The Advantages of Going Ductless
A ductless system offers the flexibility to set a different temperature in each room of your Pacific Northwest home.
With a ductless heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, you can hike the AC up in one room while turning it off in another. During winter, you might dial down the temperature in a sunny room but increase it in a north-facing space. You even can heat and cool an accessory building and turn a garage or shed into a livable space.
Carrier Northwest can help you gain HVAC flexibility. Let us put you in touch with a Carrier dealer who can install ductless heating and cooling in your home. We are affiliated with dealers throughout Oregon, Washington, and Montana and maintain an online directory of our HVAC experts. Click on our Find A Dealer link to access dealer information.
How Does A Ductless System Work?
A ductless system connects with either a heat pump or an AC unit. It consists of one or more air handlers, and a conduit containing a power cable, drain line, and refrigerant that connects the outdoor and indoor components.
The outdoor unit contains a compressor, condenser, fan, and an expansion valve that work together to transfer heat to or from your home via refrigerant. Unlike furnaces and boilers that burn fuel to create heat, a ductless heat pump extracts it from the outdoor air and sends it indoors to mini split air handlers.
Each indoor air handler contains an evaporator coil and blower to move the heated air into the surrounding space.
You can reverse the heat pump to move hot in your home to the outdoors, which cools your living environment. In cooling mode, the heat pump mimics an air conditioner by removing hot air and releasing it outside. The air handlers blow out the cooled air.
Typically, a mini split heat pump can connect to four or five air handlers attached to walls or ceilings. Each air handler has a thermostat that works independently, allowing you to customize heating and cooling comfort throughout your home and save money on utility bills. Because no ductwork is required, you can easily add an air handler where needed.
Ductless Mini Split Advantages
You can install a ductless system in a room addition, such as an enclosed porch, and maintain a traditional ducted system in the rest of your home. Or install ductless air handlers in every room instead of adding ductwork or replacing damaged and inefficient air ducts.
While conditioned air may escape from old or damaged ducts, dust, debris, and insects can infiltrate ductwork through tears, cracks, and air return vents. Particulate matter can accumulate inside the ductwork and circulate through your HVAC system and back into your living environment, decreasing indoor air quality (IAQ).
You will notice improved air quality with a ductless mini split.
Other Advantages:
- Tax advantags—The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides a maximum $2,000 tax credit for qualified ductless mini splits.
- No vents—Mini split air handlers attach to walls and ceilings or work as floor consoles. There are no air vents that dictate where furniture can and cannot be arranged, as in a ducted system, and no worries about blocking vents with window treatments.
- Reduced carbon footprint—Mini splits operate on electricity, making them more environment-friendly and efficient than fossil fuel-burning systems, such as gas boilers or furnaces.
Go Ductless Today
Gain flexibility, savings, and comfort through a ductless mini split. Carrier Northwest can help your search for an expert HVAC team through our Carrier dealer network.