Installing A Ductless Mini Split Turns A Brevard, NC Sunroom into an All-Season Room
The homeowners of this lovely ranch-style home in the Connestee Falls area of Brevard have a great sunroom. With great views, they envisioned themselves sitting in the sunroom to enjoy their first cup of coffee in the morning, or a cold drink after a long day at work. But too often, the sunroom was either a sauna or a freezer. They gave us a call here at Blue Ridge Heating and Air to see what we could do to make this space more comfortable all year round. Whenever we’re installing a ductless mini split in a Brevard, NC sunroom, we know our customer is about to get happy.
Problem: The Homeowners wanted to get more use out of their sunroom, which always seemed to be too hot or too cold for comfort.
Solution: A single zone of Mitsubishi ductless heating and air conditioning will give this room the comfort it needs to be enjoyable all year long!
Sun Rooms Gather and Trap Heat
Sunrooms are often additions to homes, and are built frequently on a concrete slab if they are enclosed patio spaces. They also normally have lots of windows, offering great views of the surroundings, but all this glass acts like a greenhouse and traps heat, making sunrooms often unusable during parts of the year because they are closer to saunas than usable space. Then, paradoxically, the glass is a poor insulator, so when the temperature drops outside, the room temperature drops, and the room can become just too chilly for comfort.
Sunrooms aren’t often connected to the house HVAC system’s ductwork, and that’s a good thing- because of the temperature swings in this room, it could throw off the balance in the rest of the house!
That was the case for this homeowner, and as a result, they needed to consider other options for heating and cooling their sunroom. We’ve seen some where people choose fireplaces to add heat, but that does nothing for cooling. Ceiling fans and portable AC units are ok, but the AC units are energy hogs and are often noisy as well, which ruins the peaceful vibe of the room.
Our homeowners contacted us here at Blue Ridge because of our extensive experience with ductless mini splits, and suspected it was a good solution for their sunroom. Our well-trained team of experts knew that a single zone of Mitsubishi ductless heating and cooling would provide a year-round solution that would make this sunroom a dream come true, no matter what Mother Nature dished up outside.
Why Mitsubishi Ductless Is Perfect for Sunrooms
Ductless mini splits are perfect for sunrooms for a few reasons. For one, they can be installed as a supplement, and require no ductwork to be installed. They also operate extremely energy efficiently, unlike window AC units that tend to run the bills up. They also whisper quiet, unlike many other HVAC solutions that kick on and off and make LOTS of noise.
They can also provide both heating and cooling. Many sunroom solutions like the ones mentioned above, can only provide heating OR cooling. A ductless mini split can be used to heat and cool, making it a great year-round solution.
How Ductless Mini Splits Work
Mitsubishi Ductless systems are powerful heat pumps that work efficiently even when it’s -13F outside, or sweltering temperatures over 100F. They have two separate components- an outdoor condenser unit, that helps power an indoor unit, often called a cassette or head. The outdoor unit helps add or remove heat from the refrigerant in lines that connect the two units, and then add heat or cool air into your room through the indoor unit to make your room perfectly comfortable.
The indoor unit has advanced sensors that monitor the heat and humidity in the room, and then distribute the hot or cold air evenly throughout a space, eliminating hot and cold spots.
Mitsubishi ductless systems have many choices of indoor units, but for rooms like this sunroom, the indoor air handler unit is perfectly placed high up on the wall, out of the way where it has the best position to distribute comfort throughout the space.
Using a handheld remote, or the convenient Kumo Cloud app on your smartphone, you can easily adjust the level of comfort from wherever you are.
Consistent Comfort Throughout
Ductless systems are highly efficient and do a great job of keeping your comfort level consistent, adding just that little bit of heating or cooling as needed, using just the amount of energy needed. Unlike other systems, you won’t get big swings in temperature, and you’ll always be perfectly comfortable.
The systems can also come with “I-see” motion sensors that can monitor room occupancy, directing comfort to the people in the space, and even go into stand-by mode when no one is present in the room. This means you’ll get the most comfort where you need it, but also save energy, by having the unit go to “sleep” when the room isn’t in use.
Read More: Fixing Heating And Cooling Problems In A Finished Basement
Heat Pumps
Mitsubishi ductless heating and air conditioning systems are super-efficient heat pump systems, and the system we installed in this home in Connestee Falls has a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio [SEER] of 17. SEER ratings help you compare how much energy and money is required to run a system for a year.
The important point to know is that the higher the SEER rating, the more energy efficiency and greater indoor comfort you will get. Higher SEER rated systems like Mitsubishi Ductless Systems come with variable speed compressors, that act like a dimmer switch on your lights- allowing it to use just the amount of energy it needs to maintain comfort- something you usually find only on higher-end whole-home systems.
Because Mitsubishi ductless systems like this one are so energy efficient, they qualify for rebates and tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, up to $2,000! This helps make the addition of a ductless system to increase the comfort in your home more affordable than ever. But best of all, the high efficiency of these systems means they’ll get increased comfort without a big increase in their energy bills. That means they’ll be saving money every month, while getting more enjoyment out of their home.
Have A Room That’s Hard To Heat Or Cool?
The homeowners have been thrilled with the additional comfort they have and are able to use their sunroom as a great space for their family, any time of the year. If you have a room like this in your home, that always seems to be too hot or too cold, give us a call here at Blue Ridge Heating & Air. Our experienced team will help design a perfect solution for your home, so you can get the most out of every space in your home.