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Mini-Splits, Air Source, Geothermal: What’s the Difference?

By Nordic

November 30, 2015

Heat Pump Installation

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The province of New Brunswick recently released a new rebate on heat pumps, that allows homeowners to claim $500 when they install a ductless mini-split heat pump in their home. This has resulted in a surge in popularity for ductless mini-split heat pumps, with more units being installed every day by homeowners looking to save money on their heating bills.

The problem is, contractors in that province are receiving more phone calls than ever from homeowners who have had heat pumps installed, but the heat pumps aren’t living up to their expectations. It seems that some installers are overselling the heat pumps and misrepresenting their capabilities, benefits, drawbacks and how much they can reduce heating bills.

There seems to be some confusion among homeowners about the capabilities of the heat pump they purchased. We think that’s in part because there are actually three different types of heat pumps: mini-splits, air source, and geothermal, and all of them have unique capabilities, features, and limitations. To help clear up the confusion once and for all, we’re going to outline the key differences between the three types of heat pumps.

Energy Distribution System

The energy distribution system is how the heat pump actually delivers heat into your home. The three heat pumps outlined above each have a different energy distribution system, which makes them ideally suited to different applications. Let’s have a look at them now:

A ductless mini-split heat pump has a ductless heat distribution system just like the name suggests. With this heat pump, heating and cooling is delivered through the air from a single air handler. This air handler is usually placed in the main part of an open concept house.

Most air source heat pumps most commonly deliver heating and cooling through centralized ductwork. The ductwork distributes heating and cooling evenly throughout the home.

Geothermal heat pumps are the most versatile of the three units. Depending on what you need, geothermal heat pumps can deliver heating and cooling through air ducts, through radiant in-floor heating or through a combination of the two.

Capability

It’s important to consider what capability you want your new home heating system to have. Do you need your new system to provide heating and cooling to your whole home, or are you comfortable with a heating system that will only heat part of your home, the way a fireplace might? This is an important distinction, because the three heating systems we’re looking at today have different capabilities.

A mini-split delivers heating and cooling from a single point air handler, which means it is not an ideal whole-home heat pump. Usually, a mini-split is installed in the main part of an open concept house, and electric baseboards are installed in the rest of the home to supplement the heating it provides. A single mini-split is not capable of heating a whole home. Most mini-splits are suitable for spaces between 375 – 750 square feet. Alternatively, large homes could have three or four mini-splits installed throughout the home to deliver enough heat to keep the entire space warm in winter.

In contrast, a single air source heat pump can deliver whole home heating and cooling and is suitable for the average fully detached home. The average air source heat pump is suited to a home between 1,400 and 3,100 square feet.

Geothermal heat pumps also offer whole home heating and cooling through either forced air ductwork, radiant in-floor heat, or both. Geothermal heat pumps are available in a wide variety of sizes making them suitable for homes ranging from 1,000 to 4,200 square feet. Geothermal heat pumps also come equipped with a desuperheater which allows them to efficiently preheat your domestic hot water. 

Energy Supply Source

A heat pump’s energy supply source is where it harvests its heat from. Remember, a heat pump just moves heat from one place to another. A mini-split harvests its heat from the outdoor air via a refrigeration process. The major drawback of using the outdoor air as a heat source is that when the temperature drops, the heat output of the unit also drops. Most mini-splits have a lowest operating temperature (the lowest temperature that they can still harvest heat from the air) of 5°F (-15°C), and some will draw heat at temperatures as low as -4°F (-20°C). After that, you’ll have to rely on back-up heat.

Air source heat pumps, as their name suggests, also use the outdoor air as their heat source. Most air source heat pumps have a lowest operating temperature of -4°F (-20°C). After that, electric back-up heat kicks in, which can be expensive to operate.

Geothermal heat pumps are a different story. Unlike the two types of heat pumps mentioned above, geothermal heat pumps use the ground as a heat source. Plastic piping is buried beneath the frost line where the ground maintains a constant temperature year-round. No matter how cold it gets outside, the ground maintains this constant temperature, providing a consistent heat source for your heat pump. This means a geothermal heat pump has no lowest operating temperature, and can provide your home with consistent, comfortable heat year-round without the use of back-up heat.

Average Energy Savings

Finally, the last major difference between these three units is the energy savings you can expect from them. All of these units will save you money over conventional electric baseboard heat, but the question is how much?

Mini-split heat pumps will save you between 20 – 40% on your heating bill. Don’t forget that in temperatures below 5°F (-15°C), you’ll have to rely on back-up heating, which will drive your utility bills up. You’ll also need to use alternative heat sources (like electric baseboards) in rooms that are far away from the mini-split air handler.

Air source heat pumps eliminate the need for alternative heat sources in good weather because they offer whole home heating and cooling via a ducted system that runs throughout the home. As a result, you can expect to save 30 – 40% on your heating bills with an air source heat pump. Your heat pump’s efficiency will decrease as the temperatures go down, and you’ll still need backup heat in cold temperatures.

Geothermal heat pumps do not lose efficiency in winter because their heat source is the earth, which is always consistently warm no matter what is happening in the air above. You won’t have to rely on back-up heat, which means you’ll save up to 75% on your heating costs with this type of heat pump.

All three heat pumps have their ideal uses in different situations, and it’s important to select the heat pump that will work best for your unique situation. Here’s a summary of the details we discussed:

Mini-Split vs. Air Source vs. Geothermal Heat Pumps

Mini-SplitAir SourceGeothermal
Distribution TypeSingle-point air handlerDucted airDucted air, radiant inf-loor
CapabilitiesSingle-point heating and coolingWhole-home heating and coolingWhole home heating, cooling and domestic hot water
Home Size375 - 750 sq. ft.1,400 - 3,100 sq. ft.1,000 - 4,200 sq. ft.
Energy Supply SourceOutdoor airOutdoor airOpen or closed ground loop
Lowest Operating Temperature-15°C-20°CNo lowest temperature
Back-Up Heat Required?YesYesNo
Average Energy Savings20 - 40%30 - 40%Up to 75%

Interested in learning more? Download our Ebook: Geothermal Energy: Consistent, Comfortable and Cost Effective Heating and Cooling for Your Home.

Comments

  1. Reply

    Glenn Kaye

    December 13, 2015

    Very well written article!

  2. Reply

    Bob Emery

    December 19, 2015

    Great article, Jordan! You have covered all the bases here. I have been running air source heat pumps for close to 30 years. If I had an adequate water supply I would have installed a geothermal unit. I know two people who have your geothermal heat pumps. These units are simply the best. Another important point that I think is worth mentioning is the tight temperature control we maintain in our home which is within half of one degree, which is unheard of with wood or oil heat.

    • Jordann Brown

      December 21, 2015

      Hi Bob, I’m glad you liked the article! The tight temperature control is a great feature of heat pumps, but since all of the heat pumps I examined have that feature, I didn’t mention it.

  3. Reply

    Donna Campbell

    December 21, 2015

    Excellent article! Helpful and understandable.

  4. Reply

    Gerri

    April 15, 2016

    Check that off the list of things I was consefud about.

  5. Reply

    Pascal Mutabazi

    August 23, 2017

    This is the best article I have ever read. Dated November 30, 2015, we are not two years a head. it’s possible ductless mini-split heat pumps have made some technological improvement to provide heating during winter without the need for a heat resistant back up.

    • Jordann Brown

      August 23, 2017

      While some heat pumps may have greater efficiency now, the principals described in the article remain true.

  6. Reply

    Derek Sollows

    November 26, 2017

    I found your article while googling for geo-source minisplits. What do you rate my chances of finding such a unit?

    • Jordann Brown

      November 27, 2017

      Are you talking about a geothermal heat pump with the compressor etc on the outside of the home and wall mounted units? If so I don’t think that exists. You can place a geothermal heat pump in the home and use wall mounted units as its distribution system.

  7. Reply

    Andrew Doepner

    June 01, 2018

    Just a note, cold climate mini-splits are pushing down to much lower outdoor temperatures. Futjitsu and Mitsubishi have units that operate at -29C ambient.

  8. Reply

    Sue L

    August 03, 2018

    Everyone in my area seems to be installing the ductless air based heat pumps. Why wouldn’t they install geothermal? Is the installation cost a lot higher? I am wondering what the “cons” would be of geothermal versus air based. Otherwise I don’t understand why everyone is doing the air based.

  9. Reply

    Bob

    July 12, 2019

    This article is simply misleading. Ductless mini split systems can have multiple indoor units connected to outdoor units. To say that it only had one unit is completely false and makes me think the author is trying to keep people from buying them for some reason.

    • Jordann Brown

      July 12, 2019

      Hi Bob,
      You’re correct, larger mini-splits can connect multiple heads, but the concept of single point heating and cooling is still the same: the heating is delivered from a single point, usually in a main room on the first floor, and if you have a wall-mounted unit on the second floor, it may be in the master bedroom or an open hallway.

  10. Reply

    Michael Brown

    December 26, 2019

    Why is not the mini split approach integrated with geothermal?

    • Jordann Brown

      January 03, 2020

      Hi Michael,
      Mini-splits are not necessary if you have a geothermal heat pump system, since geothermal heat pumps provide whole home heating and cooling. Including a mini-split would be redundant.

  11. Reply

    Michael Brown

    March 28, 2020

    Question rephrased: Why not ground source mini splits instead of air source mini splits?

  12. Reply

    Jerry

    May 11, 2020

    Same question from me. My house in upstate NY was built with hot water heat. No ducts and no central air. So we are going to be doing a multi-zone mini-split. Can we find a system that is both ductless and geo sourced?

    • Jordann Brown

      May 12, 2020

      Jerry,
      Unfortunately, we do not offer a ductless geothermal system at this time.

  13. Reply

    John

    January 30, 2021

    Great article, but no mention of air to water. Can you update this to include this?

    Thanks

    • Jordann Brown

      February 03, 2021

      Hi John, thanks for the feedback! We’ll amend the post to include that

  14. Reply

    Mark

    June 29, 2022

    It is now nearing July of 2022. I live in NE Montana where we have a wide temperature extreme. (we see -40F to +110F) Our house was built in 82 and has electric baseboard heat. We have lots of wind, 20 acres and electric bills close to $600/month during the long winter months. Has technology caught up w/those of us wanting a geothermal ductless heating/cooling system?

    • Dan Rheault

      June 29, 2022

      Hi, there are no easy retrofits for houses with electric baseboards, basically because electric baseboards are not a heating distribution system (just little standalone heaters). The easiest option would be to install a hydronic heat pump with high end hot water baseboards that can emit sufficient heat at the lower water temperatures of a heat pump (max 120°F), or maybe some low temp radiators. But those are not easy to install given the piping, and would not give you cooling. For heating/cooling, you would need to install a hydronic heat pump plus in-room hydronic air handlers (if you didn’t want to install air ductwork all through the house).

  15. Reply

    Gord William

    February 16, 2023

    Thanks for your article. It’s actually probably one of the best articles I’ve read describing the benefits of each unit and comparing the electrical consumption of each unit. There isn’t much information from one company that compares everything in one article. If you could add the general cost of each different unit installed, that would make the article even better. I realize that’s not as easy as it sounds but let’s say mini split units installed to heat a 2000 square foot house was, oh I don’t know, but let’s say $5000. What would the cost of geothermal be? $20,000? $30,000? Knowing the ballpark costs of different types of heating systems installed would help greatly in determining the pay back. One person had asked why so many home owners install mini split compared to geothermal? I suspect the geothermal initial $ output is very high and the pay back is considerably longer then mini split units.
    I think we can all agree geothermal is the way to go (IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT) and you have the suitable property but without knowing a more exact payback time frame it’s hard to justify borrowing the money. So in conclusion, even very ballpark figures would be helpful as geothermal may be financially out of reach for most people. Thank you very much for your article, it was helpful.

    • Dan Rheault

      February 16, 2023

      Hi, thanks for the suggestion. We have a new marketing person coming on board so I will forward this to them. Re: minisplits, I believe they are popular because they are very quick and easy to install, so installers push them because it’s a quick payback for them (rather than having done any homeowner payback calculation).

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