When having a home built and choosing the HVAC system, there are many reasons you might not want central heating and air. The best alternative is a mini-split system. Here’s what you should know about this system to decide whether it’s the right choice for your home.

How It’s Different From Central Air

Central air conditioning and heating uses one or two large appliances, usually found in a closet or the basement. They deliver warm or cold air to all the different rooms through a network of ducts in the walls and floors. Mini-split systems, on the other hand, are not hooked up to ducts, relying only on thin refrigeration lines, and deliver warm or cold air directly to the rooms where they’re installed. For this reason, they’re often called ductless air conditioning.

How It Works

A mini-split system is a heat pump that uses the same technology as a refrigerator or air conditioner. Basically, it transfers heat from indoors to the outdoors in the summer, and it transfers heat from outside to your home in the winter. A mini-split system has one outdoor units—the compressor—that can be hooked up to four individual indoor air handlers. These circulate coolant fluid between them.

On one side, the refrigerant is tightly compressed so it becomes hotter than the surrounding air, letting it bleed off heat. The same coolant then circulates back to the other side, where it is decompressed so it gets colder and absorbs heat from its surroundings. By moving the coolant back and forth, the system moves heat. Many mini-split systems are reversible heat pumps that can provide both heating and cooling for your home, all depending on which way they move the coolant.

Benefits

In a temperate climate like South Carolina, a reversible heat pump allows you to meet your home’s heating and cooling needs with just one appliance. A heat pump becomes less efficient in temperatures well below freezing, but those temperatures are rare in this area. In moderate weather, it’s the most efficient, affordable, and eco-friendly heating and cooling technology.

Since it affects each room directly, mini-split equipment can be installed in any home without giving up wall or ceiling space for ducts. Finally, because you can have multiple units throughout the home, you can tailor the temperature in each zone to your needs.

To install mini-split systems in your new home, choose Mini-Split Specialist in Roebuck, SC. Serving Spartanburg County, this locally owned and operated company is built on five decades of industry experience. They are the largest Samsung® mini-split seller in South Carolina and also service all other major brands. To get a free quote, call (864) 305-5125 or reach out online.