How Many Mini-Splits Do You Need? A Guide for Choosing Mini-Split Size

The question like ‘how many mini-splits do I need’ is often heard by our technicians. It is not a surprise as for a homeowner, it is not evident how the size of a ductless AC correlates with its performance. Yet choosing a mini-split with lower performance that your home requires may lead to your discomfort as the device won’t cool the space properly or need more electricity for cooling/heating.

That’s why before you buy a mini-split, you should thoughtfully decide on mini-split AC sizing. Our experts decided to share a bit of their knowledge about mini-split AC sizes to ease the task for you.

What Features to Consider When Choosing How Many Mini Split Units Do I Need

First of all, what features impact the performance of a mini-split? At a glance, all the models look quite similar and you need to get through their technical characteristics to learn how many square feet can a ductless air conditioner cool.

Here you need to perform several things so to get the proper information to answer yourself the question ‘how big mini-split do I need?’ 

Calculating Square Feet

The first thing that you should do is to calculate the number of square feet of your layout you want to cool with a mini-split. Besides, you should consider whether your home has an open floor plan or it has several rooms closed off? For open flooring, the number of indoor units can be lower as an average mini-split unit can cool quite a large space if it is not divided by walls.  

Choosing the BTU number

The BTU is the indicator of how much energy a device needs to consume to heat 1 pound of water for 1 Fahrenheit degree. For each square foot of your living area, you need 20 BTU from a mini-split. So, you can just multiply the number of square feet you have on that indicator.  For example, what size of a mini-split for 400 square feet do you need? Making fast calculation: 400×20=8,000 BTUs. So, when you choose a ductless AC, you should consider it has this number of BTU in its technical characteristics.

Deciding on the Type of Mini-Splits

Besides these features, you should also consider the type of a mini-split. 

• Single-zone ductless AC consists of a single outdoor unit and a single indoor unit. This doesn’t mean it has less performance as even a single-zone AC can cool quite a big area if it has a high BTU number. That type of AC is a perfect match for open-floor plans or for installation in closed rooms.
• Multi-splits are ductless ACs that have several indoor units connected to one outdoor unit. On average, there are 1-5 zones multi-splits but some manufacturers expand their range up to 8-9 zones. You should choose the multi-split device when you have several closed rooms like bedrooms, home offices, or living rooms in your home plan. In that case, you can install indoor units in each closed room to create a comfortable environment inside. Besides, for open spaces like studio-styled kitchens or living rooms, studio apartments or big attics you can use one unit.

Do I Need a Separate Mini-Split for Every Room?

When deciding do you need a mini-split in every room take as a basis the number of closed rooms. The more of them you have, the more indoor units you need. That is not a thumb rule to install a mini-split for each closed room but you can choose a multi-split. Then, it is up to your budget to choose whether to buy a high-power multi-split for all the rooms or to get several lower-performance single-zone mini-splits. Or even choose a combo of one multi-split and several mini-splits to cool all the rooms in your home.

You can get a consultation on that from Accord Air’s pros to make the best choice.

Smart Mini-Split Calculating Table

We’ve prepared a convenient ductless sizing chart to help you with your choice of a mini-split for your home.

For a bigger number of square feet in your layout, it is better to get additional consultation from HVAC technicians. You can get it from Accord Air’s specialists when applying for our services.

A Step-By-Step Mini-Split Sizing Guide

Let’s make the complex thing easy and decide on 4 main steps to make when choosing the number of mini-split units and their capacity.

1. Get the number of square feet your home has. Then choose the BTU requirements that fit this number (use our table to make it easy or just remember that you need at least 20 BTU per 1 sq.ft.). Yet it is not all. Then you can decide on mini-split BTU sizing by choosing between one mini-split of a proper BTU size or several units in the multi-split format that in sum give the same BTU, or even several single-zone mini-splits that also provide the BTU you need.
2. Evaluate the number of rooms. That is, when you choose a mini-split for 1500 sq. ft., do not forget about the limitations for an airflow that are walls and doors. For example, a single-zone mini-split of that size will cope with cooling an open space yet when you need to cool the air in several rooms with walls and doors the airflow will not cope with it so you may need to consider how many rooms can a mini-split cool to choose the number of indoor units for the perfect match.
3. Decide on the place where your mini-splits will be installed. If the point for indoor unit installation is chosen in a place where the air will not face any walls it is enough just to get a single unit of a proper capacity. In other cases, it is better to install several split ACs to cover all the space with airflow.
4. Ensure all your mini-splits will have regular maintenance. For this, it is better to choose a reliable contractor whose technicians will regularly maintain each unit to keep it operating tip-top. In that case, all the units will provide you with the required amount of fresh cooled air with no trouble.

Summaries

Choosing a mini-split for your home is not as hard as it seems. Yet it requires from you some calculation or just the use of a mini-split calculator we’ve offered in that article. Besides, the help of an HVAC specialist will also come in handy. Choosing the right capacity of a mini-split and the proper number of units will save you money on electricity bills and provide you with a comfortable environment throughout the whole home space.