Ductless air conditioning systems, also called ductless mini splits or just mini splits, are becoming increasingly popular with homeowners in Springfield, MO and surrounding areas as an efficient way to cool their homes during our long Missouri summers. They’re called mini splits because these systems are divided into an indoor unit and an outdoor unit working together to cool a single room or multiple rooms.
How Ductless AC systems work
If you’ve perhaps heard of ductless air conditioning systems but you’re not quite sure how they work, here’s an explanation.
Stated briefly, a ductless air conditioning system has an indoor unit linked to an outdoor condenser. The indoor unit has evaporator coils containing cooled refrigerant. The indoor unit draws warm air from the room that is absorbed into the evaporator coils, and the heat is transferred to the outdoor unit where it’s released into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, with the heat removed, the indoor unit blows cool air back into the room.
In other words, rather than having a central indoor unit that transfers warm and cool air back and forth by way of a system of ductwork throughout the house, with a mini split system you have small units in each room. These individual room units draw in warm air and send it back out as cool air.
Components of a ductless system
To provide a little more detail, a ductless system is made up of three main components.
- Blower-evaporator unit – This is the part of the system that’s indoors and usually sits on the wall of the room it is cooling. The indoor unit is usually about three feet long, and its job is to draw in warm air from the room, absorb the warm air and moisture and blow cool air back into the room. As it blows cool air into the room it simultaneously sends the heat and moisture outside by way of the conduit.
- Conduit – This is the part of a ductless system that connects the indoor and outdoor units. The conduit contains the power cable, refrigerant tubing, and a condensate drain. In addition to providing electric power to both the indoor and outdoor units, the conduit is the pathway where heat and moisture exits your home and makes its way to the outdoor condenser.
- Condenser – The condenser is the outdoor unit in the system. It receives the heat from inside your home and releases that heat into the outdoor air. It also compresses the refrigerant, sending it back to the indoor unit to repeat the cooling cycle.
Advantages of a ductless system
Here are a few of the benefits you’ll get from the installation of a ductless system in your home.
- Zoning – By zoning, we mean each room gets its own temperature control to cool each room to a different temperature.
- Greater efficiency – It’s estimated that with a traditional central AC system, about 20 to 30 percent of the cool air is lost because of leaks in the ductwork. And those leaks mean high energy bills to keep your home cool and comfortable during the heat of summer.
- Better indoor air quality – Those leaks we’ve mentioned in traditional ductwork not only lead to higher utility bills. Dust and other debris also make their way into the ductwork by way of those leaks and are circulated throughout your house by your central system. Ductless systems don’t have this problem, and the filters in the indoor units tend to be more efficient than those used in central AC systems. In other words, you and your family can breathe a lot easier with a ductless system.
- Great for older homes – A ductless system is an excellent and less costly option for cooling older homes that don’t already have a system of ductwork. With a ductless system, there obviously is no need to install a network or air ducts.
Ductless Mini Splits in Springfield, MO
You don’t have to expand the ductwork in your home to provide heating and air conditioning to an additional space. You can invest in a ductless ac unit instead.
If you’re thinking about installing a ductless system in your home or business, contact Jon Wayne Heating & Air, and one of our cooling experts will be glad to explain all of the many benefits of ductless mini split systems.
At Jon Wayne, we’re the name you know as well as the heating and cooling specialists you can trust. Call us today and let us go to work for you!
