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The Difference Between Ducted & Ductless A/C Units

The Difference Between Ducted & Ductless A/C Units

Whether you’re looking to install a new air conditioning system in
your home for the first time or you want to replace your existing system,
you’ll have your choice of two primary types: ductless and ducted.
There are several differences between these systems that will greatly
affect what type of system you should purchase for your home. Let’s
take a closer look at each of these types of systems in order to help
you make a better-educated decision about your home’s cooling system.

The Big Difference

Let’s get this out of the way up front: the biggest difference between
ducted and ductless systems lies right in the name. Ducted systems force
air throughout your home using a system of passageways located in your
walls, floors, and ceilings called ducts. This allows them to effectively
cool your home evenly in each room, making it much easier to maintain
a constant temperature. Ductless systems do not use ducts, and instead
cool the air from the same room they are located in.

Ducted Air Conditioners

Ducted air conditioners are also known as “central air conditioners”
because they’re usually located at a relatively central point in
your home in order to distribute cool air evenly throughout. They do require
that you have a duct system already installed in your walls, and while
this does give you more effective whole-home cooling, installing ducts
if you don’t already have them can be tremendously expensive. Likewise,
there is no way to run these systems in a low-capacity manner: they’re
either on and cooling your whole home, or off completely, meaning they
do tend to use substantially more energy.

Ductless Air Conditioners

A ductless air conditioner doesn’t require a duct system running
throughout your home since they don’t actually force the air to
travel over longer distances. This actually has several advantages: for
starters, they’re actually tremendously effective at cooling a small
space, such as a bedroom, office, or living room, and you will notice
a cooler temperature much quicker than with a central system. Likewise,
you have a much more precise control over your system, allowing you to
only run your cooler in the rooms you’re currently using, which
saves energy. However, the downsides are that you need to purchase a system
for each individual room you wish to cool, which can add up. Furthermore,
some ductless systems have both indoor and outdoor units (like a central
system does), but because they’re a single unit, you’ll have
to cut a hole in your wall to run the system through, and many people
don’t want to leave their home vulnerable like this.

Whether you’re looking to install a ducted or ductless air conditioning
system, the Virginia Beach air conditioning experts at American Mechanical,
Inc. can get the job done right! Dial (757) 899-1554 to
schedule your service today!