Mini Split Installation in Dickinson, ND
A new system here will heat from September through June and cool from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Stark County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Dickinson asks a mini-split to run almost year round
Heat is needed here September through June, ten months out of twelve, and winter nights average 7°F from December through February. A mini-split installed in Dickinson has to hold heat at temperatures well below freezing, night after night, not just take the edge off a cool morning. Summer is short by comparison, two months of afternoons averaging 81°F, but the same unit has to cover both jobs.
Any mini-split installed new has to meet the federal minimum for split-system heat pumps, 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. That heating number matters more here than the cooling one, given how much of the year the system spends keeping a house warm rather than cool.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 7°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
North Dakota requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
North Dakota's license is held through the Secretary of State, and it covers the contractor as a whole rather than any single job. The state sets a threshold too. Work under $4,000 does not need a licensed contractor. A mini-split installation in Stark County can land on either side of that line depending on the scope of the work.
Most cities and counties require a permit from the local building office for a job like this, along with an inspection once the work is finished. That permit and inspection happen at the local level, separate from the state license.
Sources: North Dakota Legislative Branch · North Dakota Secretary of State
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For most homes it comes down to what you're heating or cooling and how. A mini split puts heat right where you need it, without ducts losing air on the way there, and it runs both directions, cooling in summer and heating in winter. Winters here get cold, down to 7°F on average overnight from December through February, so the unit needs to be sized and rated for that kind of cold to carry the heating load. A contractor can look at the house and tell you whether one handles it all or works better paired with the existing furnace.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- A single outdoor unit can run one indoor head or several, so the number of rooms you cover depends on how many heads are installed. Each head heats or cools the room it's mounted in, and the outdoor unit has to be sized to carry all of them together. A contractor sizes the system to the rooms you want covered and the heat loss of each one.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- Yes, if it's sized and laid out for the whole house, with enough indoor heads to reach every room you want heated. The harder question here is the cold. Winter lows average 7°F from December through February, and a mini split has to be rated to keep producing heat down at that temperature or it will fall short on the coldest nights. A contractor can size the system and tell you whether it can carry the house through those nights on its own.