Mini Split Installation in Lisbon, ND
A new system here will heat from September through May and cool from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Ransom County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Lisbon asks a mini-split to run almost year round
Winter nights here average 5°F from December through February. Homes need heat from September through May, then cooling from June through August. That leaves a mini-split working almost every month, with barely a break between the two seasons.
A new mini-split installed now has to meet the federal minimum for split-system heat pumps. That means 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, ductless units included. With winter lows this cold, the heating rating matters as much as the cooling one.
- 9 months
- September through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 5°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
North Dakota requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, so it covers the business doing the work rather than this particular installation. Work under $4,000 in North Dakota does not need a licensed contractor, so a small mini-split job can fall under that threshold depending on its price.
Whoever installs the mini-split, most cities and counties still require a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is finished. That inspection is what checks the installation itself, separate from whatever the state license does or does not cover on a job this size.
Sources: North Dakota Legislative Branch · North Dakota Secretary of State
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For most homes here, yes. It's worth it if you need heat or cooling in a room your ducts don't reach, or if you're replacing electric resistance heat with something that moves heat instead of generating it. Nearly half the homes in North Dakota heat with electricity, and a mini split heat pump does that job for less power than resistance heat does. Winters here get cold enough that you want a unit rated to work at low temperatures, so ask about that before you decide.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- That depends on how many indoor heads you install. One outdoor unit can run more than one indoor head, and each head heats and cools the room it sits in. A contractor sizes the outdoor unit to the total load of every room you're connecting to it. Open floor plans let one head cover more than a single closed room.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if it's designed for the whole house from the start. That means enough indoor heads placed in enough rooms, and an outdoor unit sized for the coldest nights you get, which here means well below zero. Homes with a lot of closed-off rooms are harder to cover with heads alone, since a mini split only heats the room its indoor unit is in. A contractor can walk the house and tell you what it would take to cover all of it.