Ductless Mini-Splits in South Florida

Cooling a Room That Has No Ductwork

Some spaces are hard to cool because the ducts never reached them. An older house built before central air, a garage or Florida room that got converted, an addition tacked onto a system that was already at its limit. A ductless mini-split solves that problem without opening walls to run new duct. Ask us whether one fits your space.

How a Ductless System Works

There are two parts. An outdoor compressor unit, and one or more indoor air handlers — usually mounted high on a wall — connected to it by refrigerant lines. Those lines need only a small penetration through the exterior wall, which is why the install is far less invasive than adding ductwork.

Each indoor head is its own zone with its own thermostat. That's the real difference from a central system: instead of one temperature for the whole house, you set each space separately, and you only condition the rooms you're actually using.

Where They Make Sense

Room-by-room temperature control for older homes and additions, without running new ductwork — that's the short version of when we recommend one.

In practice the situations look like this. A house with no existing ducts, where retrofitting a central system means significant construction. A converted space — garage, attic, enclosed porch — that was never part of the original load calculation. A room that has always run warmer or cooler than the rest of the house no matter how the vents are adjusted. Or a guest room, home office or workshop that sits empty much of the week and doesn't need conditioning when nobody's in it.

They are not automatically the right answer. If you have sound ductwork and a whole-home comfort problem, that's usually a question about the ducts or the equipment sizing rather than a case for going ductless. And if you're replacing a central system outright, the single-stage, two-stage and inverter comparison is the more useful place to start.

Reading Up Before You Decide

We've written in more detail on the questions that come up most often:

• The benefits of ductless mini-split systems
• Challenges of ductless AC installation
• Why a ductless system isn't holding temperature
• Ductless AC electrical and performance issues
• When a ductless system needs professional attention
• Diagnosing and solving mini-split problems

Find Out What Your Space Needs

Whether ductless is the right call depends on the room, the existing system and what you want out of it. Contact Dade Super Cool Air Conditioning and we'll look at the space and tell you straight.