So you need a new HVAC system and you’ve made the smart decision to upgrade to a heat pump. Your home is already equipped with ducts, so it seems logical to rely on those pre-existing ducts for your upgrade, right?
Well, actually…
There are a number of reasons why you might want to go ductless instead. Ducts pose plenty of potential headaches and hiccups, and older ducts can exacerbate these issues, leading to a less efficient system that costs you more in the long run.
The short of it? You can’t teach an old duct new tricks. Hooking your climate-friendly, modern heat pump up to pre-existing ducts is sort of like investing in new speakers and pairing them with an ancient television set: It looks nice, shiny, and new, but it runs poorly. As for the specifics?
Your existing ducts may not be the right fit for your new system
Duct size matters — especially when it comes to heat pumps. While some installers may assure you that your old ducts can stay, it’s not your best option.
When the ducts are too small, the system pushes more air out than the ducts can handle, increasing the air pressure inside the ducts. This added pressure can strain the system, forcing the blower fan to go into overdrive and decreasing the overall efficiency. If the ducts are too big, the heat pump will have to work harder to deliver conditioned air — another ding on efficiency that sends the system into overdrive.
And your current ducts won’t match the efficiency of your upgrade
Chances are, you're hoping your new HVAC system will be better than the previous one. A new system is really only as good as its ducts, and as the EPA reports, most ducted, forced-air systems lose 20 to 30 percent of the air moving through thanks to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts.
Oddly enough, ducts are crafted with the knowledge that they’ll lose air — a major design flaw that equates to inefficiency. Lost air means your system will have to work harder and expend more energy. These flaws will result in higher energy bills and the potential for your brand new system to break down faster than it should.
If your current ducts are damaged, cracked, or on the verge of breaking down, you’ll need to replace them, a process that tends to be both invasive and time intensive. While the general lifespan of ducts range from 15 to 20 years, experts advise homeowners to replace ducts older than 10 years when they’re doing a system upgrade, like installing a heat pump.
Skip the ducts altogether
The good news is that you don’t need to rip out your old ducts and replace them with new ones for the most efficient heat pump system. Instead, you can skip the ducts altogether and opt for a ductless mini-split. These systems aren’t weighed down by any extra baggage (AKA ducts), and so they don’t have to work harder to make up for air lost to leaky ducts.
Going ductless will make your upgrade feel like a true upgrade
If you’re investing in a new system, you’ll want to feel its value every day. When you upgrade with a ductless mini-split, you’re outfitting your home with total control.
Free from the confines of a central, ducted system, mini-splits let you control the temperature of every room of your home. This comes in handy when you want to save energy, and choose to turn off the system in a room that’s unoccupied for the day. It’s a convenient feature in other instances, too, like when you want to vary the temperature of one room from another (you can warm up the baby’s room while maintaining a refreshing temperature in your home office). The ability to control the feel of every room is an upgrade that ducted systems can’t offer.
Curious to see what Quilt would look like in your home? Answer a few questions on our reservation page and we’ll configure a system tailored to you and your HVAC needs.