Air conditioning types

Which type of air conditioning system is best for home?

How to find which Air Conditioning Unit is right for you.

Air conditioning is a modern-day necessity that has become an integral part of our lives, especially in hot and humid climates. It provides comfort, reduces indoor air pollution and helps maintain a healthy indoor environment & air flow. But with so many different types of air conditioners available in the market, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your home or office. In this article, we’ll discuss the different types of air conditioners and their features to help you make an informed decision. Let’s Ask the JJ&A Mechanical Technician Owner and Operator Justin Ralph.

“There are four main categories of Air Conditioners I will break down below, each of them built to provide cooling under different circumstances specific to your home. Reading about each one here along with looking at the diagrams should give you a better idea of which system is right for you. If you still have question, feel free to utilize our live chat option and we will get back to you as soon as we can! 

  1. Window/Portable Air Conditioners – Window air conditioners are a great option if installing an air conditioning system is not in the budget right now. They generally do not require a professional to install,  are easy to operate and are easily removed. However, they can be noisy, are a bit of an eye sore and can obstruct the view from the window. Their life expectancy is generally not very long either.
  2. Central Air Conditioning – Central air conditioning is best option in my opinion but if your home does not utilize a furnace and duct work to heat your home then unfortunately it is not an option for you. It utilizes an outdoor unit and an indoor coil that is installed on top of your furnace. It uses your existing duct work and furnace to provide cooling throughout the house. It is relatively inexpensive in comparison to a ductless system and requires professional installation, but it provides the highest level of comfort and can save energy in the long run. This system can be installed with an air conditioner which only does cooling or a heat pump which does cooling and heating.   
  3. Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pumps – Ductless mini-split systems do both heating and cooling. They utilize an outdoor unit and a small indoor unit that doesn’t require ductwork. They are ideal for homes that don’t have the necessary ductwork for central air conditioning. These systems are generally more expensive then central air conditioning because you require an indoor unit for every room/area that you want air conditioning in as apposed to central where you only require one indoor coil to be installed on top of your furnace. To conclude: If you do not have a furnace then the ductless system is generally your most cost effective and least destructive option (unless you have an attic and you live in a rancher or do not require your entire house to have air conditioning. If this is you,  read below!)
  4. Air Handler Ducted Through Attic To Each Room & Outdoor Air Conditioner or Heat Pump – The reason people generally choose a ductless system over installing a ducted air conditioning system is because to install ducts throughout your home requires a lot of drywall damage which leads to additional costs associated with the installation above and beyond the install itself. Drywall repair, mudding, taping, and painting adds up quickly especially when you just paid for a brand new air conditioning or heat pump system. If you live in a single level rancher or if you live in a multi-level home but are only concerned about providing cooling to the top floor then installing this system in your attic is perfect. Its perfect because you wont need to do any repairs when were done which is always our goal. We simple install the air handler in the attic, run sheet metal supply duct work to each room you want to have cooling for and then run a line set from the outdoor unit to the air handler. This option is generally cheaper than going with a ductless split system that requires more than 3 heads. The only negative in comparison to a ductless system is that with this system you only get one temperature control. This means that if you put the thermostat in the master bedroom then that thermostat decides the temperature for every room. Meaning if you’re in the master bedroom and you want air conditioning to be on but the person in one of the guest bedrooms, kitchen or living room wants it off then its too bad for the people in those other rooms. Master bedroom would be in charge. To conclude: If you do not have a furnace, you have an attic and are okay with not having the luxury of being capable of setting each room at a different temperature than this is a great option for you. 
Ductless Mini-Split System Diagram –  If you required multiple indoor units then we would need to run refrigerant, electrical, and condensate drain lines for each one.

Illustration of outdoor and indoor units for air conditioning

 
This diagram below nicely represents both the central air conditioning system as well as the air handler in the attic option. The reason it works for both is because an air handler is simply a furnace without the ability to produce heat. It simply moves air.
A diagram of a house with an air conditioner and a heat pump
 
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Heat Pump Installation

Heat Pump System vs Air Conditioning Which Is Better?

This question only really applies to those who either have a forced air system utilizing a furnace to heat their home OR if you are considering the high velocity system which can be installed in your attic. If you are wanting to go with a ductless mini split system then no need to concern yourself!   Ductless mini split systems are heat pump systems.
 
Hope this helps you with your questions!

Heating & Cooling

A heat pump uses a reversing valve to change over from cooling to heating so all your climate control is handled by the heat pump system. Your air conditioner can’t do that. However, if you’ve already got an energy-efficient furnace to heat your home, you may not need a heat pump.

Costs

A heat pump will cost you more upfront. Assuming you already have the ductwork in place, you can expect a heat pump to cost about 1.5 to 2 times the cost of whole-house AC. A big part of the cost differential is that your heat pump handles cooling and heating.

There are rebates available that are quite good although there are a lot of hoops to jump through in order to be approved for them. In the end, with rebates, the cost of a heat pump will come down to only slightly more then the cost to install an AC system.


Servicing costs: They both have similar costs involved when it comes to basic servicing of the unit but when it comes to repair, when needed, the heat pump will generally always cost more. There are just simply more components to a heat pump that can fail as compared to your bread and butter AC system.

Longevity

AC units typically last longer than heat pumps. They’re only used for part of the year during the cooling season while heat pumps are used for both cooling and heating. You’ll need to balance that out against the cost of maintaining both a separate heating and cooling system.

Heating & Cooling Efficiency

If you’re wondering whether heat pumps cool as well as air conditioners, the answer is yes – if you buy the right one. When you’re considering a heat pump vs AC, you’ll want to check the Seasonal Energy Efficient Rating (SEER). As long as the numbers are the same, you’ll get the same efficient performance out of a heat pump that would from a stand-alone air conditioning system.

Heat pumps will see diminished efficiency for heating when it drops below freezing. They’ll use more energy to draw heat out of the cold outside air. Many heat pump systems in colder climates include an auxiliary electric heater to maintain heat in extremely cold weather. This can also add to costs. That’s why some homeowners use a furnace and a heat pump.


To conclude: The main difference between the two is that the heat pump can do heating. It has limitations to the heating side of things and the closer the temperatures outside get to freezing the less efficient it becomes. If you already have an upgraded high efficient furnace then the AC option is what we suggest would be best for you.

Let’s start out with a basic explanation of what the difference is between a heat pump and an air conditioning only system and then we can start identifying what your options are for air conditioning in your home.  

The difference between an “air conditioning only” system and a “Heat pump” system is that a heat pump can run in reverse. An air conditioning only system runs the refrigerant through the system in one direction and that direction creates the cooling effect (without getting too scientific). A heat pump is just an AC system that has more complicated integral components inside of it which allow for you to switch the flow of refrigerant into reverse which creates a heating effect. We can get into the pros/cons of each later. For now, you understand the basic difference between the two.

Keep in mind that, if your home is not under a major renovation, it is the type of heating system as well as the layout of your home that does most of the choosing for you when it comes to AC.

For example, if you have a furnace heating your home then you are obviously going to choose a centralized air conditioning system for your home. Not only is it cheaper to install but its also the best option. In this case you are lucky. If you do not have a furnace then you will have to go with a mini split system or an air handler in the attic. Below I run through each system! Take a look!

Central Air Conditioning System

With this type of system you can install it using a heat pump or just an AC unit.

Utilizing your furnace we would install a “coil” onto your furnace. This coil will be what makes the air cold. We then install the outdoor unit. Once the indoor coil is installed on the furnace and the outdoor unit is sitting in its permanent position outside, we run what is called a “line set” from the outdoor unit to the coil which we have just installed on the furnace.

The lineset is essentially two copper tubes. The outdoor unit moves the refrigerant through one tube to the indoor unit (the coil) on the furnace and back through the other tub returning to the outdoor unit. This process makes the coil get very cold.

In the summer you switch the thermostat from “Heat” to “Cool”. This tells your furnace that it no longer needs to create a flame when it turns on. It now simply tells the AC/Heat pump to turn on which blows air through the freezing cold coil, then through your duct work and out through your floor registers. It is centralized AC because the cooling comes from one central location and is carried to all of your floor registers, cooling every room with a register.

Here is a photo for help. You can see the out door unit, the twe copper tubes called linesets, and then the coil on top of your furnace.

Diagram showing outdoor and indoor units' location

Ductless Mini Split System:

This system is generally a heat pump system and can carry out heating and cooling for each room it’s installed in.

A ductless mini split is utilized when you do not have a furnace. Without the ductwork to carry AC to each room this system is generally the best option for retrofitting a home to have AC. Houses that end up going with this option generally have hot water or electric heating systems.

You know those units you often see on the wall of a hotel? You pick up the remote and turn the temperature all the way up or down, the little grill opens up and then it begins blowing warm or cold air? That is a ductless mini split “head”. But dont worry, the ones you will buy for your home are much more aesthetically pleasing!

We start out by choosing which rooms you would like to have cooling in. You might say, for example, want cooling in the kitchen, living room, and 3 bedrooms. This means you would need 5 heads. Depending on the layout of your home we might be able to do this with a single, large, outdoor unit or we might have to use two outdoor units. We would then need to run line sets from the outdoor units to each individual head. See the photo below? Not much different from how the furnace and the coil works except with this system you need power and a lineset to run from the outdoor unit to each room that you want to have cooling rather than just to the furnace. Which is why this system can cost quite a bit more.

Diagram of a single head and an outdoor unit showing the lineset.

Bedroom highlighting air conditioner
Diagram of outdoor and indoor units for Air conditioning system

High Velocity Central Air Conditioning System (Attic Air Handler)

The air handler in the attic is another option if you do not have a furnace in your home. In a nut shell, we install an air handler in the attic and then we run ducts from the air handler to each room that requires cooling. We then, just like the furnace, install an encased coil onto the air handler. We run line sets from the coil to the outdoor unit. Once the air handler is installed in the attic, the coil is connected to it, duct work is installed and ran to every room and the lineset is now connecting the outdoor unit to the coil we have successfully added a cooling system to your home. Heat too if you decided on a heat pump!

This system is slightly cheaper then the ductless mini split system but typically requires a little more drywall damage just to get the ducts to everywhere you want them to go. Although we are generally very good at keeping that damage to a minimum.

Diagram of how this system works in your home.

Central AC system sample diagram
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