Central air conditioners and ductless mini-split systems both cool your home, but they achieve it in fundamentally different ways based on how the conditioned air is distributed:
Central Air Conditioner
- Ductwork Dependent: A central AC system relies on a network of air ducts installed throughout your home. Cooled air (from an indoor unit connected to your furnace/air handler) is distributed through these ducts to vents in each room of your home.
- Whole-Home Cooling: It’s designed to cool an entire house from a single central point.
- Components: Typically consists of an outdoor condensing unit and an indoor evaporator coil/air handler (often paired with a furnace).
- Aesthetics: Mostly out of sight, with only vents visible in rooms.
- Installation: If ductwork isn’t already present, installation is more complex and requires significant construction.
Ductless Mini-Split System
- No Ducts Needed: As the name suggests, a mini-split operates without ductwork. Instead, an outdoor unit connects directly to one or more indoor air-handling units via small refrigerant lines that run through a small hole in the wall.
- Zoned Cooling: Each indoor unit (often wall-mounted, but can be ceiling or floor-mounted) cools a specific zone or room. You can set different temperatures for different rooms, saving energy by only cooling occupied spaces.
- Components: An outdoor condensing unit connected to multiple indoor air handlers.
- Aesthetics: Indoor units are visible on walls or ceilings, though modern designs are increasingly sleek.
- Installation: Much simpler and less intrusive, making them ideal for homes without existing ductwork, for room additions, or for specific areas needing dedicated cooling (like garages or converted attics).
