Ductless mini-splits are a popular option that many Flower Mound residents are turning to as a solution to overcome several HVAC system hurdles. If your home does not have room for ductwork, you live in a uniquely sized house or you are adding an addition to your home but want to avoid the expense of adding on ductwork, mini-splits are an energy-efficient solution. Let’s talk about how ductless mini-splits work and how they are an energy-efficient air conditioning solution.
Less Energy Wasted Thanks to Zoned Control
You have to cool your entire house when you opt for a traditional forced-air AC unit. You have the option to close individual vents or registers, but there isn’t a guarantee that you will use less energy. Shutting the vents in individual rooms could actually result in an increase in your electricity bill instead of a reduction. The blower motor in your furnace has to work harder to push conditioned air through the system when vents are closed.
Many families spend a decent portion of their time together in the same area of their home. They watch television in the living room, eat and cook in the kitchen and sleep in the bedrooms. With central air, you still pay money to cool empty spaces in your home. This all-or-nothing approach to cooling your home can lead to unnecessarily high energy bills.
A ductless mini-split offers greater efficiency than forced-air central air conditioners. With a mini-split setup, there is a blower for each room. This means that you and your family can control the comfort of each individual room. Your family can decide to turn on or turn off the blower in a room based on their comfort needs.
Zone cooling does not mean you are required to turn off the cooling function in all the other rooms of your home. For example, if you are in the bedroom and another person is in the living room, you can run the air conditioners in each room at the same time. If you personally like things to be slightly cooler, you can choose different temperatures in different rooms to meet your preferences. The family member in the living room may like things a little bit warmer and can adjust the temperature to their comfort needs as well. Zone comfort means that each part of the home is adequately cooled to meet the needs of its occupants without spiking utility bills during the summer months.
No Ductwork Means a Reduction in Energy Waste
With traditional forced-air or central air conditioning, a series of ductwork carries the cold air from a blower unit to the vents in each room of your home. While this can be very convenient, conditioned air can be difficult to move efficiently.
As cooled air travels through your air conditioning ducts, it loses its temperature simply by traveling to its destination. When the conditioned air leaves the register, it is a bit warmer than it was when it left your AC unit. This means that your AC unit has to work harder and use more energy to get your home to the temperature you want it to be.
The fact that your ductwork will lose some energy is factored into your HVAC system energy calculations. Add to that the fact that ductwork can crack or develop pinholes over time. This allows even more cool air to leak out as it is pushed through your home, increasing your energy losses. It is estimated that a home that uses a forced air setup can lose up to 35% of the cool air generated by its air conditioner. This is caused by the ductwork alone.
This problem doesn’t happen with a mini-split. Since there is no ductwork, cool air is delivered right to the room where it is needed. A 3-inch diameter conduit is used for this process and energy loss is reduced. In addition to the zone design mentioned above, this reduction in energy loss is one of the key reasons mini-splits are a popular energy-efficient option.
Using Heat Pump Technology to Change Your Home’s Temperature
Ductless mini-splits use heat pump technology. This technology moves or pumps heat energy from one location to another. This is done with the use of an individual fan and evaporator unit. The fan and evaporator are connected to an outdoor compressor with refrigerant lines. When the air is cooled on its way to the compressor, it will then be returned to the indoor unit that circulates conditioned air into the various rooms.
One key difference between the heat pump technology in your mini-split and the technology used in a traditional air conditioner is that most mini-splits can run in reverse. This means that they can be used to cool a space during the summer and be used to warm a space during the winter. This is a bonus in places like Flower Mound, Texas, because a mini-split AC unit could be used year round to keep a home warm during the winter.
Unlike a traditional furnace that needs to burn fuel to create heat, heat pump technology only uses a small amount of energy to move heat. Whether a ductless mini-split unit is used in winter or summer, it will use less energy than a traditional forced-air HVAC system.
Is a Ductless Mini-Split System the Right Energy-Efficient Choice for Your Home?
From the standpoint of energy efficiency, it is hard to beat a ductless system. Additionally, there are other benefits. If your home does not have a system of ductwork currently in place, a mini-split prevents having to pay for a new installation. There are some construction designs that make it hard to fit a home with ductwork, increasing the cost of the project.
You may find that a ductless system is an energy-efficient way to cool and heat additions to your home or other spaces in your home where ductwork does not reach. If you are looking at installing an air conditioning system in your home, talk to the professionals at Triple A Air Conditioning & Heating about installing a ductless mini-split system. We would be happy to evaluate the condition of your home and let you know if a mini-split system is right for your family and your heating and cooling needs.
Work with Flower Mound’s Top HVAC Company
Our team at Triple A Air Conditioning & Heating has provided top-notch HVAC services for families in and around Flower Mound for over three generations. We are proud of our work and the fact that we are an Angie 100 company and a humanitarian award winner. Because of our commitment to our customers, we have earned and maintained an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. We are committed to providing an exceptional service experience for our customers.
Our services include HVAC installation, replacement, maintenance and repair. We offer emergency heating and cooling services, indoor air purification, UV lights, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, ducts and ventilation services. Contact Triple A Air Conditioning & Heating today and see for yourself what it is like to receive high-quality expertise on every project.
