The future is ductless
Sponsored Content - May 08, 2018 - Think Local

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Are you tired of having that noisy air conditioner in your bedroom window keeping you awake at night? Do you think you have no options, since your home has no ducting system?

Or do you have ducting but still there is that one room that is never the right temperature?

What about the addition or that one bedroom that is always too hot in the summer, or too cold in the winter, so you only use those rooms a few months out of the year?

Have you inquired about adding cooling to your home, but been told that your ducting is not sufficient to add central air conditioning?

The solution to all of these issues is simpler than you think!

Ductless split technology has been around for what seems like forever, but is just now becoming more mainstream (and a lot more affordable) for the average homeowner.

Instead of using ductwork to distribute air through the house (like a central air conditioner would do) a ductless split system utilizes individual units throughout the home. This allows for individual control in each room, which in turn provides more flexible temperature settings.

A ductless heat pump or air conditioner typically consists of one or more wall-mounted indoor units combined with an outside compressor. Unlike window units, ductless units only require a small hole in the wall for installation.

The indoor units are much quieter and look a lot nicer than your typical window AC. They are also exceedingly energy-efficient. Depending on the system you choose, a ductless home comfort system can achieve SEER ratings in the high 20’s.

SEER measures the ratio of cooling capacity to power input, so the higher the SEER rating, the more work you’re getting out of the equipment for the same dollar of energy. The lower the SEER rating, the lower the production.

Terri Wilkinson, of Comfort-Tech Heating and Cooling Ltd., points out that a lot of ductless systems also come with stellar warranties. Comfort-Tech specializes in this type of system, and it sells Daikin Ductless systems with 12-year warranties.

Wilkinson also says ductless works best in specific situations, such as:

-New additions like garage apartments, bonus rooms, sunrooms, and man caves. The main benefit of ductless is that the system will be properly sized for the space and won’t steal air from other spaces or overload your existing HVAC system;

Serving multiple needs under one roof. Thermostat wars are a real thing, so ductless is ideal for creating independent temperature zones in different rooms. You can retro-fit zoning into an existing HVAC system, however, its definitely not as efficient and unless it’s done correctly it could turn into a real
nightmare. In fact, many HVAC professionals would never recommend retrofit zoning a ducted system and the reason is simple. Your original ductwork and equipment was not sized to run in zones. If you want to do a zoned ducted system correctly you need to start from scratch;

Adding AC to a home that doesn’t have existing ductwork. Ductless isn’t cheap, but its definitely less expensive than adding a complete ducted system to an existing home.

-Dealing with a specific room that has heating or cooling problems. If you have one room that you want to use but rarely do because its never the right temperature, a ductless unit can give you back that space in your home, without having to install new ductwork;

Adding cooling to a home where the ductwork wasn’t sized for central air. Back in the day, the ductwork in homes did not have to be sized for cooling, but cooling requires far larger ductwork than heating. If you live in an older home but do not have central air installed be sure to have your existing system assessed.

Wilkinson says ductless systems (and any system, really) work much, much better when they are correctly sized and installed. In order to do that, you will need a professional to do the job.

For more information on ductless systems and how to have them installed, visit Comfort-Tech online.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Okanagan Edge.


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