If your home lacks ductwork to install a traditional central air conditioner, you have two options to choose from. These include portable AC units and ductless mini-splits. Below, we’ll dive into the benefits and drawbacks of each cooling option so you can make a better decision about which one is the right investment for your home.
Portable Air Conditioners
Portable air conditioners are devices that sit on the floor of your home. It pulls in warm air, removes the heat, and redistributes the cold air into your room. The heat these units extract is vented directly to the outdoors via a hose that will go through one of your windows. Many portable air conditioners have caster wheels for easy mobility and can work great for areas of your home where you don’t have access to a sizable window to put in a window air conditioning unit.
Portable air conditioners typically feature a cooling capacity anywhere between 8,000 to 14,000 BTUs, which is typically enough to cool down a room or two in your home. These units can provide a safer alternative to traditional window units, as they’re more discreet than just leaving the window completely open with the window AC unit sticking out of it.
Because portable air conditioners do dehumidify the air as they cool it, you can purchase models that have a condensate hose you connect to an existing drain in your home. Or you could purchase a unit that has a storage tank, which you’ll need to empty on a routine basis. These AC units are super easy to install, and some even provide both heating and cooling.
However, portable ACs are much less efficient than other types of cooling systems. They can be super noisy and will take up livable floor space. You still need to have a window or opening to allow for adequate ventilation, and a hookup for your drain, or you must constantly empty the water for the unit to work.
Ductless Mini-Splits
Ductless mini-splits are an increasingly popular option for retrofitting older homes with minimal or outdated ductwork. These systems use an outdoor condenser unit and multiple indoor air handler units. You’ll need an air handler unit in each of the major rooms of your home, like your bedrooms and kitchen. There’s no ventilation required for mini-splits.
Our system installers will need to make a small three-inch hole in the exterior wall where your mini-split unit is placed to run wiring, refrigerant lines, and a condensation line. All the indoor air handler units directly connect to the outdoor condenser unit via these holes and conduit to make for a discreet installation.
Air handler units for these systems come in a variety of different mounting styles, including wall mounting, floor mounting, and ceiling mounting. Wall units are the most cost-effective, while ceiling-mounted mounted are the most discreet. A ductless mini-split system can provide adequate air conditioning and heating for your entire home. Each air handler unit can be set to its own particular temperature, so you can customize your comfort for each room.
Mini-splits offer a lot of versatility when it comes to sizing, as each indoor air handler unit can have its own sizing to fit the specific room that it’s cooling. For example, you can have an 8,000 BTU unit in your bedroom and a 10,000 BTU unit in your larger kitchen. Mini-splits are extremely energy-efficient for both heating and cooling.
There’s no doubt that purchasing a ductless mini-split system for your home is much more expensive than purchasing portable AC units. However, mini-splits can make you eligible to receive a tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act. This can allow you to recoup some of the upfront cost of purchasing your new system. Portable ACs don’t qualify for this tax credit.
Making a Final Decision
Both portable AC units and ductless mini-splits provide a plethora of benefits and are great for their own application types. Portable ACs can be great if you’re renting a location where you can’t make any permanent changes. However, they’re not a feasible option for cooling down an entire home. Instead, purchasing a ductless mini-split system is a great way to retrofit your existing home with adequate heating and air conditioning.
Premier AC Installation Service
Bone Heating & Cooling offers premier AC installation service in Festus, MO. We can also assist with all your AC replacement, repair, and maintenance needs. Phone us today to schedule your next service appointment with one of our helpful AC technicians.
