Mini splits are sized for single rooms and the expected expansion path is to add more of them. That’s not too expensive if you are a handy DIYer who can deal with electrical and mechanical, but it’s not great if you’re paying installation labor. Similar story with everything else in the home improvement space.
Yeah not the most handy person and electrical freaks me out so expecting the higher cost of having a professional do it but luckily where i live (Canada) there are federal programs that offer rebates on things like this if the options we choose are eco friendly so, might be expensive but we should get money back providing we follow the regulations.
There are ducted mini split systems that may be useful to you.
Pushing (or pulling) air from an existing duct system is not a great path forward, as balancing the flow is challenging and critical. For example, if you could plumb the mini split into your circulator, what happens if they’re both on at the same time? The mini split could frost over. And if the circulator isn’t on, you could be back-flowing the air intake of the circulator.
I have a ducted ductless for my upstairs: three bedrooms and a bathroom. Works just fine for me, OP. The install is obviously a bit more than just a standard mini split system.
No. The split unit won't have any way to move the air through the duct or attach to the duct. And the duct is undoubtedly not designed for cold air to be moving through hot spaces which will cause condensation on the duct/ and mold in the spaces where it is run.
Ah good point, I didn't think of the consequences of mixing the different air temperatures through the ducts. Ideally I would like to avoid blowing mold all throughout my children's bedrooms.
The only quick fix here is getting a good floor fan and put it at the top of the stairs. If i understand correctly using a fan for circulating air should be done by pulling the air (ie setting it at the top of the stairs) rather than close to the mini split and blowing the air where you want it. Running the exhaust fans should also help to do this exact thing by pulling the hot air out of the ceiling areas and allowing the cooled air from other rooms to enter the bedrooms
Unfortunately with the house layout there isn't a good spot to put a fan at the top of the stairs as it will block the narrow hallway that exists between the bedrooms as well can't put it on the stairs because they are spiral.
Bet it will cool the ducts down and warm air goes into the rooms...
One split is probably undersized for all those rooms
Yeah I think the split isn't enough for the house, not sure how they withstood the humid temperatures through the summer, especially the kids rooms. Can't see how many BTU's the current system is but probably going to need to upgrade that unit and add more wall units. Unsure what to do about the kids rooms at night though with there doors closed there is no way the cold air will get in and a fan will only push the hot air around. We have a portable AC that looks like a mini-fridge, but my concern is leaving that in room with the toddler as I want to avoid an accident of it falling onto her.
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