Anyone have ac installed without ductwork

[luberhill]

I think they call them mini splits ?

Looking at a ranch house with a boiler and no ac

 

[Otto]

We have used mini splits in a commercial setting, they work great with big open rooms.  

[PMoney]

I install HVAC. Mini splits are great.

[2012_taco]

Yes, I put one in my living room and 1  in my bedroom windows. LOL

[Arcade Hunter]

Currently working with our contractor to install 3 split systems for one office and two separate meeting rooms.  This is going to be cheaper than upsizing a rooftop unit.  We have three already in other parts of the facility and they work great and less invasive to get through the roof

[GreeneHunter]

23 minutes ago, 2012_taco said:

Yes, I put one in my living room and 1  in my bedroom windows. LOL

Same here , one at one end of the house and one at the other end .... works pretty good ! Only 1200 Sq. Ft. house !

[virgil]

I recently moved and had AC installed. Looked into mini splits and decided to go with a ducted system. We weren’t a fan of the look of the split units. There was minimal difference in price. 

in a ranch style house, I would think it’d be easy to run ducts in the attic or basement. 

[mowin]

Love my mini splits. Heat, and cool my ranch house with one in the living room and one in the master. Both run off the same outside unit.  Cost less the buring oil by a huge margin.  

However, some only work to -5°. Our is a Fujitsu and works to -15°, but the colder it is, the efficiency drops.  Another issue is my basement gets very cold, because the oil furnace never comes on. I installed a pellet stove in the basement and use it from Dec to March. Used 1.5 ton of pellets. 

[luberhill]

2 hours ago, PMoney said:

I install HVAC. Mini splits are great.

So for a 2000 sf ranch house are they like a heat pump ?

They heat and cool ?

[luberhill]

55 minutes ago, mowin said:

Love my mini splits. Heat, and cool my ranch house with one in the living room and one in the master. Both run off the same outside unit.  Cost less the buring oil by a huge margin.  

However, some only work to -5°. Our is a Fujitsu and works to -15°, but the colder it is, the efficiency drops.  Another issue is my basement gets very cold, because the oil furnace never comes on. I installed a pellet stove in the basement and use it from Dec to March. Used 1.5 ton of pellets. 

How big is your house ? Is it fairly open ?

[mowin]

11 minutes ago, luberhill said:

How big is your house ? Is it fairly open ?

1300 sqf.  The living and kitchen is fairly open. The larger BTU (think its a 7k) is in the living room facing the kitchen. Ceiling fan in LR helps a lot, but I hate ceiling fans, lol. Master has a 5k unit I believe.  

The master is at the opposite end of the house. During the night we keep our door closed. The other two bedrooms are fine as long as those doors are open. If someone was in those rooms with doors closed, they would definitely be on the cooler side.  

During the day, all doors are open, and the house balances out nicely.  

The pellet stove in the basement really helped this yr. 

Ours are heat and cooling.  

Edited March 24, 2021 by mowin

[grampy]

Great Thread. My wife and I are currently house hunting for our "forever home". One of the things we want is central air. But.....not a lot of the homes we have seen so far in the area, have AC. So a Mini Split could be a viable option for us to have installed, once we move in. Window units are loud, and a pain putting in, then taking out twice a year. Plus the fact of having another heat source in winter is an added bonus.  I'll be following this to see other comments. 

[luberhill]

5 minutes ago, grampy said:

Great Thread. My wife and I are currently house hunting for our "forever home". One of the things we want is central air. But.....not a lot of the homes we have seen so far in the area, have AC. So a Mini Split could be a viable option for us to have installed, once we move in. Window units are loud, and a pain putting in, then taking out twice a year. Plus the fact of having another heat source in winter is an added bonus.  I'll be following this to see other comments. 

Agree... we live in the village now on a 1/2 acre lot ..

Im tired of neighbors out every window ..

we have forced air gas now with central ac and it’s great.

The house I’m looking at is 2000 sf on 45 acres in the country .

Oil fired boiler and no ac.. finished basement so ripping the ceilings out for duct work is a no go .

Im told with the mini splits I won’t need to run the boiler and the mini splits are tons more efficient to heat and cool .

Costs could go to 10k ??

I hate oil and would probably convert the boiler to LP which they have for the dryer and range.

I would probably do electric on the dryer .. not a fan of gas dryers ..

The house was built in 1999 2x6 walls ,

Nice big heated detached garage and two car attached ..

450k so I’m trying to see total costs if I add the mini splits and blacktop the 1200 ft driveway

[hueyjazz]

Mini splits aren't equal.  The better ones I know of are Mitsubishi and Fujitsu.  Some are only designed for cooling.  You will likely need to do multi-zone for larger house even if it's on same floor.  I've installed many in an industrial setting and have put my own in log home.  They work great with proper planning and installation.   My propane usage cut way back yet the electric didn't increase much.

They really aren't hat hard to install if you have skills.  Basically a blower box inside mounted high on wall with coil and controls.  Three inch hole to outside for line-set, condensate and control wires going to main unit that can be on ground or attached to side of house.  Main unit is one that goes to panel and control wires feed blower unit

[luberhill]

9 hours ago, hueyjazz said:

Mini splits aren't equal.  The better ones I know of are Mitsubishi and Fujitsu.  Some are only designed for cooling.  You will likely need to do multi-zone for larger house even if it's on same floor.  I've installed many in an industrial setting and have put my own in log home.  They work great with proper planning and installation.   My propane usage cut way back yet the electric didn't increase much.

They really aren't hat hard to install if you have skills.  Basically a blower box inside mounted high on wall with coil and controls.  Three inch hole to outside for line-set, condensate and control wires going to main unit that can be on ground or attached to side of house.  Main unit is one that goes to panel and control wires feed blower unit

Yea this oil boiler also heats the water so I’d either have to install a separate water heater or use the oil and just do a cooling mini split ..

I don’t like having tanks full of fuel oil in the basement but .,,

Im sure I could convert the furnace to Lp gas and install a water heater then do a heat and cool mini split 

[mowin]

24 minutes ago, luberhill said:

Yea this oil boiler also heats the water so I’d either have to install a separate water heater or use the oil and just do a cooling mini split ..

I don’t like having tanks full of fuel oil in the basement but .,,

Im sure I could convert the furnace to Lp gas and install a water heater then do a heat and cool mini split 

My furnace is oil and my hot water is electric.  I plan on replacing the boiler with LP as well as the hot water tank.  The mini splits will continue to do most of the heating, and all of the cooling. 

[luberhill]

17 hours ago, mowin said:

My furnace is oil and my hot water is electric.  I plan on replacing the boiler with LP as well as the hot water tank.  The mini splits will continue to do most of the heating, and all of the cooling. 

Wonder what the costs of the minis would be for a 2000 sf home 

Would it be like 15k ?

[suburbanfarmer]

HEP Sales  sells DIY mini split units pre-charged with gas. They maybe too far for you.

[mowin]

30 minutes ago, luberhill said:

Wonder what the costs of the minis would be for a 2000 sf home 

Would it be like 15k ?

Not sure.  Buddy of mine is in the business. Got a great deal.  I pd little under 5k in Nov '18.