Is Central Air or Ductless Mini-Split Right for Your Ohio Home?

AC Installation in Soloh, OH

When it becomes time to invest in a new cooling system for your home, you have two main options. You can choose either a traditional central air conditioning system or a new ductless mini-split system. Let’s compare these two systems below so you can determine which one is the best for your Ohio home.

What Is Central Air Conditioning?

A central air conditioning system cools your home through a series of supply and return air ducts. If you have an existing forced-air heating system in your home, then you already have ductwork. A central air conditioning system can be easily added to your existing heating system.

In most cases, it will use the indoor air handler unit that your furnace currently uses to circulate air throughout your home. A central air conditioning system has a distinctive outdoor condenser unit that’s responsible for dispersing the hot air that it removes out of your home to the outdoors.

What Is a Ductless Mini-Split System?

A ductless mini-split system works similarly to a central air conditioning system, with a couple of exceptions. Instead of using ductwork to circulate cold air, it uses multiple indoor air handler units. A unit will be put in every major room of your home, like your bedrooms, kitchen, and living room.

Because each indoor air handler unit has blower components, including a blower fan, it can circulate the air for that room. All the indoor air handler units will connect to the main outdoor condenser unit via copper lines with refrigerant inside of them.

The Ductwork Conundrum

If your home already has ducting, then installing a central air conditioning system can be very simple and affordable. However, if your home lacks adequate ductwork, it can be a real problem. Having ducting installed after your home is finished is expensive and laborious.

Your installer will have to remove sections of flooring and walls to install the air ducts. This will require a contractor to come in and fix these areas after the new ductwork has been installed in your home. A better solution may be to go with a ductless mini-split system. This type of system doesn’t require any sort of ducting to function. It’s easy to install and requires minimal alterations to your home to function correctly.

Energy Efficiency

In general, ductless mini-split systems can offer you more energy efficiency than traditional central air conditioning systems. This is attributed to two main reasons. The first is that a mini-split system will have an air handler in each room of your home. You can set each air handler independently from the rest.

This means that you can set the temperature lower in rooms that you’re actively in and higher in rooms that you’re not. The second reason is that there is no cold air loss through ducting leaks. Because traditional central air conditioning systems rely heavily on ductwork to cool your home, they’re susceptible to losing efficiency every time a new gap or leak develops in your ducting.

Heating Capability

When you invest in a central air conditioning system, it can only cool your home. This means that you’ll also need to invest in a separate heating system to keep your home warm during the wintertime. A ductless mini-split system relies on a heat pump to cool your home during the summertime. This means that it can also effectively heat your home during the winter months. While heat pumps weren’t initially effective at temperatures below freezing, newer options function efficiently at negative temperatures.

Tax Incentive

It’s important to realize that when you purchase a new HVAC system for your home, it may be able to make you eligible to receive a tax incentive from the federal government. While a central air conditioning system typically doesn’t qualify for a tax incentive under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2020, ductless mini-split systems do. Homeowners can typically claim up to $3,200 in the form of a tax credit on their federal income tax.

Exceptional Cooling Installation Service

KW Lang Mechanical offers exceptional cooling installation service for the Solon, OH area. We can also help with all your heating, air conditioning, commercial HVAC, green technology, indoor air quality, and preventative maintenance needs. Call us today to book an appointment.

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