Ductless Mini Split – Perfect Heating and Cooling for a Finished Basement in Oak Lawn, IL
When the homeowners of this ranch-style home in Oak Lawn finished their basement, they were excited to have additional space to use as a flexible family space. They could set it up as a family room to watch movies, or to enjoy a game away from the main part of the home. It could even be used as an extra guest room or office space, making it a valuable addition to their home. However, there was one problem. The existing heating system with a boiler was not set up for this space, so the room always seemed too cold and they needed a solution that would let them maximize the use out of this newly renovated space.
They gave us a call here at A-Guy Heating and Air to see what we would recommend. When we came out to see the finished basement, we knew a single zone of Mitsubishi ductless heating and cooling would give the family year-round comfort at a reasonable cost.
Problem: This ranch-style home in Oak Lawn, IL had a newly finished basement, but the existing boiler system didn’t provide any heat to the space, leaving it cold and uncomfortable.
Solution: A single zone of Mitsubishi ductless heating and air conditioning will make sure this basement retreat is comfortable all year long!
You can see the pictures of the system installed in the home. The air handler is mounted up high on the wall, where it’s out of the way and able to easily monitor the space, so it can direct the heating and cooling right to where it’s needed.
Outdoors, we mounted the condenser unit on a pad with legs, helping to keep it free from leaves and other yard debris, helping with maintenance and ensuring proper air flow. The unit connects to the indoor air handler with a short run of power and coolant lines, covered so that they look just like a gutter on the outside of the house, helping to preserve the beauty of both the inside and outside of your home,
Ductless Mini Splits Heat (and Cool) Basements
Basements can be tricky to make comfortable. Located below or largely below grade, with concrete floors and walls, basements are notorious for feeling damp and cold. That means it’s always important to control both the temperature and humidity in basements when you are looking for heating and cooling solutions.
There are a lot of options especially for heating basements, each with their pros and cons. A few options include:
- Baseboard heaters– most baseboard heating systems run on a separate electric line and have a manual thermostat for controlling the comfort level. They are fairly inefficient, meaning they are expensive to run, and they don’t do a great job of evenly heating a room quickly.
- Pellet or wood stoves: Some people like the ambiance a wood or pellet stove adds to a basement room. But these systems require separate venting, keeping a supply of fuel in your home, and the system requires frequent cleaning to prevent them from being a fire hazard. They are often hot to the touch, making them a burn hazard for children and pets, and like baseboard heaters, they take a while to heat a room, and don;t have a lot of control, so you can easily make the room too hot and have no option to cool it down to a comfortable temperature.
- Adding additional radiators from the existing boiler system: While it’s possible to add additional radiators to the existing heating system, the existing system is sized to heat the home without the extra space, so this would end up putting extra strain on the existing system and would likely require replacing the entire boiler with a larger one. Also radiators, like baseboard heaters, take a while to heat up the space and have less control than other options.
Ductless Solves Multiple Problems, and Adds Efficiency!
We suggested an additional option- a single zone of Mitsubishi ductless heating and cooling. This would allow the homeowners to get both a heating- and cooling- system that would keep the whole space comfortable year-round. In addition, a single zone of Mitsubishi ductless would provide this comfort while also keeping energy bills low, making it affordable to both install and to run.
The Homeowners agreed that a single zone of ductless would be a great solution for them, especially after learning more about the benefits.
Mitsubishi ductless heat pump systems are some of the highest efficiency heating and cooling systems on the market, making them less expensive to run, while delivering better comfort. They can also act as heaters and air conditioners, making them a flexible year- round solution you can use in any space in your home to create a separate zone of comfort, wherever you need it most.
What is Ductless? How does it work?
Ductless systems are high-efficiency heat pumps that use the temperature in the surrounding air to add heat into your home, or take it out- depending on if you want heating or cooling. They are efficient down to -13oF, and up to over 100oF, making them a great option for any home in Oak Lawn and surrounding neighborhoods. This means they can provide both extra heat- or air conditioning- wherever you need it, and the system is designed to evenly distribute the heated or cooled air throughout the room, removing the hot or cold spots you can get with other options.
Mitsubishi ductless systems use a special inverter system that allows them to add just the amount of heat or cooling you want to a room, and then keep that temperature and humidity level constant, like a cruise control on your car. By using just the minimal amount of energy to keep the room comfortable, these systems are up to 70% more efficient in heating and 30% more efficient in cooling than other options, meaning you can get more comfort without a big impact on your monthly energy bills!
Ductless systems are also called Mini-splits, because they consist of two main parts- an outdoor condenser unit, and an indoor, often wall mounted air handler unit, sometimes called a head or cassette. Ductless systems do not rely on ductwork so you can place them virtually anywhere in your home, and each head can be controlled independently, creating a separate zone of comfort wherever you locate them.
Controlling a Ductless Mini Split Air Conditioner
Using a convenient hand held remote control, you can easily adjust the temperature- and humidity- in your room to suit your needs, without affecting the temperature in the rest of the home. You can also opt to have a thermostat installed on the wall, or use the convenient smart phone app which allows you to monitor the system even when you are away from home!
Ductless Mini Splits are Quiet
One of the other benefits of ductless heating and cooling is that it so quiet- only 19db- quiet as a whisper- when operating. This means you’ll barely notice when the system kicks on, and it certainly won’t interrupt a phone call or your show. It also means that if the family uses the basement as a guest rooms, the guest will get a peaceful night’s sleep and perfect comfort at the same time.
Check out this video.
Sensors to Increase Efficiency
The Mitsubishi H2i ductless systems have state of the art 3d i-See sensors that monitor the temperature and make the adjustments necessary to keep the room perfectly comfortable. (Click on the link to see a great video explaining the sensors in detail!) The sensors essentially create a map of the room with over 752 blocks and look for heat signatures so they can adjust the air flow accordingly, regulating the temperature and airflow to ensure everyone is comfortable by detecting the presence and location of people in the room. This helps to both
eliminate hot and cold spots and make sure that it keeps you and your family perfectly comfortable.
Ductless Mini Split Air Conditioners will Lower Your Energy Bills
The expert and experienced team here at A-Guy Heating and Air were able to install this system in just one day! That meant instant comfort in a short period of time for the family. And because Mitsubishi ductless systems are so efficient, they qualify for rebates from your local utility company and tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. This homeowner was able to get a $1,000 rebate which helped make this solution even more affordable from the start.
Because of the increased efficiency of the system, the Homeowner and his family got the comfort they wanted, without seeing a big increase in their monthly energy bills. While the family was mostly concerned with supplemental heat for the room in the winter, the system can also act as an air conditioner in the summer, adding cooling when needed- and also removing extra moisture at the same time. This will make this room one of the most comfortable rooms in the house, year round.
If you have an area of your home that’s hard to heat or cool, give us a call here at A Guy. We will help you examine all your options and find the perfect heating and cooling system for your home. It may be that a Mitsubishi Ductless system will give you the comfort you crave while also keeping your energy bills under control, and might even increase the value of your home as well!
