Ductless heating and cooling
Ductless mini split systems
Mitsubishi Electric mini splits for the addition, the garage and the back bedroom, installed and pressure tested by a Mitsubishi Diamond Dealer.
Chapter 01
The room the ductwork never reached
Most houses around Tomball, Klein and Spring were built with one duct system sized for the floor plan on the day it was drawn. Then somebody closed in a garage, added a bedroom over the carport, or built a back room with a slider and a lot of west glass. The original trunk was never sized for that room, and tying a new run into it usually leaves the whole system weaker than it was.
The result is a room that sits several degrees off from the rest of the house all summer, and a thermostat in the hallway that has no idea. You can open the door, run a fan, or drop the setpoint for everyone else, but none of that fixes a room with no real supply of its own.
A ductless mini split gives that room its own heating and cooling. There is no duct to extend, no wall to open up for a trunk, and no demand placed on the equipment that already serves the rest of the house.
A Mr. Chill technician kneeling at a Mitsubishi Electric mini split condenser with gauges, hoses and a nitrogen bottle on the line set
Pressure test first, refrigerant second
A mini split is two pieces joined by a copper line set: an outdoor condenser and an indoor head. Mr. Chill is a Mitsubishi Diamond Dealer, and Mitsubishi Electric is one of the brands our NATE-certified technicians install. The craft is in the joining, which is why the photo above shows a technician kneeling at the condenser with gauges, hoses and a nitrogen bottle beside him.
The line set goes through the wall with a sleeve, sized and bent so nothing kinks. Before any refrigerant is released, the lines are pressurised with nitrogen and held, because a leak you find with nitrogen costs nothing and a leak you find after the charge costs the charge. Then the lines are pulled down under vacuum to remove air and moisture, and only after that does the refrigerant get released from the condenser into the system.
Placement of the indoor head matters as much as the plumbing. It wants clear throw across the room, not a spot behind a door swing or over the bed where the draft lands on a sleeper. The condensate drain is routed with a continuous fall to a place that makes sense outside, and the condenser sits on a level stand with room to breathe, like the timber stand in the brick-wall install pictured here.
Chapter 03
Keeping a ductless system quiet and cold
The indoor head has a washable filter behind the front panel, and that filter is the most common reason a ductless unit loses capacity. In a Houston-area house with pets, a dusty garage conversion or a busy kitchen nearby, it gets looked at often and rinsed when it is gray. Outside, the condenser coil wants to stay clear of leaves, mulch and cut grass.
Condensate is the other thing worth a yearly look. A drain that has been running through a humid Texas summer can grow slime and slow down, and the first sign is water at the head, not a message on a screen.
If a mini split is part of your home's comfort, mention it when you call (832) 698-4273. The Chill Club, $179 a year, puts a spring cooling visit and a fall heating visit on the calendar for your equipment, with priority service and a two year warranty on parts replaced. Whether the room needs a single head or a multi-room system is something the technician works out standing in it, and estimates are free.
Mr. Chill. Licensed and insured, TACLB27361E. Call (832) 698-4273.