How does a ductless air conditioner differ from a central air conditioning system?
The clue is in the name. The system has no ducts. Instead, there are just two main components – the condenser, which is outside, and the inside unit, called the evaporator. They are connected by a series of small tubes that contain the refrigerant.
The evaporator can be mounted either on a wall or on a ceiling. A top ductless air conditioner could have many of these inside components, all working with the same condenser. They can be adjusted individually, so various rooms or zones can be cooled to different degrees. And, of course, installation and charging of this type of split system air conditioner must be done by a professional HVAC contractor.
As with conventional central air, some means is necessary to drain the condensate from the wall-mounted evaporator to the outside. A small pump serves that purpose.
Some of the top ductless air conditioner units can warm as well as cool. They may do that in conjunction with a heat pump or have heat strips similar to those in a central HVAC system.
As far as difficulty of installation is concerned, ductless heating and air conditioning is more difficult than putting in a window unit but much less complicated than the more common HVAC systems. There’s no ducting to be installed, but the refrigerant lines do have to be run from the condenser to each of the evaporators.
Of course, some of the same principles apply in terms of keeping your energy costs down. Programmable thermostats can save about $180 a year for the average user.
As an alternative to the older HVAC solutions, it might be worth looking at one of the top ductless air conditioner units for your cooling needs.
The HVAC industry in the United States enjoyed an annual growth rate of 4.1% from 2009 to 2014. The total number of related businesses is estimated to be 85,469.
