As the Portland summers get hotter and drier, I finally decided that it was time to look at AC for my own home. With my primary bedroom upstairs, another summer of unbearable heat at night was off the table for me. I have a forced air gas furnace, so I initially considered adding AC to my ducted system that was already in place. However, living in a 1940’s home with no return vent on the second floor meant that any cooling that reached the second floor was likely going to be a trickle, and not nearly enough to cool the space like I would need. Therefore I would likely also need a ductless heat pump for my upstairs.
I pivoted to ductless heat pump systems, aka mini splits for the whole home. These heat and cool spaces extremely efficiently, but target only specific areas of the house. Each unit is called a head, and there are different size compressors depending on how many heads you want to run. I opted for a three head system, one for my upstairs, and one for each common space of my main floor. The hope was that the two units downstairs would be able to cool secondary spaces like the bedrooms via ambient air flow moving through the house. In the winter I’ll add a couple in wall heaters for the bedrooms.
As someone who always lived in homes with central heating, it’s a very different experience having the heat pumps. Gas furnaces always felt very noticeable to me from the roar of the furnace, but the air flow was very subtle coming out of the vents. The mini-splits are much more present in their look, being attached to the walls around eye level. The air flow is also more present as it circulates through the room and is focused only from the unit as opposed to several registers around each room. The units are really effective in the temperature of the air it produces, blowing cold and hot.
Designing a system for an older home can be tricky though. In my experience the heat pumps don’t travel down hallways very well. Cooling my main level bedrooms has proved more difficult than I would have liked. I also had to relocate my upstairs unit to maximize its potential. All in all, I’m glad that I chose these units, especially as we transition toward an electrified future of renewables over natural gas. However, understanding a homes heating and cooling system can be complicated, and having a team to work with who will help guide you through it is key. Similar to building my ADU, I find direct experience is invaluable in guiding my clients through understanding the process and helping to set expectations. I’m always happy to help, and please let me know if you have any questions!
