Small is beautiful: Ductless mini splits

Homes and small commercial buildings may benefit from the application of ductless mini splits. What the heck is that? I was watching one of those TV programs on renovating homes the other day when a discussion came up about air conditioning an attic room with low ceilings and small windows. Someone suggested a window air conditioner because there was no place to run a duct and I almost gagged on my coffee. That is not a good idea.

I abhor window air conditioners. Ductless mini split package air conditioning units can eliminate window air conditioners and literally blow them away in terms of performance. Also, all you need is a couple of copper pipes run through a small wall opening to the remote “condensing unit”. Ductless minis come in room size capacities, and they are far more ENERGY EFFICIENT and esthetically pleasing to look at than window AC. And you save the window for what it was best suited! No bulky object blocking the view or preventing the occasional pleasure of an open window for breeze.

I guess the TV show illustrates that ductless mini splits are one of those “inventions” that is not known to the vast majority of people.

Ductless mini splits are not a particularly new idea, the first ones came out in the late 80s from Mitsubishi. I first used them in a tough spot where I needed to design in some cooling for a “computer room“ in the basement of a historic 1890s Princeton University dormitory. Regular split package air conditioners are pretty bulky and basically require ductwork to work anyway. And you need space to hang ductwork. If window air conditioners were absolutely not an option, what can you do?

The common solution in classroom and lab buildings for this sort of single room cooling is to hang a fan coil and run campus chilled water into the unit. But there was no chilled water anywhere in the building to tap into. Ductless mini splits are great where the slim aspect of a cassette shaped cabinet is acceptable on the wall or ceiling. They are also a permanent solution to the problem of adding efficient cooling without sacrificing space while still preserving the integrity of walls and windows.

Tags: Green Design, HVAC