Ductless Air Conditioner - The Convenient Alternative

If a residence does not have any provision for ducting distribution system, you can use ductless air conditioner, which is very common in multifamily housing and as retrofitted add-ons to such houses. These have now been in use in Japan and other countries for many years although they are relatively new in North America. These ductless air conditioners have many commercial and residential applications.

Ductless air conditioners are like conventional room units as they are installed through a wall or a window frame but they have two main components like the central systems: the outdoor unit having the compressor/condenser and the indoor unit which is the air-handling unit containing the evaporator and a fan. There are some units that provide both cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.

The outdoor unit of a ductless air conditioner is linked to the indoor unit with a conduit, which contains the power cable, refrigerant tubing, suction tubing, and condensate drain. The outdoor unit has the noisy compressor and the condenser whereas the indoor unit has the quiet fan/evaporator unit.

Although the ductless air conditioner is the ideal solution for good heating and cooling control for various residential and commercial locations, it can pose some installation problems for contractors and drawbacks for consumers. However, mostly the ductless air conditioners are very convenient, as they do not need any ductwork or air distribution system. They are ideal for use in homes, small and large offices, shops, motels and hotels, schools and universities, computer rooms, banks, hospitals, and labs.

The biggest drawback of a ductless air conditioner is that you will need some space in the outside of the building to place the outdoor condensing unit. As such, many problems crop up in retrofit applications, as the architecture of the building might not be very conducive to such a placement. A majority of the prime applications of ductless air conditioners is in the commercial office spaces and these often present the above installation problems.

Even if there is enough space available for placing the outdoor condensing units of the ductless air conditioners, the building owner might raise objections due to aesthetic reasons. Normally a lot of money is spent towards achieving an architecturally attractive look of a building and the building owner is generally reluctant to spoil that beautiful look by allowing the placement of outdoor condensing units.

While installing ductless air conditioners, many contractors face the problem of limitation in distance between the evaporator and the condensing unit. There is an average distance of 75 feet between these units in most ductless air conditioners. If there is any necessity to spread out the evaporator units or when the condensing unit must be installed a floor or more above the evaporating unit, a lot of problems can arise.

A ductless air conditioner combines the advantages of both a room unit, which can be accommodated in most locations and a central system, which has a very efficient cooling system. It also does away with the cumbersome ducting system. The only drawback can be the placement of the outdoor unit in certain cases.

Just a few thoughts as you are looking at appliances. There are many more appliance articles in our appliance section. There is more specific information in the links at the beginning of this article. They can guide you where you need to go.

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