The headline might make it sound as if we aren’t in favor of using ductless mini split systems (a.k.a. ductless heat pumps) for home heating and cooling. But we are! We think ductless heat pumps are one of the best solutions for home comfort around, especially for older homes or smaller homes without room for ductwork. Ductless mini split systems are convenient, easy and fast for professionals to install, improve indoor air quality, and have excellent energy efficiency.
But, like any HVAC system, ductless mini splits may need to be repaired at some point. They don’t suffer from the duct-related problems that can plague standard heat pumps and air conditioners, but there are a few specific repair issues they can suffer from. We’re going to go over a few of the ductless heat pump problems you encounter.
Your home’s central air conditioner is a type of refrigeration system, like a freezer or a fridge. It cools down air by removing the heat from it with chemical refrigerant. The refrigerant circulated through a set of indoor and outdoor coils, evaporating in the indoor coils to draw heat from the air and then condensing in the outdoor coils to release the heat.
When you decide you need a new air conditioning system for your home (and now would be a great time to do it and beat out the worst of the summer heat), you’ll have to make a few decisions. If your previous AC was a standard central system, then the easiest choice is to put in a similar type of air conditioner. You can make upgrades, such as going for a higher efficiency unit or one with a variable speed blower fan. But the new air conditioner will do the same essential job as the last one.
You never know exactly how long an appliance might last. It depends on factors like how often you use it, how well it was constructed, if it suffers any damage, and sometimes just plain luck. But with almost any appliance, there’s a general idea of many years you can expect it to last on average—and that’s the case with a central air conditioning system.
Heat pumps are a popular option for home comfort in Tampa Bay because they provide air conditioning and heating in one unit. A big benefit of a heat pump in this climate is the energy efficiency of heating mode, which drains less power than a standard electric furnace. A heat pump spends most of the year in cooling mode, but on the few days when it needs to turn to heating mode, it won’t place an enormous demand for electrical power.
You probably don’t know much about the central air conditioner in your home except that it cools you down on hot Florida summer days. You may know it works similar to a refrigerator, moving refrigerant between two sets of coils, and that it uses a compressor to run. But unless you work in the HVAC industry or are enthusiastic about the science of refrigeration systems, this is probably where your knowledge stops.
Spring is an important time for any HVAC contractor. It’s the time when we start to change from working on handling broken heating systems to helping our customers prep their cooling systems for another hot and humid Florida summer. During the actual summer, we keep busy with answering emergency repair call—this is one of the most important jobs we do to see our customers stay cool. But spring is when we provide the essential service that can help to stop those awful summer cooling problems.
The answer depends on what you mean when you use the word “repair.”
When a heater stops working in a place where temperatures are frequently below freezing during the winter, it’s an emergency situation. The best course of action is to call for HVAC professionals right away to get the trouble fixed before the deep freeze gets into the house.
