When you buy an AC system for your home, it is easy to focus on the upfront cost. You also need to think about maintenance costs down the road. When you install a central-air system, you not only have to worry about the maintenance of the AC unit itself, but you also have to worry about maintaining the ducts that channel the air from your system to the various rooms in your home. In order to reduce the maintenance to your whole system, you should consider purchasing a mini-split system. 

Leaky Ducts as Part of Maintenance

When you install a central air system, the seals in the ducts can deteriorate over time. Simply due to the constant cycle of heating and cooling your ducts undergo, the resulting expansion and contraction can cause the seams to wear out. When this happens, air can leak out of your ducts, and the more air that leaks out of your ducts, the less air there is to cool your home. The lower the volume of air that is available to cool your home, the longer your system takes to cool your home. This increase in running time can reduce your system efficiency by up to 40%. To counteract this increase in cost, you need to seal your ducts. 

How a Mini-Split System Helps

A mini-split system does not require ducts because instead of using one centralized AC unit, installer will place smaller evaporator units directly in the rooms that you want to cool. Not only do you not have to pay for installing ducts, but you also do not have to maintain them down the road. You also do not have to worry about a loss in efficiency as leaks develop. A further benefit of a mini-split system is that each evaporator will have its own thermostat, so you can turn each unit off as you leave the room it's in. Thus, you don't have to pay for cooling a room you are not using, but you also don't have to worry about wear and tear to these units while they are not in use. 

Mini-split systems offers many advantages over traditional systems. They can be a good way to cool a home, but if you have a large home, you have to pause and consider which rooms most need cooling. In that a mini-split system will only have up to four evaporators, they might not be right for every home, but if you can make one work for you, you will save on operating and maintenance costs down the road. Contact an air conditioning service, like HELP Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electric or a similar location, for more help and info.