Ductless air conditioning and heating systems, also known as mini-splits, offer unique advantages not found in traditional furnaces and AC units. Let us explore the key environmental benefits of ductless HVAC systems for your home in RVA.
1. Energy Efficiency
Ductless HVAC systems are more energy efficient than traditional heating and cooling systems. As a result, they can reduce the amount of energy you use every month to keep your home warm or cool. Whether you live in Woodland Heights or in Shockoe Bottom, when your home uses less energy, it minimizes its negative impact on the local environment.
2. Reduced Carbon Footprint
This type of home comfort system reduces your home’s carbon footprint. A carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases your home emits, including from heating or cooling your home. When you want to make your home eco-friendlier, you could upgrade to a mini-split system.
3. Reduced Energy Loss
Traditional ductwork loses up to 30 percent of energy through openings like cracks, punctures, and poor sealing. Depending on how well insulated they are, they can also lose significant heat or cold due to radiant heat loss. This energy loss not only compromises your home’s year-round comfort but also has a negative impact on the environment. A ductless system is inherently more energy efficient because you’re not losing conditioned air through ductwork.
4. Better Indoor Air Quality
Mini-splits help improve the air quality in your home. Your home can trap harmful pollutants, such as VOCs, allergens, and other contaminants, allowing them to build up. Most mini-splits have multi-stage air filtration, which can achieve a HEPA level of air purification. You also avoid recirculating airborne toxins throughout the home through a central system.
5. Zoned Heating and Cooling
Zoned heating and cooling allow you to control the temperature in every part of your house. You can set the temperature in different zones to a higher or lower temperature, depending on factors like how often you use certain rooms in your home or the outdoor weather. This precise temperature control reduces energy waste. It also allows family members to set their preferred temperature, increasing home comfort.
6. Lower Utility Bills
Reduced energy use means you could pay less for heating and cooling your home. Lower utility bills can also occur because you and your household conserve energy and promote sustainable practices with a mini-split HVAC unit.
7. Environmentally-friendly Refrigerants
Ductless HVAC systems usually use newer, more environmentally friendly refrigerants with lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) values. For example, a new system may use R-32, a type of refrigerant that offers better energy efficiency. Alternatively, it might use R-454B.
8. Reduced Fossil Fuel Use
These systems run with electricity instead of a gas- or oil-powered furnace. This can immediately reduce your home’s dependence on fossil fuels. Depending on how your power company generates electricity, this might also lower your home’s indirect use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. They occur in limited quantities in the environment and emit high greenhouse gas levels.
9. Less Noise Pollution
Traditional heating and cooling units often make loud noises, especially the outdoor unit. Noise pollution can disrupt wildlife, such as bees and birds. Wildlife disruption can lead to a negative impact on the ecosystem and even a reduction in the number of some species. Ductless HVAC systems operate quietly and avoid causing noise pollution. Your neighbors will also appreciate this.
10. Long Lifespan
With proper care, a mini-split can last for 15 to 20 years. You avoid filling the landfill with old units because they wear out quickly. To ensure yours lasts for a decade or longer, you should hire an experienced HVAC technician to install, maintain, and repair it.
11. Less Maintenance
Ductless systems often require less HVAC maintenance than traditional cooling and heating systems. They have fewer components to maintain. Fewer components mean that technicians do not have to use as many resources, such as tools and petroleum-based lubricants, to keep these systems running normally.
12. Compact Size
The compact size of a mini-split system benefits the environment. Because the unit takes up less space outdoors, you have more green space in your yard in Richmond. You can use that space to plant flowers, grass, shrubs, and other vegetation that will add to the health and beauty of the environment around your house.
13. Lower Peak Demand
Larger heating and cooling systems can strain the local power grid, particularly during peak use times. This strain contributes to using more fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases and harm the environment. Mini-splits have lower peak demands. They avoid putting excessive strains on the power grid and minimize your home’s negative impact on Richmond’s environment.
14. Solar Panel Compatibility
Because they are all-electric, you can pair your ductless HVAC system with solar panels to conserve even more energy. The solar panels you install on your property can provide much of the power your energy-efficient HVAC system needs. You avoid relying on power-company-generated electricity, coal, and natural gas for heating and cooling.
15. Reduction in Waste
These types of HVAC units do not require yards of ductwork to set up and get running. When installing a ductless system, this design feature reduces the construction waste the installer creates that ends up in the landfill. Further, most mini-splits use washable air filters instead of disposable ones.
16. Less Need for Additional Devices
The effectiveness of mini-splits to keep your home cool or warm minimizes or eliminates the need to use other devices, such as electricity-powered space heaters or portable AC units. Many central systems struggle to maintain an even temperature throughout the whole home. Each air handler with a mini-split system has its own controls. They operate independently to make naturally warmer or colder rooms more comfortable. Portable heaters and air conditioners usually use more energy than a mini-split. With Richmond’s relatively mild winters, mini-splits are generally powerful enough to provide warmth all winter long.
17. Smart Technology Integration
Many ductless HVAC units today come with smart technology integration features. You can pair your smartphone, tablet, or smart home device to this system. This integration allows you to set up heating and cooling schedules, which can help you conserve energy. You avoid wasting electricity or natural gas to maintain your home’s indoor comfort.
18. LEED Certification
Mini-splits allow users to qualify their buildings for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. This globally recognized sustainability certification provides a framework for better health, energy efficiency, and cost savings. You can better your chances of your house or business qualifying for LEED certification with a ductless HVAC system.
19. Flexible Installation
Because of this system’s compact size and design, you can install it anywhere in your home. You do not have to contend with the space and installation limitations of central HVAC systems. This flexible installation also comes in handy during home remodeling or when converting an attic or garage.
20. Reduced Urban Heat Island Effect
A mini-split HVAC allows you to do your part to reduce a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. This effect occurs when urban areas have higher temperatures than rural areas. Human activities like driving, combined with the use of HVAC systems, contribute to higher urban temperatures, which in turn harm the local environment.
Discover Our Ductless HVAC Services
At Davis & Green, we have 40 years of HVAC industry experience. Our business provides home and business owners in the Richmond, VA area with earth-friendly ductless AC systems that offer plenty of environmental benefits. We can install and service one of these systems in your home in RVA. Contact us to learn more about our mini-split system options!
