American Mini Splits

Installing central air conditioning in a home that does not have forced air ducts can be difficult. Ductless mini-split heat pumps provide a unique solution to bringing central air conditioning into homes. By piping refrigerant to individual coils within air handlers mounted throughout a home (rather than a single refrigerant coil/air handler and central ductwork), mini-split heat pumps do not require ductwork for central air conditioning. Because the refrigerant lines take up much less room than do typical ducts, much less effort is required in installation in a retrofit.

Ductless mini-split systems combine the flexibility of room air conditioners with the whole house cooling of central systems. Although some systems provide heating and cooling, ductless mini-split heat pumps are usually installed primarily for cooling.

In a conventional heat pump, a single indoor unit (refrigerant coil and air handler) and single outdoor unit (condenser and compressor) serve the entire house. Air is cooled at the evaporator coil and distributed around the house via ductwork. In ductless systems, there is (usually only) one outdoor unit serving multiple indoor units (each containing a refrigerant coil and blower). Refrigerant is piped from the outdoor unit through small-diameter insulated refrigerant lines directly to individual rooms or zones. Cooled air is blown into the room by a fan in the individual evaporator units. The term "mini" is used to describe the small indoor units located in each room or zone.

While distribution energy losses in conventional systems have been estimated as high as 30 percent, distribution losses for ductless systems are about one to five percent.