The room that sits outside the duct system
Most homes run on one central system, sized and ducted for the rooms that existed the day it went in. Then life adds square footage. A pole barn gets a finished tack room, the garage becomes a gym or a spare bedroom, and somebody frames an office off the back porch so the ranch paperwork finally has a desk. Stretching a duct out to that space rarely works. The old equipment has no capacity to spare, and the new run steals air from rooms it already struggles to keep comfortable.
A mini-split skips ductwork altogether. One head mounts on the wall inside, a compact unit sits outdoors, and a line set carrying refrigerant, power and a drain links the two through a single small hole in the wall. The room gets its own thermostat, its own schedule and its own dehumidifying, and the main house never notices it is there.
It heats as well. On a cold January morning the same head runs in reverse, which counts for a lot in a shop with no other heat.
Block wall or wood frame
Concrete block takes a core bit and a sealed sleeve where the lines pass through, and the indoor bracket is anchored into the block itself. Wood frame cuts easier but the hole has to land between studs and clear of wiring. On both, the opening gets sealed so rain and insects cannot follow the copper indoors.
- One head or several, sized room by room
- Line-set route planned before any drilling
- Wall brackets or a ground pad, chosen for the site
- Drain water sent somewhere it cannot stain or pool
- Startup read on gauges and a supply-air temperature
The equipment itself is covered on our ductless mini-split installation page, and finished installs appear in the gallery.
From the truck to the first cold air
Walk the room and the wall
Brian looks at the space, its windows and afternoon sun, what happens in it, and where a head can throw air down the room without blasting someone at a desk or a workbench. Outside, he traces the route the lines will take and finds a spot where the outdoor unit gets open air on every side.
A head placed to blow down the long side of a room outworks a bigger head aimed at the nearest wall.
Mount, cut and run the lines
The indoor bracket goes up level, the wall opening is cut and sleeved, and outside the copper runs inside a covered chase so sun and string trimmers cannot chew the insulation. The outdoor unit goes onto its brackets or pad, with an electrical disconnect mounted within reach.
Test tight, pull a vacuum, start it
Every flare and joint is checked under nitrogen pressure before the refrigerant valves open, then the lines are evacuated to clear out moisture. After startup, temperatures and pressures get read, and you are shown the remote, the washable filters and how to rinse them.
Other work Brian handles around Basinger
- Heat pump repair
Stuck valves, defrost faults, tired fan motors.
- Refrigerant leak repair
Iced lines traced back to the actual leak.
- Emergency AC repair
The no-cool call at midnight or Sunday.
- AC replacement
New equipment matched to the house.
For the town overview, see the Basinger page. Every community on the map is listed under service areas.
Get a Straight PriceBrackets on the wall or a pad in the yard
The outdoor unit can hang on a pair of wall brackets or sit on a pad at ground level, and out here the right call depends on what goes on around it. Brackets lift it clear of standing water after an afternoon downpour, keep it out of the path of a mower or a tractor bucket, and get it above the reach of a sprinkler head or a well pump that sprays mineral-heavy water across the coil. A pad is easier to service and suits a wall that cannot carry the weight, like thin siding on a manufactured home.
Storms count too. A wall-hung unit needs brackets rated for its weight and bolted into solid structure, and a pad unit gets anchored so high wind cannot walk it off its base. Both get clearance on every side, so the coil is never breathing its own hot discharge air.
Where the drain water goes
A head pulls a surprising amount of moisture out of a humid room, and that water has to leave. Usually it drains by gravity along the line set and empties outdoors, ending where it soaks into the ground well away from the slab. When the head sits on an interior wall with no downhill path, a small condensate pump lifts it out. A drain dumped onto a walkway turns green, and one dribbling down a block wall streaks it.
One zone or several
A single room with one head is the simplest install. A workshop, an office and a guest room can share one larger outdoor unit with a head in each, which saves wall space but ties all three rooms to one compressor. Separate single-zone systems cost more up front and keep running independently if one quits. You see both laid out with numbers.
Sizing the head to the room it serves
A head that is too big for the space chills it fast, shuts off, and leaves the air clammy, because it never runs long enough to wring out the humidity. One that is too small runs all afternoon and still loses to a metal roof in July. Getting it right means looking at floor area, ceiling height, insulation, how much glass faces west, and what goes on inside. A welding bench and a shop refrigerator throw off heat; a bedroom used only at night needs less.
Block workshops and lightly built additions behave differently. Block soaks up the afternoon sun and gives it back through the evening, so a shop stays warm well after dark. A thinly insulated addition loses its cooling quickly through walls and ceiling. Both details change the size, and both come out of the first walk-through.
Sometimes the plain answer is that a room needs no new equipment. A crushed duct, a return that was never installed or a damper stuck shut can fix it for less, and you hear that before anyone talks about a mini-split.
Who answers for the install
Brian owns the company, has twenty years in the trade, and is the person you call if anything seems off after startup. No commission rides on a bigger system or an extra head, and the 100% satisfaction guarantee covers the work.
Ahead of the visit, tell Brian about the room: what it is used for, the rough size, block or wood frame, and which wall faces the yard.
Questions before the first hole gets drilled
Something missing from this list? Phone 561-339-5729 at any hour and get a direct answer from the people who do the install.
Can a mini-split heat my workshop in winter?
Yes. A mini-split is a heat pump, so the head that cools all summer runs in reverse to warm the room on cold mornings. In a block workshop or a garage with no other heat source, it handles a Florida winter comfortably, provided it was sized to the space and its insulation.
Will the outdoor unit hold up in a summer storm?
On brackets or a pad, the unit gets fastened so wind cannot shift it, and the line set runs inside a covered chase. Surge protection at the disconnect is worth discussing too, since lightning and power blinks are hard on the circuit boards inside inverter equipment.
Do I need a new electrical circuit?
Almost always. The outdoor unit gets its own breaker and a disconnect mounted within reach of it. If the panel is already full or the wire run is long, that comes up on the first visit along with the straight price, so the wiring holds no surprises on install day.
Can one outdoor unit run heads in two buildings?
Occasionally, when the buildings sit close together and every line run stays inside the manufacturer’s length limits. Past those limits, two separate systems make more sense. A detached barn office well away from the house nearly always ends up with equipment of its own.
How often do the filters need cleaning?
Rinse the washable filters behind the front panel about once a month in heavy use, and more often in a dusty shop. Clogged filters cut airflow, freeze the coil and make the head drip. A yearly cleaning of the coil and blower wheel keeps musty smells from building up.
Can you add a head to a mini-split someone else installed?
Often, if the outdoor unit has an open zone port and capacity to spare. The first look checks the model, the existing lines and the overall condition, then you hear plainly whether adding on is sound or whether a separate system is the better buy.
Give the shop its own air
Describe the room, how it is built and which wall faces the yard. The head size, the route for the lines and a straight price come back to you before any work begins.
Send Brian the Layout