In the days leading up to and through Memorial Day at P.C. Richard & Son in Danbury, it had shaped up as among the busiest seasons manager Chris Ramsey has seen for air conditioner sales. The store cleared through its existing stock in four days and received a new truckload on Wednesday as temperatures hovered around 80. One model you won’t find center stage in the P.C. Richard & Son showroom is a newfangled ductless, “mini split” unit that attaches to the wall rather than getting installed in the window. The store sells mini splits, but like many local and national retailers, it orders individual units as they are sold because most homeowners require a contractor to install them. Ductless air conditioners are installed with an outside compressor and condenser unit that sucks in air, cools it, and channels it via an exterior conduit through the wall to an opposing interior unit attached to the wall of a room. A remote control allows air to be cooled to the needed temperature and either fanned throughout the room or directed to a specific zone.

Many mini split models are designed to produce warm air in winter weather, as well; the ability to situate mini splits in remote corners of a building — for instance, in small doctor’s office suites or finished basements in homes — gives them added appeal.much does central ac unit cost In addition to Friedrich, major mini split manufacturers include Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu, Daikin, Gree and LG, as well as the Carrier subsidiary of Farmington-based United Technologies (NYSE: UTX). cost of new inside ac unitGeneral Electric sold a competing product under the Quiet-Aire brand but no longer does so, with GE in the process of selling off its Louisville, Ky.-based GE Appliances division to China-based Haier.outside ac unit replacement

Mini splits are not cheap — prices range between $1,000 and $5,000, not including installation costs — but in theory they add to the value of a home or office. Manufacturers have reduced the profile of the interior units over time to make them less obtrusive, and have developed versions that can be installed in drop-ceilings to stay out of sight. And unlike traditional air conditioners, mini splits do not occupy window space, allowing for more light to enter a room and on ground floors eliminating any security concerns of building owners or tenants. Ductless ACs are considered less expensive to operate, and for small areas are more efficient than central air conditioning systems that by some accounts leak air at a rate resulting in a 30 percent loss of energy efficiency. Like P.C. Richard & Son, both County TV & Appliance in Stamford and Aitoro in Norwalk sell ductless air conditioners from Friedrich, as do big box retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s in Fairfield County and nationally.