Ductless mini splits are an increasingly popular indoor comfort solution. They're efficient, quiet, reliable, and easy to use. Perfect for homes without existing ductwork and new construction, they're a cost-effective way to deliver maximum comfort to residential spaces.
In homes, we need more than just cooling and heating. Especially with today's tightly built homes, ventilation and dehumidification are even more essential. Keep reading to learn more about why you should consider adding a ventilating dehumidifier to work alongside your ductless air conditioner to get the best indoor air quality possible.
What Is A Mini Split?
Offering to cool and, depending on the model, heating for single or multiple rooms or "zones," ductless mini splits are efficient indoor comfort solutions. They allow you to cool and heat specific areas, making them more efficient than other cooling and heating solutions.
Mini-splits are fairly simple to install and use. They consist of several main components: an outdoor condenser that creates the cooled or heated air, an indoor unit that releases the air into your space, and refrigerant lines that connect the two units.
Learn More In Our Mini Split Air Conditioner Buying Guide
Do Mini Splits Dehumidify Your Space?
Most mini splits feature a dehumidification or "dry" operating mode. While they do deliver a level of dehumidification they're not a substitute for dedicated dehumidifiers for several reasons:
- Mini Splits Are Ultra-Efficient: Mini splits are designed to quickly cool their specific zone. Because you buy a mini split with the appropriate BTU level to cover your desired square footage, you're getting a unit that's designed for peak efficiency. They get to your set temperature quickly, which is one reason customers love them so much.
- The Downside of Efficiency: For a mini split to remove moisture from your air and effectively dehumidify your space, it would need to run continuously for 20 to 30 minutes. Because mini splits are so efficient, it would rarely take the unit that amount of time to cool your room. The mini-split will cycle off before it ever gets to the 30-minute mark.
- How Dehumidification Modes Are Designed: Most mini splits will attempt to dehumidify your room by overcooling your space. A downside of the process is that overcooling can create a cold, clammy environment, and you may notice condensation on your windows or inadvertently create conditions that actually encourage mold growth.
- Highest Humidity Times: The most humid times of the year tend to be in the spring and fall. That's also the time of the year when we rely on our air conditioners least compared to the summer. Not needing to cool, the unit isn't running as much. When it's not running, it's not having the chance to dehumidify.
- No Ventilation: An often overlooked component of moisture removal is ventilation. Most recently built homes are designed to be "tight", which means they are designed in a way that the flow of air indoors to outdoors is minimized. While this design helps to make today's homes more efficient so that cool air doesn't escape, the downside is that the flow of air from outdoors to indoors and vice versa is restricted. A lack of fresh air and proper ventilation can create the perfect environment for moisture to accumulate in your air causing humidity to rise.
- Limited Filtration: Most mini splits come with some level of filtration, usually enough to be effective against large airborne particles like dust and pet hair. But what about other irritants like smoke, CO2, and more? The standard mini-split filtration is not going to be up to the task.
How Do I Dehumidify and Ventilate My Space Effectively?
You could combine your mini split with a single-room dehumidifier for moisture removal, an air purifier for filtration, and a ventilating fan for airflow control. Or, you can install a ventilating dehumidifier that's designed to do it all.
How Do Ventilating Dehumidifiers Work?
Ventilating dehumidifiers like Santa Fe's Ultra Series units are the premier choice for deliver all-in-one indoor air quality control to your space. When combined with your ductless mini split, you're able to achieve the perfect air quality for your home.
Once set up, Santa Fe Ultra Series dehumidifiers' basic operation is:
- Step 1: Air from your house is drawn into the dehumidifier via a large duct attached to one end of the unit.
- Step 2: Now that the air from your home has entered the unit, it passes through a filter where microscopic particles and irritants are captured and removed from your air.
- Step 3: The air next passes over the dehumidifier's evaporative coil. When the unit is connected to an optional controller placed in your living space, it will provide information to the dehumidifier about when you need moisture removal. If the controller tells the unit that dehumidification is needed, a compressor will run to cool the evaporator. As your air passes over the cooling evaporator, moisture in the air condenses and is removed from the air.
- Step 4: After passing over the evaporative coil, the air then encounters a condensing coil where the air warmed. After passing over the coil, your air is now warmer and dryer than it was when it first entered the unit.
- Step 5: This dryer and warm air is then released back into your living spaces via your supply ducting.
For ventilation, another duct can be connected to the dehumidifier that will bring fresh air into your home. The outdoor air will pass over the same air filter as the air that is being drawn from your home into the unit. You can install a variety of optional dampers for controlling when outside air is brought into the unit. The outside air will only be dehumidified by the unit if your controller detects increased indoor humidity.
Shop Santa Fe Ultra Series Dehumidifiers Today
Does That Mean My Home Is No Longer Ductless?
While a mini split by definition is ductless, installing a ventilating dehumidifier will require ductwork. However, compared to the amount of ducting that is required to install central heating and cooling units, you're going to need a lot less ductwork when combining a mini split and a ventilating dehumidifier in your home.
Read More About Mini Splits vs. Central Air Conditioners
Learn More About Santa Fe Dehumidifiers
Want to learn more about Santa Fe dehumidifiers and how they're the right solution for your home? Check out some of our other Santa Fe-related content:
- Santa Fe Dehumidifiers: Overview of A Customer Favorite Brand
- Frequently Asked Questions About Santa Fe Dehumidifiers
- Santa Fe Advance90 FAQs
- Best Dehumidifiers for 2022 (Based on Customer Feedback)
- How to Size a Crawl Space, Basement, or Whole House Dehumidifier
- How Moisture in Basements and Crawl Spaces Can Affect Your Whole House
Shop All Santa Fe Dehumidifiers | Visit Our Dehumidifier Knowledge Center
Read More About Ductless Mini Splits
Take a look at some of our top mini split content pieces to learn more about how to find the right ductless system for your home.
- Mini Split Air Conditioner Buying Guide
- How To Choose A Room Air Conditioner
- Ductless Mini-Splits vs. Central Air Conditioners
- PTACs Vs. Mini Splits
- How a Ductless Mini-Split Air Conditioner Cools
Shop All Mini Split Air Conditioners | Visit Our Mini Split Knowledge Center
Questions
Have additional questions about ventilating dehumidifiers and ductless mini splits? Give one of our product experts a call at 1-800-934-9194.
