It was time for one Boise, ID landlord to provide his tenants with a massive upgrade. When the old furnace in his fourplex died, he replaced it with ductless heating and cooling.
Now, his utility expenses have dropped dramatically. And, everyone in his building is more comfortable and has more control over the temperature in their unit.
Wait! Are we saying this HVAC system works better than the old one and costs less money to do it?
Well, yes! After the initial installation cost (and we’ll talk more about that later), our landlord is paying less every month while his tenants are happier than ever.
In this case study, we’ll discuss:
- How A Mini Split Offers Zoned Heating And Cooling
- More Benefits Of Ductless Heating And Cooling
- Installing A Mini Split In A Boise, ID Fourplex
Finally, you can call or email us here at Snowflake Air any time for a free consultation. We’ll walk you through how ductless heating and cooling works and if it’s the right choice for your property in the Treasure Valley.
Problem: The old gas/electric furnace in this 25-year-old Boise, ID fourplex needed replacement. The owner wanted to upgrade the system to give each apartment more control over the individual temperatures.
Solution: Installed a new Mitsubishi ductless heating and cooling system. This mini split setup uses one heat pump with air handlers in each apartment. Each indoor unit has a thermostat, so they can all be set independently of the others.
Read More: How Much Does A Mini Split Cost In And Around Boise Metro?
How A Mini Split Offers Zoned Heating And Cooling
The big draw here was zoned heating and cooling. In other words, our landlord couldn’t have one thermostat controlling the entire building.
The fourth floor would never feel the same as the first, and the tenants would be mad when they couldn’t control the temperature in their units.
The solution is a zoned system, where you treat each area as its own “zone” with individual controls. That’s what a mini split offers, and why it was an excellent choice for this building. 
Here’s how it works and why it’s great for multiple units.
First off, you have a heat pump outside. It’s responsible for moving heat into the building in the winter and getting rid of it in the summer.
(That’s the short version. Here’s an article with a more detailed explanation).
Next, that heat travels to each air handler you install. But, here’s the trick: Each one of those indoor units has a thermostat built into it.
This way, you can control each zone individually. The family on the first floor can set their air handlers to the temperatures they want. Then the tenant on the second floor can make his difference, and so on.
With four units in one building, having that flexibility is a huge plus. And, the benefits don’t stop there.
More Benefits Of Ductless HVAC
Zoned heating and cooling may be a huge draw for a fourplex, but ductless HVAC also offers:
- Cost-Saving Energy Efficiency
- Whisper-Quiet Operation
- More Room In Each Apartment
Cost-Saving Energy Efficiency
With ductless, the tenants love the control they have over their heating and cooling. The landlord loves the low monthly costs.
Now, installing a system like this isn’t cheap. State-of-the-art heating and cooling starts at more than $3,200 and goes up from there.
But, you have one system handling heating and cooling. And, once it’s in, your utility bills drop significantly. Plus, it was a business expense for the landlord. He paired that tax advantage with the monthly savings.
We mentioned before that the heat pump transfers heat. That’s a much different process than creating warmth like you would when you burn fossil fuels in a conventional system.
Even electric baseboard heat uses a lot of power to generate heat. Using what’s available instead costs a whole lot less.
Plus, each air handler does a fantastic job of circulating the air. That means it gets your space to the temperature you want quickly and then maintains it.
That means using even less energy to get the comfort level you want.
Whisper-Quiet Operation
Baseboard heat may be silent, but window ACs are anything but. However, with whisper-quiet air handlers, the tenants never have to worry about talking or hearing the TV over the roar of their air conditioning.
Even at full blast, an air handler makes less noise than people whispering in a library. And, most of the time, they’re in an even quieter, low-power mode anyway.
Now, the tenants won’t bother each other by talking too loudly or turning up the volume for their favorite shows.
More Room In Each Apartment
Finally, a mini-split takes up almost no room — a major selling point for an apartment.
We’ve talked a lot about the air handlers in each unit. Well, for all the firepower they pack, they’re pretty small!
Each one mounts on the wall and takes up maybe a little more space than a knickknack shelf. But, we mount each handler high up and out of the way.
That means no one has to arrange furniture around them, so they have enough space to work right. And, unlike ductwork, you don’t feel like the walls are closing in with giant enclosures built around the ductwork.
Read More: Rebates and Financing For Mini Splits In And Around Boise Metro
Installing A Mini Split In A Boise, ID Fourplex
It wasn’t long before our landlord was ready to have a mini split installed in his Boise, ID duplex with all these great benefits.
You’d think something this extensive would be expensive and take a really long time to install. But, just the opposite is true!
Without worrying about designing, building, and putting in ductwork, installing ductless in a place this big took less than a week.
Our first step was finding the best spots in each unit for the air handlers. We did our best to keep them lined up. That made it easier to run the lines linking them all to the heat pump outside.
Now, each unit has air handlers on the wall, and they don’t see anything else besides that. Everything runs behind the walls, like electrical wiring to the outdoor unit.
It’s a setup that works for everyone. And, if you’d like to see if a mini split would fit the bill for your fourplex or rental property in the Treasure Valley, call or email Snowflake Air today for a free consultation for providing mini split installation in Boise, ID.
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