Calculate The Cost To Run A Mini Split Heat Pump System At Home
Everyone loves walking into a cozy, warm home on a cold winter day, but it doesn’t always feel so cozy when you get your energy bills in the mail. Heating and cooling your home can become expensive if you have old, inefficient HVAC equipment. We want to tell you about heating and cooling your home using ductless mini splits, and how much it is going to cost you.
We’ll walk you through what to expect to pay monthly on your energy bills with a mini split. And to give you the full picture, we’ll also cover some related topics. This article addresses:
- How Does A Ductless Mini Split Work?
- How Much Does A Mini Split Cost To Run? Use Our Calculator
- Mini Split Heat Pump SEER Ratings
- Mini Split Vs. Gas Furnace
- How To Estimate A Mini Split Heat Pump System Cost
- Mini Split Installation
How Does A Ductless Mini Split Work?
Ductless mini splits use heat pump technology to treat the air that goes into your home. The system draws heat from the air outside, and then sends it to the air handler inside.
Heat Pump
Your heat pump condenser sits outside, and draws heat from the air. It takes this air, and runs it over coils to make it warmer or cooler, depending on the time of year. A heat pump has the ability to heat or cool the air, so the process can be reversed depending on what you need in your home.
Air Handlers
After the air is run over the coils, it is brought to the air handler, or mini split, inside your home, through a small piece of tubing. The air then is dispersed from the handler into the zone it’s treating.
Heat Transfer Process
Ductless heating and cooling uses a heat transfer process. Traditional heating systems use combustion to generate heat, and then deliver it into your home. Instead, this transfer process draws the small amount of heat from the air outside, and uses the coil to treat the air. This makes the heating and cooling process much more energy efficient.
Read More: Why Are Ductless Mini Splits Better Than Radiator Heating
How Much Does A Mini Split Cost To Run?
Energy costs vary from state to state. There are a few different factors that go into the cost of your heating and cooling, depending on the temperature in your area, the energy rates in your area, and how efficient your system is. We want to tell you a little more about the factors that go into the cost to run your ductless mini split.
Mini Split Heat Pump SEER Ratings
The first thing that will impact your energy consumption is how efficient your ductless mini splits are. What you should look into is your SEER rating. SEER stands for “Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (or Ratio)”. The higher your SEER rating, the more efficient your system will be.
To figure out how much energy your unit uses, we need to know how large it is, and what the seer rating is. If you have a 12,000 BTU unit, and it has a 20 SEER rating, you will use 600 watts, consuming 0.600 kWh every hour.
If you then factor in the price of electricity, which in PA is about 13.57 cents per kWh.
So if you run this mini split for 8 hours a day, it’s going to cost you about $1 a day to run this mini split. This is also when the weather is mild. If the weather is starting to get colder or hotter, the price is going to go up, typically to about $2.50 a day.
Depending on the time you run the mini splits and how many you have, costs will vary, but they are still going to be cheaper than most heating and cooling solutions.
The more efficient your system is, the less it will cost to run. The only issue is that these more efficient units tend to be more expensive as well. In the long run, the more efficient system usually pays for itself. Your ductless mini split should last for about 15 years. It’s usually a better investment in the long run to have a more efficient model.
Mini Split Vs. Gas Furnace
A ductless mini split uses electricity to fuel the system, while a gas furnace obviously uses gas. Both of these systems are effective, and both have the ability to also be energy efficient, but the heat pump is still going to win when it comes to cost of operation. Propane furnaces tend to be the most expensive, and gas furnaces are usually reasonable.
Typically heat pumps are around 3X as efficient as gas furnaces. This doesn’t always mean heating will cost a third for a heat pump as a gas furnace, but it can be close to that. Cost also depends on the rate for gas and electricity in your state at the time.
Read More: The Cost Of Ductless Vs. Gas Furnaces
How To Estimate A Mini Split Heat Pump System Cost
To estimate the cost of operating a heat pump, you will need to figure out a few things first. How many mini splits you’ll have, how big your space is, how often your system will run… and so on.
This is not an exact science, and these numbers will tend to fluctuate, but you can get a good idea of what it will cost you to use a mini split heat pump system in your home.
The cost depends on:
- Heating And Cooling Vs. Primarily Cooling
- SingleZone Vs. Multiple Air Handlers
- The Layout And Design Of Your Home
Heating And Cooling Vs. Primarily Cooling
First of all, you will need to figure out what model of mini split you are going to install. Is it going to be used just for cooling, or are you going to use it for heating as well? If you already have a heating system, and are just installing these to cool in the summer, it’s going to have a big impact on the cost of operation.
Single Zone Vs. Multiple Air Handlers
Are you going to install one mini split, or multiple air handlers? If you are installing just one mini split, the operating costs are going to be very low, as opposed to multiple air handlers around your home. You also need to consider how often each will be running. You aren’t going to have every air handler on for 24 hours a day.
This is why if you have one unit vs 4 units, it’s not as simple as multiplying by 4. You need to consider where each mini split air handler is in your home, and how often it will be used.
Read More: Ductless Mini Splits Vs. Window AC Units
The Layout And Design Of Your Home
As we mentioned in the previous note, consider the number of air handlers, what space each one will be treating, and how often it will be run. If you have one air handler in a room with a high ceiling, it’s going to run more frequently than a ductless unit in a bedroom with a low ceiling. You will want to account for little differences in the layout of your home and what they may mean to your heating and cooling bills.
Mini Split Installation In Radnor, PA
John Cipollone Inc. specializes in ductless mini split installations in Radner, PA, as well as the surrounding Delaware and Montgomery counties. We can help you assess your home heating and cooling needs, and make the best recommendations for your home. Whether you need something repaired, replaced, or a simple service, we can help you out. Give us a call at (610) 446-7877, or click here to contact us online.