handler, a ductless mini-split system uses multiple "mini" ones. Instead of being centrally located and distributing the air through ducts, each mini air handler is physically located at the room or rooms it is designed to cool. Since each unit can blow cooled air directly into the room, they are "ductless".The main benefit to this is that ductless mini-splits are easier to install, especially in those tough-to-reach spots. Instead of bulky ducts, mini-splits require only a thin conduit be installed to carry the refrigerant to and from the outdoor unit. The conduits can be as long as 50 feet, allowing you to reach the more distant parts of your house.Ductless mini-splits also provide better comfort, and more control. Since each room or zone has its own independently-controlled cooling unit, with its own thermostat, you can ensure there are no rooms that are too hot or too cold. This also saves energy, as you can adjust the thermostat for rooms that are not currently in use. The lack of ducts also aids in efficiency.In fact, many of these units are 30-50% more efficient than standard central units.These are great for bonus rooms, garages, patio rooms, etc.To learn more about ductless mini-splits, and whether they may be right for your home, contact the Tulsa/Broken Arrow mini-split experts at Air Assurance. We would be happy to answer whatever questions you may have.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, click here. Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. To get started, check out our website or see our current promotions.