Ductless heat pump is the right fit for renovation project
After our three kids were born, the house got a bit cramped.
- We needed to figure out the simplest way to add to our square footage.
We decided to turn a rarely used screened in porch into another bedroom. It wasn’t all that difficult to frame in the walls, install windows and installation and extend the electric wires. The biggest dilemma was how to handle temperature control. We live in an area that sees winter temperatures down to twenty below zero and summer heat up into the high eighties. Heating is a necessity and cooling is certainly an advantage. The main house is equipped with a central furnace and air conditioner that utilizes ductwork connected to supply and return vents in each room. To include the new bedroom, we would have needed to continue the duct system. This would have considerably raised our costs for labor and materials, lengthened the completion time and caused a lot more disruption to the home. Plus, ductwork takes up quite a bit of space. We really didn’t have any extra square footage to spare. There was also the concern that our current furnace and air conditioner would fail to keep up with the added workload. After looking into all different options, we decided to invest in a ductless heat pump. The equipment is especially compact, easy to install and provides both heating and cooling capabilities. An outdoor compressor partners with an indoor air handler and requires little more than a tiny hole through an exterior wall, access to electricity and mounting capabilities. The ductless heat pump is wonderfully quiet and energy efficient and keeps the room perfectly comfortable all year round.