Mini-splits: what they are and how to care for one
Cleaning and care
What to clean, how often, and which jobs are yours.
- How to clean and maintain a mini-split
Which mini-split cleaning jobs are yours, how to tell when the coil and blower wheel need a deep clean, how often, and what self-clean mode does.
- How to clean mini-split filters (and how often by brand)
Where mini-split filters are, how to wash and dry them without damage, and the cleaning interval each major brand gives, linked to its own page.
- Mini-split cleaning bags and kits: the honest steps and risks
What a mini-split cleaning bag or kit does, the real steps of a bag deep clean, where it goes wrong, and the points where you should stop.
- Does my mini-split need cleaning?
Six quick questions and one plain answer: fine, wash the filters, book a deep clean, or turn it off and call.
- Mini-split filter schedule by brand
How often your brand says to wash the filters, and how.
- Book a mini-split cleaning
The price per indoor head, what the visit covers, and the booking form.
Something’s off
Smells, black spots, drips, and what each one means.
- Why does my mini-split smell?
What a musty, dirty-sock, vinegar, burning, or fishy smell from a mini-split means, which ones mean turn it off now, and what usually clears the musty kind.
- Mold and black spots in a mini-split
What black spots on a mini-split's blower wheel and louvers are, whether it's safe to keep running it, what EPA and CDC say about bleach, and how to keep it from coming back.
- Why is my mini-split leaking water?
Why a mini-split drips or spits water inside, what to check first, how to tell a drain clog from an iced coil or a failed pump, and when it needs service.
- Mini-split running but not cooling (or icing up)
What to check when a mini-split runs but blows warm air or ices up, what to do about ice, and when it points to a dirty coil or to refrigerant.
- Mini-split error codes and blinking lights: what to do first
What a mini-split error code or blinking light means, the first steps that work on any brand, which codes are normal, when a reset is enough, and each brand's official code list.
- Mini-split repair and service
When a head stops cooling, leaks, smells, or shows a code, Frog can come look.
Running it in New Orleans
Humidity, dry mode, leaving it on, and running it through an outage.
- Does a mini-split dehumidify? Dry mode in New Orleans
How a mini-split removes humidity, what dry mode does, when to use it instead of cool mode, why fan-only after cooling can backfire, and whether to leave it on.
- Running a mini-split during an outage
Match a generator to a mini-split's data plate, starting behavior, connection, and the other loads needed during an outage.
Choosing, pricing, and placing one
What installations cost here, which system fits the house, and where the outdoor unit can go.
- What does a mini-split installation cost in New Orleans?
New Orleans permits for mini-split installations had a median applicant-reported cost of $10,300. Prices from city permits, how their share of permits has changed, and the neighborhoods where they're most common.
- Mini-split installation
Room loads, head placement, line routes, drains, and where the outdoor unit can go, planned before the work.
- Central air, mini-splits, or window units for an old house
Which system fits a shotgun, camelback, or house without ducts.
- Where an outdoor unit can go
City zoning and historic-district rules for condensers, including wall-mounted ones.
- Mini-splits in a historic district
What the HDLC and Vieux Carré Commission review, district by district, and where mini-splits are most common.
- How long a mini-split lasts
Expected life for central and ductless systems.
- The 80° rental rule
Mini-splits can meet the New Orleans rental cooling standard.
The basic arrangement
A single-zone system connects one outdoor unit to one indoor unit. A multi-split connects several indoor units to one outdoor unit. Refrigerant lines, control wiring, and a condensate drain run to each indoor unit. DOE counts mini- and multi-splits as split-system central air conditioners or heat pumps, even though they have no ducts (DOE). That’s why most mini-splits sold for homes also heat.
Indoor units come in several shapes: high on a wall, ceiling cassettes, floor consoles, and short-duct units hidden in a ceiling or closet. “Ductless” names a family, not one layout.
What’s inside each indoor unit
Every indoor unit, also called a head, has the same four parts that need care:
- The filters are thin mesh screens behind the front cover. They catch lint and hair. DOE notes they usually don’t catch fine particles the way a good central-air filter can (DOE, archived).
- The coil is the metal fins behind the filters. It gets cold and wet whenever the unit cools.
- The blower wheel is the long, drum-shaped fan behind the coil, sometimes called the squirrel cage. It pushes air out past the louvers, the flaps that aim the air.
- The drain pan and drain line catch the water from the coil and carry it outside, or to a small pump.
The filters are yours to wash. The coil, wheel, and drain are where smells, black spots, and drips start. The guides above cover each one.
Where mini-splits fit well
ENERGY STAR lists older houses without ducts, additions where ducts are hard to extend, and rooms that run hot or cold among the common uses (ENERGY STAR). Each zone can run on its own schedule.
A zone is not always a room
Air from a wall unit doesn’t reliably reach through closed doors or around corners, and ENERGY STAR’s installation tips make the same point (ENERGY STAR). Bedrooms, baths, and long shotgun-house layouts need a plan for which unit serves which room. ENERGY STAR also says the installer should size the system with a Manual J load calculation.
To compare a mini-split with central air or window units for an old house, see central air, mini-splits, or window units. For where the outdoor unit and visible lines can go on a New Orleans house, see condenser placement.