Rooms off the duct run
Ductless mini-splits in Springdale and Northwest Arkansas
Heating and cooling for additions, garages, shops, offices and any room the ductwork never reached, without tearing into walls to run new duct.
Chapter 01
The room the ductwork never reached
Every house has one. The garage that became a workshop. The bonus room over it. The sunroom, the converted attic, the addition that went on the back after the original system was already sized. The central air does what it can, and that room is still too hot in August and too cold in January. The shop at the back of the property is the same story with a bigger roof.
Stith puts the problem plainly on its own site: window units are noisy and inefficient, and fans just move hot air around. A ductless mini-split is the answer that does not require demolition. One outdoor unit, one slim line of copper and wiring through the wall, and an indoor head that heats and cools that room by itself.
It also fits where there is no ductwork at all. Small offices, retail counters, a break room, a finished space above a garage. Stith runs a separate commercial plumbing division and has mounted a ductless condenser on a brick commercial wall, so a business with an odd room is not outside the usual work.
A ductless mini-split condenser mounted beside a cedar-sided house
Where the head goes and where the condenser sits
Placement is most of the craft. The indoor head goes where the air can move across the room without a couch or a cabinet in the way, and high enough on the wall to throw air properly. It should not blow straight onto a bed or a desk. The technician walks the room, looks at where people sit and sleep, and picks the spot before anything is drilled.
The outdoor condenser sits on a pad, a wall bracket or a stand, with room around it for air and a place for the condensate to drain. Stith's own photos show a condenser tucked beside a cedar sided house, one set among garden beds and one on a brick commercial wall. Each one was placed for its own wall, its own yard and its own neighbors.
Then comes the choice between one zone and several. A single head serves one space. A multi-zone system runs two or more heads from the same outdoor unit, so a bedroom and an office can each hold their own temperature. Stith sets up the zones and balances them so one room does not steal from another.
Chapter 03
Keeping it quiet, clean and working in winter
A mini-split asks for very little, and what it asks for is easy. The filters inside the head slide out and wash in a sink. The outdoor unit needs to stay clear of leaves, grass clippings and snow drift. The condensate line should run freely. Do those three and the system stays quiet and efficient for years.
Stith offers seasonal cleaning and performance checks on ductless systems, along with repairs, because the indoor coil and the drain need a deeper clean now and then. A technician with gauges can also tell you whether the charge is right and whether the outdoor fan is moving air the way it should be. That is the same registered, EPA certified work as any other system.
Many ductless systems heat as well as cool, so the unit that keeps the shop comfortable in July can take the chill off in January. Ask which model you are getting and what it does in the cold, and Stith will tell you straight, whether it fits the room or whether a different approach would serve you better.
When ductless is the right call, and when it is not
Ductless earns its place in rooms the central system cannot reach, in additions and in spaces that need their own temperature. It is less of a fit when a house already has good ductwork and one tired system. In that case a repair or a new central unit may be the simpler path, and the technician should say so.
That is how Stith runs every call. Look at the building, lay out both paths, and let the homeowner decide without pressure. Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Lowell and the towns around them are all in the regular service area, and the office is open Monday through Saturday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
HVAC/R Registrant 1056339, EPA certified refrigerant work, and a family-owned shop since 1965. Call (479) 751-9691.