Central Air or Mini-Split?
Hi, I did read the article by this name but didn’t find my questions answered there, so I’m putting it out again–WHICH IS BETTER?
We are comparing a central air to a mini-split system—can people speak to the relative merits of either system, cost being about equal? I’ve found it very hard to come up with any comparisons in online research that weren’t produced by installers/sellers of one or the other system, so nothing has seemed particularly reliable.
Our house is 3 floors, 20’ X 40’, and as it turns out the two systems would be nearly identical in installation and placement – we would have units in the front and back on each floor, following the same paths through the cellar, cockloft, or an existing beam on the parlor floor. Placement of the outside units would be the same. So it’s really about which system is superior in terms of energy efficiency, longevity, cost of operating, and cost/ease of maintaining.
Can anyone speak to —
-energy efficiency. i know both are better than room air conditioners and believe mini split more efficient than central air. True? We’d have every room functioning independently w mini split and one big zone with central air, so that in itself seems like a significant efficiency difference. Anything else anyone knows about that I should consider?
-cost of maintenance – I’m told that mini splits break more? harder to find people to work them and that can be a hassle?
-ease of maintenance – also told that i can clean a mini split myself but would need a service contract for central air. can anyone with either system speak to how often they clean or otherwise take care of their system?
-how well do each work? my contractor keeps pushing us to go with central air – he says it just works better. cools the whole house. is it really better in the end or just his preference for who knows what reason?
Thanks for any info anyone can share. This is a huge purchase for us, if we do move forward, and I don’t feel like I have a handle on the relative merits of the systems.
elm_bk
in General Discussion 8 years and 3 months ago
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24 replies
empathie00 | 8 years and 3 months ago
On the heat pump issue – no, in NYC they won’t suffice as primary heating. They lose functionality as the temp drops, and basically cease producing heat when the outside temp is below about 20-25 or so. So I definitely wouldn’t do ONLY heat pumps unless I lived in FL or TX or something. But for those first chilly nights of Sept/Oct, they’re perfect.
oliver_nyc | 8 years and 3 months ago
this is an excellent question and the general conclusion I’ve reached is that mini-splits are probably better than the standard ducted AC systems most brownstones (including ours) have installed. we have both AC and forced (gas) heat and I’m convinced switching the AC to mini-splits (which can be ducted as well) is the way forward. the thing I’m still not clear on is whether using the heatpumps – even on the newer systems – is sufficient as a primary heat source. I’d love to get rid of my gas furnaces but am unconvinced that the mini-splits can provide enough heat for the standard Brooklyn brownstone in NYC winters… would love to hear any thoughts from people that have heat pumps as their only source of heat…
anotherposter | 8 years and 3 months ago
The zoning ability of mini is really great. We aren’t into using the a/c a lot in the summer, but our bedroom happens to be in the naturally hottest part of our brownstone. We have central air with poor duct placement (previous owner did it and we haven’t had the patience to go through cutting the walls up to fix that) and blasting the air enough to get the bedroom comfortable to sleep (not cold), makes the rest of the house over-chilled. We just have a window a/c in that bedroom now for the warmest summer nights. I’m sure that if we had mini-splits, we’d not run the whole house a/c as much and just turn that unit on (and maybe one in the kitchen when cooking a lot) in the summer. That would result in a lot less electricity useage.
My experience with mini-splits was in a home in the country that is basically all glass, so a greenhouse in the summer. The unit didn’t seem to have any trouble keeping it cool. I’m not sure the heater component of them would work well enough on it’s own for me, but it’s a nice supplement to the “main” heat.
That said, we had an easier ti me getting maintenance on central than mini splits we had in another house, but surely that’s getting getting as they get more popular.
empathie00 | 8 years and 3 months ago
We have mini splits; 2 on each floor (4 floors, 17×50). Different BTUs in each room based on size and exposure. Super quiet and very efficient – we barely even notice the increase in the electric bill in the summers (that said, we’re not huge AC users and tend not to turn it on til temp hits about 90). Best for me is that at night, we cool just the bedrooms and don’t waste energy on the rest of the house. The units cool so quickly, we can turn them on in the rest of the house when we wake up in the AM (turning OFF the BRs), and the rest of the house is cool in 10 mins. Also no need to leave them on while we’re out; again, we turn on when we come home and house is cool in 10 mins. Can also be done wirelessly now.
Also – for the in-between seasons, our units have heat pumps – since we have oil fired steam heat in rest of house, it’s MUCH easier to get the morning chill out with the heat pumps, turning them on in an occupied room for 30 mins or so, than having to fire up the whole boiler for the whole house.
Have had the system for 5 years and no troubles as of yet, fin gers crossed! We clean indoor vents ourselves and have had regular maintenance service on the condenser just once (should probably do it more frequently – it’s $125 a pop to service so not a massive issue cost wise, just lots of other stuff to keep up with taking precedent!)
Especially if you can hide the lines as part of your overall construction project, I would recommend mini splits over central air. More efficient and less obtrusive.
Good luck with your decisions!