Ductless air conditioners are ideal for houses where building new ductwork would be cost-prohibitive. Like regular central air conditioners, ductless air conditioners are split into two main parts, an outdoor condenser and an indoor unit that handles the air circulation. If you're in the market for a ductless air conditioner, it's essential to check the BTU, or British Thermal Unit, rating, which measures cooling capacity based on square footage. On average, a single, 400- to 500 square-foot room will need between 9,000 and 10,500 BTU, so the higher the BTUs of your air conditioner, the easier it will be to cool the desired living space. In addition, look for units that have met the tough efficiency requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, designated as Energy Star products. Consumer Reports tested three units, each with 12,000 BTUs per hour, strong enough to cool a living space of approximately 650 square feet. They found the Mitsubishi MSA12WA, the Sanyo KS1271 and the LG LS122CE to be three great values, cooling well and making little noise.

The Mitsubishi unit can be purchased online at Amazon, and both the Sanyo and LG units can be bought directly from the manufacturer's website, as well as from Home Depot and Amazon.ac unit uv light At $1,000, the LG LS122CE is the least expensive of the units, with the Sanyo KS1271 priced at $1,090 and the Mitsubishi MSA12WA a little higher at $1,200. air conditioner heater portable unitThis does not include parts and labor needed for a professional installation.ac heat pump wall units The U.S. Department of Energy gives every air conditioning unit a “seasonal energy efficiency ratio,” or SEER. This is measured by calculating a unit's BTU output over a year, divided by its total energy input. The higher the SEER, the more energy efficient the unit, and if you buy an air conditioner with a SEER of 16 or more, you can qualify for a federal tax credit of 30 percent, up to $1,500, on parts and labor for professional installation.

Setting up a ductless air conditioner unit requires cutting a hole in your exterior wall. You must know where your electrical wiring is located and must have expert measurements for installing tubing from the outside condenser into the indoor unit. Unless you hire a licensed contractor to do the job, you risk improper installation. Gain 2 pounds per week Gain 1.5 pounds per week Gain 1 pound per week Gain 0.5 pound per week Maintain my current weight Lose 0.5 pound per week Lose 1 pound per week Lose 1.5 pounds per week Lose 2 pounds per week Daikin vs Mitsubishi vs LG vs Fujistu Mini Split Comparison Daikin vs Mitsubishi vs LG vs Fujistu Compare Good Better Best Mini Splits HVAC Are you thinking about buying a ductless mini split HVAC system?  Choosing the right contractor should be your first goal then beyond that choosing the right brand should your secondary focus.  To help you out we've compiled detailed information worth considering when choosing between Daikin, Mitsubishi, LG & Fujitsu HVAC ductless systems.  

:  There are a HECK OF A LOT of options out there when it goes to Mini splits.  Seriously there are countless options when it comes to type, size, brand, efficiency, application.  It can be exhausting to compare.  HOWEVER, I've compiled 4 of the most commonly purchased wall mounted 12k BTU (1 ton) mini splits to compare their finer points.  Regardless of whether you're intending to purchase one of these it will be a helpful exercise to see the important differences.  1. DATA - Comparing Brands - Daikin, Mitsubishi, LG, & Fujitsu Comparing mini splits - daikin lg mitsubishi & fujitsu For the Complete Excel File Click Here2. Best OF 1 Ton DUCTLESS Mini SPlitS By Category.....SMALLEST OUTDOOR CONDENSER - Fujitsu (26 x 21.25 x 11.5 in)SMALLEST INDOOR WALL MOUNT AIR HANDLER - Daikin (31 x 11.5 x 8 in)QUIETEST OUTDOOR - LG 45dBQUIETEST INDOOR - Tied between Fujitsu & Mitsubishi at 22dB (LG very close at 24 dB)WIDEST OPERATING WEATHER CONDITIONS - Mitsubishi as low as -15 in heating modeLOWEST PRICE MINI SPLIT - LG HIGHEST EFFICIENCY HEATING - Daikin (12.5 HSPF)HIGHEST EFFICIENCY COOLING MINI SPLIT - Tied between Daikin & Mitsubishi (23 SEER) but LG and Fujitsu are barely off

BEST ALL AROUND - The crown is split here between Mitsubishi & Daikin. Both have exceptional cooling efficiencies (23 SEER) while Daikin has better heating efficiency (12.5 HSPF) at a lower price.  Mitsubishi on the other hand is significantly quieter indoors and has a wider operating range down to -15 F.  The choice between these two should come down to either climate or use.  Do you live in a hot or cold place?  If in a hot or temperate place go with a Daikin.  If you live in a super cold place then Mitsubishi is a more resilient model.  Or if you intend to keep this in a bedroom or other location where noise level matters significantly then go with Mitsubishi's system for the sake of sleeping better.3. CONCLUSIONWhen choosing a system for your home, business, garage etc. make sure you consider the application first(something your contractor should be doing automatically).  Including, where the copper lines will run, how far they will run, if there are space constraints indoors or outdoors, what local climate are we working with and so forth.  

All of these elements are important to the process.  Every home and application is different.  Further the needs and desires of each consumer is different as well.  Honing in and being on the same page between both contractor and consumer is key to finding the right product.  To some extent I admit that some of the data comparison could be viewed as splitting hairs.  Still, on average, you'll find that based on the hard data Daikin and Mitsubishi are the higher performing systems.  Further proof why Mitsubishi is the best selling mini split in the United States and Daikin is the largest HVAC company in the world.We'd love to help in any way!! All of the information above can be accessed via the respective company sites (linked below).Fujitsu - Daikin - LG - MitsubishiImage 1 of 3 Is the ductless minispit head shown in this photo unattractive or obtrusive? Green Building Advisor technical director Peter Yost sent the photo to a dozen friends and colleagues to find out what they thought.

Ductless minisplit heat pumps have gotten many favorable reviews at Green Building Advisor, but Roy Goodwin sums up a concern that's popped up more than once: Despite their virtuoso heating and cooling performance, they're a little on the homely side. "My wife and I are 69," Goodwin writes in Q&A post at GBA. "We're in the process of designing a house for our retirement with our architect. It's going to be a 'pretty good house' with a very small heating/cooling load. Neither my wife nor I think the ductless minisplits are all that attractive." In addition, Goodwin adds, the air filters on a wall-mounted head could be a challenge to change because of their location. Ceiling-mounted ducted minisplits look like they'd present similar challenges and require a step ladder for filter changes. That's something they'd like to avoid. Their 2,000-square-foot house will be built in the mountains of western North Carolina in Climate Zone 4. "We're looking for something like a conventional heat pump (ducts and all) with air filters that are easier to access," Goodwin says.

That's the topic for this Q&A Spotlight. While the indoor units of ductless minisplits are usually mounted high enough on the wall to keep them out of the way, there's no reason they can't be lowered, GBA senior editor Martin Holladay points out. He includes a photograph of a unit mounted on an interior wall at roughly knee-height (see Image #2, below.). Ductless Minisplit Heat Pumps Just Two Minisplits Heat and Cool the Whole House Installing a Ductless Minisplit System Putting the Duct Back in Ductless HVAC Ducts and Accessories Its location might mean an occasional sore shin, but filter changes would be a snap. Or, adds Dana Dorsett, choose a unit designed for installation on the floor. They look like small wall furnaces, he says, and like fin-tube convectors for hydronic heating systems most ductless floor units circulate air from the front face. "They are easily set into walls or cabinets with the face pretty much flush with the wall," Dorsett says.

Mitsubishi, in fact, publishes directions for embedding one of their units in a wall in such a way that its efficiency is unimpeded. Fujitsu website includes specs for a universal floor/ceiling unit that can be mounted on the floor or just high enough on a wall to get a vacuum cleaner underneath. It can also go right on the ceiling, and the cabinets are just under 8 inches deep. John Semmelhack refers Goodwin to a ducted Mitsubishi Mr. Slim model. A complicating factor for Goodwin is how well these units would fare with high-efficiency air filters (those with high Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values, or MERVs). "We'd like to use something pretty high performance for dust as well as allergies," Goodwin says. "What about something like the Trane XV20i, which is variable capacity?" Goodwin doubts the unit would ever run near its two-ton (24,000 BtuBritish thermal unit, the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water (about a pint) one degree Fahrenheit in temperature—about the heat content of one wooden kitchen match.

/hour) rating, but it might be better prepared to handle higher static pressures that high-performance filters would create. "Would running it at the low end on its rated capacity, using the variable-speed compressor, be less efficient?" "Would it have a negative effect on its life expectancy?" "In general," Dorsett replies, "modulating systems run at highest efficiency when modulating at or near their lowest speeds (effectively making the coils oversized for the amount of heat they actually need to exchange). So if your average heating loadRate at which heat must be added to a space to maintain a desired temperature. is around the minimum-modulated output, it can work out well, but if your peak load is below its minimum modulation, it becomes very sub-optimal." When average loads fall below the minimum modulated output, he says, the system begins to lose efficiency to standby power use and surges in power consumption at startup and short-cycling. Similarly, minisplits that are more than 1.5 times as big as they need to be to meet peak loads will see a loss of efficiency, while below that they will operate at near optimal efficiency.

He suggests that Goodwin take a look at the Lenox XP25 or the Carrier Greenspeed. Keep in mind, though, Dorsett adds, that they're more expensive options than "right-sized" ductless systems and come with distribution losses that ductless systems don't have. Further, adds Semmelhack, Goodwin should be able to use a high-MERV filter in any of the low-static minisplit systems on the market. "Again," he writes, "it's a matter of system design/installation, and carefully accounting for the various parts of the system, including filters." Although Goodwin has yet to pin down heating and cooling loads, he describes a house with 2x6 walls filled with blown-in cellulose plus 2 3/4 inches of rigid polyisocyanurate insulation, an attic with 20 inches of cellulose, and insulation in both the foundation walls and floor. Given these parameters, Dorsett adds, the heating load should be less than 20,000 Btu/hour, and could be less than 15,000 Btu/hour with good windows. This, he says, makes a two-ton, high efficiency ducted heat pump "a bit silly."

The Fujitsu 18,000 Btu/hour model would more than cover Goodwin's needs. An alternative would be a pair of floor units connected to a common compressor. A dual-head unit might not be quite as efficient as the "best-in-class perfectly implemented" two-ton ducted model, but the installed cost would be less than half. Goodwin could spend the difference on rooftop solar, which would probably pay for most or all of the heating and cooling bill. We ran this one by Peter Yost, GBA's technical director, and here's what he had to say: I am going to focus on the aesthetics of interior head in my response, just because people’s perceptions when it comes to technology fascinate me. So, I sent out the following email to about a dozen or so colleagues and friends with the photo that you see at the top of the column: This may seem "mysterious," but please take a look at the attached photo and reply to me with whatever aesthetic considerations come to mind from the image.

When you reply, THEN I can share with you the nature of my request. Nothing scary, embarrassing, or illegal, and there are no correct or incorrect replies. All is relevant and correct, whether positive or negative in nature. You can see that I was trying hard not to prejudice the issue of minisplit head aesthetics. When subjects of this “survey” responded, I sent them this followup e-mail: I have been asked to comment on a Green Building Advisor blog in which an older couple thinks that the interior minisplit head (that white box on the right-hand wall is a conditioned air delivery system) looks homely. So, I thought it would be interesting to ask folks from different walks of life and who have had longer and shorter walks (older and younger folks) how much they really noticed the head in a nice-looking kitchen with a lot of different aesthetics along the “old” and “new” lines. Just to see how much, unprompted, their eye was drawn to or affected by this homely head.

Now that you know the nature of the issue, if you still have interest, you can let me know what you think of the head, knowing that was the “target” aesthetic question. And now for the results: I got 12 responses, with respondents varying in age from about 30 to 65. The sample size was just too small to claim any differences in response based on age or their area of expertise (which ranged from building professionals to a sculptor). Only 3 of 12 respondents mentioned anything about the interior minisplit head, and two of those three were more concerned with the “distracting” large open wall space just below the head. There were some repeated themes: Of the 12 initial respondents, 10 followed up to say the hood is essentially unobtrusive, with about half knowing what it was from the start and half not. So, I think the aesthetics of new technology, even something as “bulky” and “homely” as an interior minisplit head, can be more about the aesthetic context than anything else.