# Mini Split Heat Pumps good or bad?



## Big Dreamer (Aug 6, 2010)

Hi 

I live in Ohio and have been reading about the Mini Split Heat pumps and was looking for some input from some folks that have them or have seen them used. I currently have an all electric home with baseboard heating and no central air. I do have 1 window AC unit that does okay for the whole house but would like to have another ac type than a window unit. I do heat with a corn burner in the winter and that works great since we lease some of our farm out and take about 100 bushels of corn out of the payment to heat with.

So long story short what is your thoughts on the mini split heat pump setups. 

Thanks
Gerald


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Air source heat pumps are great above freezing and can be a good choice for AC in your house (with no ducting) ........ and they're pretty good even if you do have duct work! Below freezing temps they stop working.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

We built our house 25 years ago to be heated with wood, and made no provisions for AC. Due to the design of the house ( 1 1/2 story, partly on concrete slab ) going back to add conventional ductwork for AC isn't practical. My wife works in an AC office, and there are a few weeks in late July, early August that some years the heat does get to be a bit much.....even though we designed the house to take advantage of existing tree shade, and have a LOT of insulation ( 10" thick walls ) and mass ( slab floor ) that does a great deal for moderating the heat ( or cold ).

SO, I bought a Mitsubishi mini split ( single unit ) heat pump ( it was only a slight bit more than the AC units ) and installed it in our dining room area wall, running the refrigerant lines out over the garage ceiling to the condenser unit on the end of the garage (about 30').
1 1/2 ton unit ( 18,000 BTU ) cost about $1600 delivered to my door ( with lines/etc ) from a company in Florida. ( ordered online ). Nice thing about the heat pump unit is you can use it to "knock off the chill" in early fall or late spring when the temps go down just enough to need a little heat, but not enough to fire up the wood stove ( or corn stove in your case ). I think it was money well spent to get the heat pump

Installation was easy. Then I paid a guy I knew from an HVAC company to come pull a vacuum on the system, then turn the gas loose ( unit comes pre-charged ) He charged me $150.

Unit has worked flawlessly for 5 years now.....we love it. In fact, I'm considering another one for the master bedrm area after the heat wave of this year.....we normally use a whole house fan, but when the night temps stay in the 80's, that doesn't do much.

The brand I narrowed down to was the Samsung units this time ( last time, there was very little choice.....WHOLE lot more brands on the market now ). They have one that is 19 SEER that uses an inverter to provide SUPER high efficiency. I saw an operating cost comparison between a 13 SEER and a 19, and the cost was right at half. I think my Mitsubishi is an 11.


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## Big Dreamer (Aug 6, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback. I would like to get a quad unit and really do not need the heatpump so it just depends on the cost as to what I will get. Some that I have looked at it might be better to get 2 dual units. 
Thanks
Gerald


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