Does It Cost More to Heat or Cool with a Mini Split?
You’re all about saving money, which is why you’ve strongly considered ditching your current HVAC and upgrading to a ductless mini split system.
Before you can decide with confidence though, you must know what kinds of heating and cooling costs you’re going to incur if you get a mini split system installed.
For instance, does it cost more to heat your home with a mini split or to cool it?
Well, for starters, a mini split can cool and warm a home a lot more economically than a traditional central air conditioner or heater.
As for how much it costs to cool and heat using a mini split, it’s about the same.
For a standard ductless mini split system that runs on 1,758 watts and has an output of 6,000 British thermal units or BTUs that you’re paying on average $0.13 a kilowatt-hour or kWh to run, the cost of operating a mini split to heat or cool would be $0.23 an hour.
If you run the mini split for 10 hours a day, that’s $2.3 a day.
Using the mini split every day for a week straight would only cost you $16.10. Per month, you’d pay $69, and per year, $828.
What if you need more heating and cooling power? Well, if your mini split runs at 7,033 watts and produces 12,000 BTUs, then now you’d pay $0.93 an hour for heating or cooling the home with a mini split.
Over 10 hours, that’s $9.3, which is costlier than the 6,000-BTU model but still less expensive than using traditional HVAC for that long.
Per week, you’d pay $65.10 to run your mini split every day for 10 hours. In 30 days, your fee would only be $260.4, and in a year, $3,124.8.
Now compare those prices to what you’re paying for your central air conditioner or rickety old heater. You’d pay significantly less to cool and heat your home with a mini split system, right?
Of course, you would!
So why is it that a mini split is so much more cost-effective? Well, it comes down to several reasons, really.
For one, mini splits are ductless. Ducted HVAC systems lose so much more air than you might realize, anywhere from 25 to 40 percent, according to the University of Florida.
That air never cools or warms your home. What’s worse is that the air leaks in the ducts allow cold air to enter in the winter and warm air to get in during the summer. As a result, your HVAC units strain that much more to keep the house comfortable.
Mini splits are a lot more airtight!
Another reason that mini splits cost less to run is that they’re more energy-efficient. Rather than distribute hot or warm air all throughout the house, including in areas where it might not be needed, a mini split indoor unit is installed according to a selected zone.
That unit cools or heats that zone only, which results in far less wasteful heat and cold air output.
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