Many houses in Florida, especially older ones, don’t have ducted central HVAC systems. That leads homeowners to rely on options like window and portable air conditioners to stay cool. Retrofitting an existing home with a ducted AC system can be prohibitively expensive and require extensive renovations. In some cases, it may not even be possible due to insufficient space for all the air ducts. Installing a ductless mini-split AC system is an ideal choice in this type of situation.
Parts of a Ductless AC System
Ductless AC systems aren’t all that different from central AC systems in many ways. Both systems consist of a single outdoor unit called a condenser. A set of two copper refrigerant lines connects the condenser coil within the outdoor unit to the evaporator coil, which is located inside the building within the air handler. The air handler is also where the AC fan or blower is located.
The outdoor unit in some ductless systems is a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heat pump instead of a standard AC condenser. That means you can run the system in reverse and use it to heat your house as well.
Central AC systems only have a single, large air handler that’s responsible for cooling the entire building. Some ductless systems also just have one smaller air handler. There are also multi-zone ductless systems with anywhere from two to eight air handlers, all of which are still connected to a single outdoor unit.
Ductless air handlers are usually mounted about two-thirds of the way up on an exterior wall. Before mounting an air handler, the technician drills a small hole in the wall. Through this hole runs a conduit that houses the refrigerant lines, electrical wiring and condensate drain tube. You can mount the air handler on the floor, but this will reduce its effectiveness. Another option in some cases is to recess the air handler into the ceiling so that it’s hidden from view. The only drawback to this is that it increases the cost of the installation.
Ductless air handlers technically don’t have to be on the inside of an exterior wall. However, if a unit is on an interior wall, it needs to have a condensate pump so that the condensation forming inside the unit can still drain outside.
How Ductless AC Systems Work
The main difference with ductless systems is that the air handler directly pulls air in from the surrounding space and then blows the cooled air straight back out into that room. Central AC systems pull air in through the return ductwork and recirculate the cooled air throughout every part of the house through the supply ducts.
In a multi-zone ductless system, each air handler works independently. You can turn each one on and off and control its temperature setting individually. The outdoor unit will only pump refrigerant to whichever air handlers are currently running. VRF technology allows the unit to adjust the compressor’s rate of speed based on how many air handlers it currently needs to supply refrigerant to. This helps improve the system’s efficiency by ensuring that the compressor never wastes energy by running faster than necessary.
The outdoor unit may sometimes run virtually non-stop throughout the day into the evening, depending on how many air handlers the system has, their set temperature, and how hot and humid the weather is. Nonetheless, the compressor will only ever run as fast as necessary to conserve energy.
How Ductless AC Systems Compare to Central Air Conditioning
Ductless AC systems can have some fairly significant advantages over central air conditioning in certain areas, especially in terms of comfort control and cooling costs. A ductless system provides zoned cooling, meaning you can keep each room as warm or as cool as you want. With a central AC system, you can only set one temperature for the entire house and will often experience issues with certain rooms not getting fully cooled before the system shuts off. Central AC systems can also provide zoned cooling. However, it’s a fairly major expense to upgrade an existing system to a zoned system, as it requires redoing much of the ductwork and installing additional thermostats.
Ductless AC systems can achieve much higher energy-efficiency ratings than central systems. One reason is the amount of energy it takes for the blower in a central system to circulate air throughout the ductwork. The cooled air also tends to warm up as it moves through the supply ducts, leading to longer cooling times and wasted energy. By cooling each room individually, a ductless system avoids these problems.
The fact that a ductless system allows you to control the temperature for each room individually can help to reduce how much energy the system uses as well. In areas like bedrooms that normally don’t get used during the day, you can turn the temperature up to reduce the amount of work the system has to do.
How many zones should you have in your home?
A single-zone ductless system is ideal if you want to add air conditioning to a garage/workshop or if you have a room that never gets fully cool and want to supplement your central AC system. If you’re putting an addition onto your house, installing a ductless system is usually easier and more cost-effective than connecting the addition to your central AC. When increasing the size of a house, it’s almost always necessary to upgrade to a larger AC system. You also have to deal with the added hassle and expense of running ductwork to the addition.
Are there any cons to having a mini-split?
While ductless systems definitely have their advantages, they have a few drawbacks as well. One concern for some people is the aesthetics. Wall-mounted ductless air handlers are somewhat bulky and stick out from the wall, which can make them draw the eye and detract from the rest of the décor.
Depending on the location of the air handler in a room, it may continually blow cold air directly on you when you’re watching TV or streaming a movie. While having cool air blowing on you can feel nice when it’s overly hot, it can also make you feel uncomfortably cold.
When it comes to a multi-zone ductless system, the biggest concern for many people is the high cost. Installing a ductless system typically costs at least a few thousand dollars more than installing a central AC system of the same size. Part of the reason is that you have to pay for additional air handlers and copper refrigerant lines. It also takes more time to mount and install the air handlers and run the refrigerant lines to each one.
The other important thing to note is that ductless systems have more limitations in terms of the amount of space that they can cool. For a ductless air handler to cool effectively, it has to be within a certain distance of the outdoor unit. There is also a limitation as to the total combined length of all of the refrigerant lines. These limitations mean that you’ll almost always need to install at least two separate systems if you want to rely solely on ductless AC to cool a larger house.
Work with the Experts for Your Next Mini-Split Installation
If you’re considering a ductless AC system for your Sarasota home, Reliance Air Services is the name to trust. We offer a range of ductless options sure to meet your needs, and our experienced technicians will manage the installation with the utmost respect for your property. We also have financing options available on approved credit. To schedule a consultation and receive an accurate quote for a new HVAC installation, contact us today.
