We currently have central air that is nearing the end of its life. Considering swapping it out for a mini-split system and am curious if that's crazy. Haven't talked to any HVAC companies yet, but am curious if anybody here has mini-spits or installs them (@ChiefD ?).
We're located in MN. We have hydronic radiant heat. House was built in 1960 and central air was added sometime after. Pic of the setup is here. The condenser outside was installed roughly 2000 (assuming the same for the air-handler). The air-handler is in the attic and does a good job cooling the bedrooms. But the system really struggles to cool the kitchen level and the family room level. If I want to cool those areas to a reasonable temperature, the bedrooms are then freezing. Plus, the air handler takes up a huge space in the attic, so I have a large uninsulated area above the bedrooms, which isn't great during the winter.
We thought about adding a mini-split to the kitchen level to help cool that area. But since the central air system is 20+ years old and will likely need to be replaced soon, we thought about going with mini-splits everywhere. is that crazy? What sorts of things should I think about or ask when I have people come look at our setup?
We're located in MN. We have hydronic radiant heat. House was built in 1960 and central air was added sometime after. Pic of the setup is here. The condenser outside was installed roughly 2000 (assuming the same for the air-handler). The air-handler is in the attic and does a good job cooling the bedrooms. But the system really struggles to cool the kitchen level and the family room level. If I want to cool those areas to a reasonable temperature, the bedrooms are then freezing. Plus, the air handler takes up a huge space in the attic, so I have a large uninsulated area above the bedrooms, which isn't great during the winter.
We thought about adding a mini-split to the kitchen level to help cool that area. But since the central air system is 20+ years old and will likely need to be replaced soon, we thought about going with mini-splits everywhere. is that crazy? What sorts of things should I think about or ask when I have people come look at our setup?