Are you happy with your cooling system? Or are you wondering if something else might be better? Perhaps you have an aging central AC system and would like to know what other options are available these days. Or maybe you limp along with window units because your home isn’t set up for a central AC unit. We’d love to introduce you to a fantastic option for home cooling that just might be perfect for you. It’s called the ductless mini split.
What Ductless Means
While most new homes started to be built with systems of ductwork for central air conditioners as much as fifty years ago, some houses are older than that. Some aren’t that old but were built without ducts anyway. And some homes have damaged ductwork thanks to leaks, rodents, accidents during renovations, or just the ravages of time. Ductless systems do not require any ductwork, so whether your home has none or you might be better off eliminating it rather than trying to repair or replace it, this type of system will work for you.
What Mini Split Means
In a traditional central AC system, there is an outdoor condenser unit and an indoor evaporator unit. The refrigerant, the chemical that absorbs and releases heat, flows through a system of coils between the two. This means that there is one thermostat, and all the cooling power is located in one place.
With a mini split, the refrigerant coils split when they reach the home, heading to different air handlers in different parts of the house. There, they do the work of cooling, and refreshingly cold air blows out of the handler, which is a small unit mounted on the wall.
Ductless Mini Split Benefits
In addition to being so versatile that they work in many types of homes, there are other reasons to consider a ductless mini split. If you’re having an addition built onto your home, or a previously unoccupied part of your home enclosed to use as living space (such as a garage), a mini split can offer climate control in that portion of the home so you don’t need to extend ductwork or upgrade to a new AC system that can handle the increased size of the house.
And there’s so much more! The fact that there are multiple air handlers—which each have their own thermostat—means that you have total climate control. Instead of having to bring your whole home to the same temperature, you can cool different zones according to the needs of the people who use them. This doesn’t just give everyone ideal comfort. It also saves energy because you won’t have to cool the whole house just to keep one room comfortable when most of the family is away. This makes mini splits an environmentally friendly and economical option.
If you’re looking for yet another reason, the mini split system can also work with a heat pump instead of just an air conditioner. This system can work year-round, heating your home in the winter and cooling it in the summer. All you have to do is flip a switch to reverse the flow of the refrigerant to control whether you bring heat in or send it out!
If you’re thinking about making a change to your air conditioning in Katy, TX, we’d love to hear from you.
Reach out to Cool Care Heating and Air Conditioning, The Best Care for Your Air.