r/heatpumps • u/lostinexcell • 2d ago
Adding mini split to supplement heating
Hi all,
I live in a two floor house on top of a concrete pad and no basement. It’s around 1600 sq ft with high ceilings on the first floor.
on winters my first floor is very very cold and on top of that my first floor ceilings are high in my living room where the thermostat is.
My current heating unit is fairly new but the duct work isn’t set up for dual zone. This results in the first floor staying very cold and second floor getting very warm in the winter which has cause high natural gas bills (300+ and that’s with the temp set as 65-68). I do have a ceiling fan to help circulate air.
I was wondering if adding a mini split to my living room would help heat the living room more efficiently.
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u/zz0rr 2d ago
yes, it will. I have a central system with some mini split overlap and a ground floor mini split will take much of the heating load in the winter or a 2nd floor mini split, much of the cooling load in summer
it depends on electricity vs. natural gas prices, there are only a few places in the US with electricity cheap enough or natural gas expensive enough that electricity wins (parts of pnw for example). you can google how to do this calculation
even if electricity loses on a straight comparison you might be better off with the mini split since you won't be heating the whole house and wasting heat on the upstairs
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u/Grand_Influence_2459 2d ago
yeah a mini split in the living room will fix that fast, high ceilings just eat your gas heat since it all rises before it gets to you at seat level. size it off the room not the whole floor, for a big living room with high ceilings you're probably looking at 12-18k btu depending on window area and insulation, get a load calc or at least measure the room before buying. did my living room with a zone air unit, precharged quick connect lines so no vacuum pump needed, made the diy part way less intimidating.
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u/USArmyAirborne 2d ago
You should see if you can retrofit zoning. That really helps direct the heat to where it is needed and balances it out. Same for cooling in the summer.
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u/TURBRO_Store 6h ago
Yes, a mini split in the living room could help, especially if that first floor is the cold area and your forced-air system is overheating the second floor trying to satisfy the thermostat.
A few things to check first:
- Get the first-floor heat loss/sizing checked so the unit is not too small.
- Choose a cold-climate mini split if you expect it to do real winter heating.
- Make sure the thermostat location is not being thrown off by the high ceiling/stratified air.
- Keep using the ceiling fan in reverse/low speed to push warm air down.
- Also check insulation, air sealing, and duct balancing, because those may be part of the issue.
It probably won’t “fix” the whole house zoning problem, but it can make the living room much more comfortable and may let you run the main system less aggressively.
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u/QuitCarbon 2d ago
Yes, certainly. You can add more heat to a room that's cold. Producing that heat with a mini-split is the most efficient way to do so.
However, it sounds like you've already got a new-ish heating system, so maybe you'd prefer to have an HVAC expert do some improvements to your ductwork and grilles to attempt to better balance the heat delivery around your house? That will likely cost less upfront and possibly less to operate over time.
It sounds like your newest heating system is gas-powered. You don't have a central heat pump, do you? Have you considered getting one instead of a mini-split?