Ductless Systems

Ductless systems, also known as ductless mini-splits, are becoming the heating-and-cooling choice for so many here in Las Vegas, NV, and it’s not very hard to see why. These little powerhouses sometimes offer options and efficiencies that other systems can’t match. At A-1 Mechanical & Electric, our expert technicians are seeing this trend firsthand and are installing, repairing, and maintaining more of these innovative systems than ever.

How Ductless Systems Are Different

There’s a clue on how these heating-and-cooling systems differ from more traditional systems in their name. They’re completely ductless! They don’t rely on ductwork to distribute the warm or cool air throughout your home. Ductless systems only consist of a few components, making them very flexible in installation. They can be installed most anywhere in your home on a wall or ceiling.

This is another area where they differ. Essentially there are only three main components to these efficient systems––an indoor unit, which is an air-handling unit; an outdoor unit, which is the condenser or compressor; and a small conduit connecting the two units, which houses the condensate drain, suction tubing, refrigerant tubing, and power cable.

Because of their size and flexibility, ductless systems work as zone systems, meaning they’re responsible for only heating and cooling a zone or smaller area of your home. One indoor unit does not heat and cool your entire home, unless your home’s square footage isn’t that large. No, they’re designed to take care of one area. Our technicians have installed them throughout entire homes, as well as only in garages, additions, finished basements, rooms that don’t seem to heat and cool well like the rest of the home, and rooms that aren’t used much. This way, energy savings are realized since they’re only used as needed, foregoing wasting energy and money.

Why Ductless Systems Are Popular

Ductless systems are gaining in popularity because of their singular benefits, which other conventional systems sometimes can’t touch.

Cost Savings

Even though the initial cost for several indoor units of a ductless system may be higher than for one forced-air system, these systems run more efficiently, thereby saving you money overall. They don’t utilize ducts, so there’s no chance of energy leaking, as in the case of ducts losing energy through leaks. They also use less energy to run due to their small size. And since you’re not heating and cooling rooms that don’t need it or when they don’t need it, you’re saving energy and money here as well.

Flexibility

With larger, more traditional systems, you lose flexibility in where they can be installed. There just aren’t that many places in your home that will accommodate the size of the system, as well as the accompanying ductwork. On the other hand, ductless systems have no ducts, allowing them to be installed most anywhere in your home. There’s also the flexibility that goes hand in hand with zoning, because essentially that’s what you’re doing when you install ductless systems. You have the flexibility of customizing temperature control on an on-demand basis, offering optimum comfort.

Improved Indoor Air Quality

Again, the ductless factor garners a lot of attention. This time due to the lack of ductwork, your home’s air quality improves. Without all those ducts collecting allergens, dust, particles, mold, bacteria, and other contaminants, your resulting higher indoor air quality promotes a healthier indoor environment.

Ease of Installation

Forced-air systems have many components to install, including ductwork. Again, this embeds parameters into where the system will be located. This also increases the installation time length, as well as the statistics of error or mistakes. More complexity and parts, more chance for error. With a ductless system, since there are only an indoor and outdoor unit with the conduit, it’s a simple process to install. Even when there are several indoor units being installed, all sharing the same outdoor unit, it’s still a less-complicated process. Typically this system only requires a three-inch hole for the conduit to connect the indoor and outdoor units, making them easier to adapt in your home, with the outdoor unit being installed as far as 50 feet away from the indoor unit.

At A-1 Mechanical & Electric, we’re experts at installing, repairing, and maintaining ductless systems. With so many homes in the area taking advantage of these systems’ flexibility and efficiency, we’re well versed on the ins and outs of them. Call us today at 702.363.6222 if your current ductless needs repair or maintenance, or if you’d like to discuss the options for a new one in your home.