Having a house for a long time often makes for a comforting, welcoming home. But, when the air conditioning doesn’t work properly, and the place gets too hot in the summer, a home can seem a lot less cozy. Also, making major upgrades can be so costly and time-consuming that many homeowners often put it off as long as possible.
When we met with a family in the Clementon, we knew it was time for them to update the heating system in their rancher and finally add some air conditioning. There was a lot to consider, but now this mom, dad and daughter are comfortable year-round in their beautiful suburban three-bedroom rancher.
Problem:
The home had inefficient baseboard heat and no central air conditioning.
Solution:
Replaced a heat pump forced air system with an outdoor Mitsubishi 2.5-ton hyper-heat mini-split, MXZ3C30NAHZ, and three indoor split units: MSZFH09, MSZH12, and MSZFH15.
Going from forced-air heating to a mini-split is a big change, but often well worth it — especially in this case.
Forced-air systems rely on vents and ductwork to push air from a heating unit up throughout the house. It’s a very common technique, but it has its limitations. You can’t control the temperature in different parts of the house, for starters. And, when the system gets weak it just doesn’t push enough air to do the job properly.
This Clementon family left that all behind, however, for a new mini-split system. Now, with separate wall units throughout the house, they can choose a different temperature for each “zone.” It’s a simple process: Each unit heats or cools an area independently of the the others. The air comes to the unit through a small, flexible tube that’s easy to install, and only takes a small hole in the wall to fit they hose.
This saves money when you’re not using extra energy to heat a house for the coolest room or vice versa with the air conditioning. And, different areas can be set to different temperatures. That room you’re not using much, for instance, can be left hotter or cooler than other spots.
Plus, the units are unobtrusive and silent. No constant hum from window-unit air conditioners or sudden roars from forced air shuttling through the ducts. Instead, the small tubes more efficient, since it takes less energy to move the air. They also result in less leaked air that never make it all the way through, like with ductwork.
Now, this Clementon family went from having insufficient heat and no air conditioning to clean, quiet heat in the winter and cool a/c in summer — and, every person in the house gets to set their own thermostat to the temperature they want.