Ductless Mini-Split Installation for Shops, Garages, Casitas and Additions

When a mini-split is the right answer

A ductless mini-split is a small heat pump with an outdoor unit and one or more indoor heads, connected by a refrigerant line set through a hole about three inches across. There is no ductwork to build, which makes it the practical choice for spaces the main system was never designed to reach.

• Shops and garages. A place to work in August that does not feel like an oven, and a place to work in January without a space heater.
• Casitas and guest quarters. Their own thermostat, so guests or family can set it without touching the main house.
• Additions and converted rooms. Extending ductwork to a new room often means an undersized run that never quite works. A mini-split heats and cools that room on its own.
• Manufactured homes. An add-on room, an enclosed porch or a back bedroom the package unit never kept comfortable.
• Hot or cold rooms in any house. The west-facing bonus room or the bedroom over the garage that is always ten degrees off.

It is not always the right answer. If the whole house is uncomfortable, the problem is often the main system or the ducts, and a mini-split in one room just hides it. We will tell you if that is what we see. For whole-house systems, see residential HVAC installation and furnace and heat pump replacement.

Heat in the winter, not just cooling

Because a mini-split is a heat pump, it moves heat into the room in winter instead of making it with a flame or electric coils. For a garage, shop or casita in Kingman, Bullhead City or Lake Havasu City, one unit usually covers both seasons comfortably. Up in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Seligman and Ash Fork, winter nights are colder, so we choose equipment rated to keep heating at those temperatures and set it up so the defrost cycle and drain do not freeze. Ice on the outdoor unit that never clears is a service call, not normal. Read more in heating repair.

How a mini-split install works

1. Look at the space. We measure the room, look at insulation, windows, doors and sun exposure, and ask how you use it. A shop with a roll-up door is a different job from a bedroom.
2. Size it and plan it. We size each indoor head to its room, then plan where the head mounts, where the outdoor unit sits, how the line set and condensate drain run, and what the electrical needs.
3. Written quote. You get the price in writing before any work starts, with the equipment options laid out. Financing is available on approved credit.
4. Install. Mount the head and the outdoor unit, run and seal the line set, pressure-test with nitrogen, pull a deep vacuum and confirm it with a micron gauge, then release and check the refrigerant charge. Those steps are what keep a mini-split from leaking or losing capacity in a few years.
5. Walk-through. We run it in heating and cooling, show you the remote or thermostat, and show you how to clean the filters.

Single-zone or multi-zone

A single-zone system is one outdoor unit and one indoor head, the usual choice for a shop, garage or single room. A multi-zone system runs two or more indoor heads off one outdoor unit, which works well for a casita with a bedroom and living area or for several rooms in an addition. Each head has its own setting, so you only heat or cool the rooms in use.

Built for desert dust

Out here, filters and coils load up with dust faster than the manuals assume, especially in a working shop. We place the outdoor unit where it is easy to keep clear, mount the head where the filters are easy to reach, and show you what to clean and how often. A yearly cleaning of the indoor coil and blower wheel keeps it at full capacity, and it fits on a maintenance plan.

What customers say

Mini-split questions we get asked

Where we install mini-splits