It wasn’t too long ago that your choices for home heating were limited to a furnace or a boiler. These days, homeowners have a number of choices for heating systems, including ductless heating. Many people wonder how ductless heating works and if it’s sufficient enough to heat the home, so we’ll explain below how ductless heating can be a great option.
Ductless Components
A ductless heating system uses the same components to heat your home as a ductless air conditioning systems uses to cool, but there’s one key difference: heat pump technology. Ductless systems are comprised of an outdoor unit and individual indoor blowers; a single outdoor unit can support up to four indoor blowers. The indoor units are connected to the outdoor unit via a conduit in an exterior wall. This conduit contains a power cord, refrigerant line and condensate drain pipe. The indoor blowers contain a small fan, small air filter and the coils through which the refrigerant cycles when an indoor blower is in operation.
How a Ductless System Provides Heat
The heat pump technology is what allows a ductless system to provide your home with heat. Heat pumps are equipped with a component called a reversing valve; this valve can switch the way the refrigerant flows in the system, allowing for the device to operate in either cooling mode or heating mode. As the homeowner, you’ll have a dual-mode thermostat, so all you have to do to switch modes is press a button.
Benefits of Ductless Heating
There are a number of benefits a ductless heating system offers that can make a good option for homeowners:
- Very good energy efficiency – ductless heating systems offer very good energy efficiency for two reasons: first, they use only a small amount of electricity to operate and second, there is no worry about air loss from ductwork.
- Long lifespan – heat pumps have an average lifespan of 20-25 years, whereas a combustion heating system has an average lifespan of 15-20 years.
- Customized comfort – each blower operates individually, allowing you to have zone comfort.
If a ductless heating system seems like a good fit for your home in Skokie, call the experts at Malek Heating & Cooling and schedule an appointment today!