Having ductwork snake throughout your home can have several drawbacks. First is the forced-air system itself, providing uneven cooling, expensive operation and higher inefficiencies than other methods. Next is the ductwork itself, providing a large surface area for dust and allergens to collect inside and by its nature adding to the inefficiency problem.
Going Ductless
The uneven nature of heating and cooling with a traditional forced-air system can raise the monthly electric bill quite a bit. And with about half of energy consumption coming from heating and cooling costs, any reduction in that consumption can reap large savings.
Instead of having one large, central, unit to handle the air within a home, splitting the work among several smaller heat pumps to cool or heat only the areas of the home that need it reduces overall energy consumption. From an efficiency standpoint it doesn’t make a lot of sense to run a unit for the entire home to cool one or two rooms.
Ductless heat pumps in the right configuration can have extraordinarily high efficiency ratings. It is not uncommon to have up to 300% efficiency ratings. That kind of powerful cooling at a low energy consumption is one of the reasons they are so attractive to home owners.
Normally a home will have one or two thermostats, depending mainly on the number of floors within the home. As you can imagine this setup won’t take into account the uneven nature of the way a house warms or cools from the environment it is in. With a ductless system there is a thermostat for eat heat pump or for the different zones the home is divided into. This allows for more individual control over the varying temperatures within a home and for individual heating or cooling levels, because not everyone likes the same temperature.
A ductless system isn’t always beneficial for every situation. Depending on the layout of the home, existing infrastructure, and budget considerations, a different solution could be appropriate for you. If you would like to discuss your heating and cooling options, give us at Allison Air Conditioning a call today!