With a central air conditioning unit, you must cool an entire home when only one room may need cooling.  On the other hand, ductless mini splits cool only the areas you want and not the areas you don’t. A typical minimum central air unit is 18,000 BTU whereas with inverter driven ductless mini splits, you can use as minimal as 3,000 BTUs. Retrofitting homes require cutting holes in walls, floors, ceilings or decreasing closet space with ducts.  Ductless mini splits require just a 3 or 4” diameter hole in the outside wall which means less mess and better aesthetics.

One of the biggest differences between ductless and traditional air conditioning systems is that ductless systems are capable of something known as zoned heating. Basically, this means that you’ll heat and cool your home one room at a time instead of controlling the temperature of your entire house.

With a ductless system, you’ll need to install an air handler in every room that you’ll heat or cool. The rooms where you decide to install your air handlers will be your zones. Heating and cooling your house in zones can be very beneficial, both in terms of individual comfort and energy costs.

The cost to install your ductless air conditioning system will depend on several different factors. First, there is the cost of your outdoor unit, which can depend on both the model you select and the unit’s efficiency. More efficient units, obviously, will be more expensive. The number of indoor units that you need will also determine the overall costs of your system. As the number of air handlers increases, so will the installation cost.

Finally, how difficult it is to install your system will also impact your final costs. A ductless mini-split system installation can cost up to $5,000, which is generally more affordable than installing a central air system.