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Case Studies

Mar 4, 2020 6:58:24 AM by Ron Musser

Ductless AC Adds Cooling Without Renovation in Ardmore Park, PA

PROBLEM: Homeowners in Ardmore Park, Pa. wanted central air, but their home didn’t have ductwork. They didn’t want to add ducts and soffits. 

SOLUTION: ECI Comfort installed a Mitsubishi ductless air conditioning mini-split system. It uses a heat pump and four air handlers to treat the first floor, bedrooms, and third floor.

ECI comfort adds cooling without renovation in Ardmore, PA home.

Our homeowners in Ardmore Park, PA, love their beautiful three-story home, but they weren’t looking forward to another hot summer in it. 

A common drawback of older homes like these is the cooling system — or lack thereof; this home doesn’t use a forced-air system for heating, which means there’s no ductwork. That also means you can’t have central air because that system uses the same ducts. You could install that, of course, but it’s expensive and changes the look and feel of your home. 

Our homeowners didn’t want to rely on open windows and fans anymore. They were also tired of dragging air conditioners out of storage, cleaning them, and jamming them into windows in their bedrooms. But they also didn’t want to add ductwork. In particular, they didn’t like the idea of soffits, or the enclosures around the ducts, taking up living space and making the rooms feel smaller. 

Finally, a neighbor referred them to ECI. After a consultation, our homeowners found the perfect solution to their summer woes: a Mitsubishi ductless system.

In this case study, we’ll start by explaining how these systems work. 

Read: Tax Credits for High-Efficiency Systems

How Ductless Air Conditioning Works

Ductless air conditioning uses air handlers in the home to take in warm air and dehumidify the space, then a heat pump transfers that heat from the system to the outdoors. That way, each room is left with cold, less humid air. 

The key to the system is how the two components are connected. Instead of pushing air through ductwork, you only need a small line that carries refrigerant liquid. 

The heat, or thermal energy, from the room warms the refrigerant, and that gas travels to the heat pump. When it reaches that component, the heat pump expels the thermal energy. This process causes the refrigerant to condense back into a liquid, which then travels back to the air handler to repeat the cycle. 

Meanwhile, each air handler uses its own thermostat, allowing for customized cooling for each area where you install one. 

HOW DUCTLESS WORKS

That’s a major advantage over central air, especially in homes like these with many rooms and a third floor. In those cases, the one thermostat in the living room can’t account for higher temperatures on the second and third stories. With a ductless system, every room stays at the temperature you want.

Ductless Mini-Split Installation in Ardmore Park, PA

High ceiling air handler in bedroom in Ardmore, PA.Installing the ductless mini-split system in this Ardmore Park home was a simple, straightforward process. Most of the air handlers fit easily on one side of the house, and the others were placed so that the line sets remained hidden. As a result, they all connected neatly to the heat pump on the side of the house.

It’s also helpful that the air handlers use sensors and small, specialized fans to circulate the air no matter where we mount them in the room. That’s why we can tuck the unit away in a corner like in this room (right).

Or, we can line them up with windows to help them blend into the room. And, you can see where the homeowners got some extra sunlight here once our installation was complete and they got rid of that old window AC (left). In these cases, we ran the lineset right through the exterior wall to the heat pump. For other rooms, we ran it through a dividing wall to reach the outside (right).

ECI installing a high ceiling air handler in Ardmore, PA.

Either way, all you see is the air handler. No wires, soffits, or ducts are visible. Plus, since those sensors and fans work so well, that one air handler can accommodate more than one room. 

After a quick installation job, where we made sure to keep the house neat and tidy, our homeowners were more than ready for the warm weather ahead. 

How Ductless HVAC Adds Value to Your Home

Benefits of Ductless Air Conditioning in an Older House

Ductless air conditioning also has some specific benefits for older homes such as this one in Ardmore Park: 

No Major Construction

This was the big selling point here. As you’ll see in the photos below, we didn’t need to build out compartments in each room for the system to work. 

Instead, all we did was mount a few units to the walls and ran the wires behind them. Homeowners who love the quaint look of their home get to keep that aesthetic while feeling much more comfortable. 

Lower Energy Bills

Ductless uses much less electricity than central air, so our homeowners will pay much less this summer because they’re not relying on their old, inefficient appliances. 

Supplemental Heat

As far as cooling systems go, even a little heating capacity is a bonus, especially for homes with third floors. Those dormers, lofts, and attic rooms are naturally coldest in the winter and warmest in the summer, making them notoriously tough to heat and cool. 

Most times, the heating system loses power or pressure as it moves up to the second floor. By the time it gets to the third, it’s especially weak. 

However, the heat pump that provides comfortable cooling also works in reverse. In the cold weather, it gathers whatever thermal energy is outside, amplifies it, and sends it into the house. 

Our homeowners went with a standard heat pump, which provides warmth as long as the temperature stays above freezing.

Hyper-Heat Versus Standard Heat Pumps

Now they can add a little extra warmth, especially to that third floor, when it starts to get chilly but isn’t cold enough to fire up the full system.


If you’d like to learn more about how a mini-split system can make your home more comfortable, click the button below for a free consultation or give us a call at 215 - 245 - 3200.

Schedule Your Free Ductless Consultation

This entry was posted in AC window units, Heat Pump, Mitsubishi Electric, Ductless, Ardmore Park, PA