What you should know about installing a mini split air conditioner in your home. If you have an older home that was built without an original central air conditioning system then you might be the perfect candidate for a mini split ductless air conditioning system. Unlike larger split air conditioning systems you will not have to install elaborate duct work through out your home. Depending on the space in your attic installing ductwork can be simple or a complete nightmare. In addition to installing the duct work you must also install a return air grate somewhere in your home and the large air handler.
The air handler is the piece that contains the fan that circulates the air throughout your house. It draws in the cooler air from the return grate inside your air conditioned space and accelerates it through the coils which actually cools the air to whatever your setting is on the thermostat. The air handler is usually rather large and if you have a small attic your will have to locate it somewhere within the house. Most often they are installed in a closet or in the garage if there is a shared wall where a return grill can be installed. Some people do not like to have the air handler in the garage because of the humidity and constant sweating due to the temperature difference of the inside and outside. Not to mention air handlers are not very aesthetically pleasing.
On top of installing the air handler you must also find a location to install the compressor. This is usually the large cube shaped piece of the system that sits outside your house. Ideally you want this piece to be as close to the air handler as possible. There are a couple of copper pipes that run between the compressor and the air handler. With the current price of copper it is in your best interest to have these two pieces near each other as long runs of the copper pipe can get rather expensive. On top of that the compressors of larger traditional split systems are rather large. You may have trouble finding a large space to pour a concrete pad to set a larger compressor.
If all of this sounds a little hard to follow then you should definitely consider a ductless mini split system. With a mini split air conditioning system you will be able to cool your home in different zones which is ultimately more energy efficient. For example at night you may only want to cool your bedroom where you are sleeping. This means you are only paying to cool the area of the house that you are using. You will not have to install any ductwork and can simply mount the head of the system on most any wall. The easiest installation would be to put the head on an outside wall but you can easily install the system on interior walls. The compressor part of a mini split system has a very small footprint and you can also run multiple heads with just one compressor. The size of air conditioned space you have will ultimately determine the number of heads you need to efficiently cool or heat your home.
In 2010, HVAC Raleigh, an HVAC company servicing the Raleigh, Durham area of North Carolina had mini split ductless air conditioners make up thirty percent of their sales. This was up from five percent in 2009. So before you pay to have an HVAC Contractor retrofit a larger traditional split air conditioning system in your home you should get an estimate for a Ductless Mini Split System. They are very competitive on price to have installed and are definitely more energy efficient!
No comments:
Post a Comment