Could Mini Splits Be the Answer to Your Cooling Problem?

Here at Bosque Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, we aren’t here to just sell you the most expensive solution for your heating and cooling problems. We train our technicians to ask questions and listen to precisely what a customer’s needs are. And often, if a customer is sharing with us that a particular room in their home is just too hot, a mini split could be the answer. In this blog, we’ll talk about what a mini split is and what its best uses are.

What is a mini split?

Mini splits are a heating and cooling option that allows for a much more customizable solution. It’s a ductless, electric cooling and heating system that involves one condenser and one to three wall mounted mini splits. The condenser is often mounted on the outside of the home, and the wall mounted units are placed in the room(s) you want to cool.

Unlike a window AC unit, it doesn’t have to take up a lot of space and be an eyesore in a window. They can be more subtly mounted in a room, and one condenser can even service more than one room. In the words of Home Depot,

“Mini splits don’t need full-sized air ducts to work. A conventional central A/C system generates cold air at a single point and distributes it via large ducts throughout the home. A ductless mini split system, on the other hand, uses an individual fan and evaporator unit for each room. 

Having mini split units in each air-conditioned room allows you to better control the temperature of each room in your home. Rooms that aren’t being used regularly can be turned off to save energy. Rooms that get pretty warm can have the temperature adjusted to be more comfortable. The room-by-room control that ductless mini splits allow for lowers energy costs better than a whole-home air conditioning system.” 

Popular Uses for Mini Splits

There are lots of applications for mini splits—getting AC over to a guest house or casita, custom cooling for large homes (think 3,000-5,000 square foot homes) with radiant heat, for homes with swamp coolers that aren’t cooling the whole house effectively, and more.

Let’s break it down:

I want to get AC to my guest house/casita:

If you have a guest house or casita, even if your home has central AC, your guest house isn’t going to be connected to that. So, you’re left with the choice of having an additional AC unit, window AC, toughing it out with fans and opening the windows at night, or the option you may be least familiar with—the mini split! The mini split won’t need any ductwork to operate, and it’s relatively inexpensive to purchase and have installed. The result will be your casita is nice and cool for a minimal cost.

My house has a swamp cooler and it’s too hot.

Homes that have a swamp cooler often don’t cool to a suitable level on the hottest days of summer. Swamp coolers can only cool a home to about 20 degrees below the outside temperature. So a mini split is a great answer for homes that have swamp coolers and don’t have the ability to add ducting for a swamp cooler conversion. Also, adding a mini split or two to key rooms in the house, like the master bedroom and living room can take the edge off the heat in our ABQ summers.

How can I keep my large house cooler?

Homes that are larger (think 3,000 to 5,000 square feet) often run on radiant heat instead of central heating because radiant heating is more effective at that size. Homes like this require a custom cooling solution since there often is no ducting for central AC/furnace. This is the ideal situation to call on the mini split! 

Additionally, large homes benefit from being able to heat and cool the home in zones, and mini splits allow for this. So if you have your hot sleepers in the back of the house, you can blast the cooling in that zone, and then keep another section of the house at a warmer temperature.

My bedroom gets a lot of direct sunlight. How can I keep it cool?

Whether you have a swamp cooler, central AC, or radiant heat, if you have a room with windows that get a lot of direct sunlight, it can be hard to keep that room warm in the winter or cool in the summer. Again, the mini split is a perfect solution for a room like this. That way you don’t have to sacrifice the sunlight by drawing the blinds, and you can stay comfortable throughout the day or night.

How can a mini split help me save money on my energy bill?

Mini splits allow you to heat or cool a home in zones. So, if you have an area of your home that doesn’t get a lot of use, a basement for example, you can save money by not heating or cooling that zone, while keeping other parts of your home at a comfortable temperature.

Are their industrial uses for mini splits?

One common use for mini splits is an industrial setting is to cool server rooms. Obviously, server rooms need to be kept at a cool temperature all the time because overheated servers result in outages. Mini splits are ideal for server rooms because they operate independently of the air conditioning in the rest of the building. They provide a steady and constant source of cooling.

Call Bosque Heating, Cooling & Plumbing for Mini Split Installation

If you feel like you can relate to any of these scenarios, it’s time to consider having a mini split installed in your home or business. Give us a call at (505)444-7200 to chat with our team. We’ll send someone out to your home or business to take a look at your existing heating and cooling systems and see if a mini split is the best solution for you!