A Homeowner’s Guide to Ductless Air Conditioners
If you’re looking to upgrade those old window air conditioning units, you may be looking into ductless air conditioners. These is newer technology that offers the comfort of indoor air conditioners with the more energy-efficient operation. We’re going to share with you how these ductless air conditioners work and how they can be beneficial to your home.
A Look at Centralized AC Systems
To help understand how a ductless mini-split system works, it helps to start by refreshing your knowledge on how a centralized air conditioning system works. Centralized air conditioning systems utilize ductwork that runs throughout the various walls and floors of your home. Warm air is pulled into the registers in each room and moved to the air handler.
The air handler is typically positioned in the attic or the basement of a home. As the air goes through the air handler, heat is absorbed into the evaporator coils. The now cooled air is forced throughout your home to the supply vents in each room. Centralized air conditioning systems are typically comprised of ductwork, an indoor air handler, and an outdoor compressor unit.
How Are Ductless Mini Split Units Different?
Just as their name describes, ductless mini-split units do not use any sort of ducting. Rather, ductless systems are indoor wall units that are connected to an outdoor compressor unit via refrigerant lines. Air is pulled into the mini-split unit via a fan and directed over evaporator coils. These coils work to remove heat from the air and send it to the outdoor compressor unit via the refrigerant lines. The remaining cold air is then blown back into the room via the mini-split unit.
Understanding the Cooling Process
For any air conditioning unit to be effective, it needs to have evaporator coils, refrigerant lines, and condenser coils. Warm air from inside of your home is essentially pulled into the mini-split unit. The air passes over an evaporator coil that is filled with refrigerant. The heat from the air is naturally attracted to the refrigerant, so it moves from the air and attaches to the refrigerant.
The refrigerator is then pumped out of your home via the outdoor compressor unit. As the refrigerant enters the compressor unit, it goes through condenser coils. These coils are responsible for removing heat from the refrigerant and dispersing it into the air outdoors via the metal fins on the compressor unit. The refrigerant is then pumped back inside to the mini-split unit to be reused again. Your mini-split unit will continue to complete this process until its thermostat senses that your room temperature is at or below what you have set.
The Benefits of Ductless Mini Split Units
Ductless mini-split units provide many benefits to homeowners that traditional centralized air conditioning units don’t offer. The most crucial benefit is that they do not require any ducting to function. This is perfect for homeowners who are in an existing home and don’t want to have to do extensive renovations to install ducting for a centralized air conditioning unit.
Another great benefit of ductless mini-split units is that they provide both cooling and heating. Instead of having multiple different units to handle heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, you can enjoy only having to worry about your mini-split units. Via their remotes, you can switch between cooling and heating modes.
Additionally, the way ductless mini-split systems are installed allows for zone heating or cooling. Instead of having one thermostat where you set the temperature for your entire home, you can set each individual unit at its own temperature. This is super convenient when you want to have your living room temperature at 73 degrees while you’d like to have your bedroom temperature set a little lower at 71 degrees.
Ductless mini-split systems are extremely energy-efficient. The main problem with having a centralized air conditioning system with ductwork is that the cooled air can seep out through various holes and gaps in your ducting. Since ductless mini-split units don’t require any ducting, they don’t lose any of that cooled air. This means that you’re only paying energy bills on the air that is cooled and kept within your home.
Reliable AC Services
Nacogdoches Sheet Metal, Plumbing & Air Conditioning, LTD. provides reliable AC services for the entire Nacogdoches, TX area. We also provide expert heating, sheet metal fabrication, duct cleaning, indoor air quality, and plumbing services. Contact us today to get the professional help that you need for your home!