I read each of the articles concerning ductless systems in the April 23 edition of The NEWS. We at Climate Engineering have been installing them in selective situations since they first hit the market some years ago. The first was in the combination bedroom-study of the senor priest in his residence at a local Catholic parish. Quiet operation was an imperative, and it fit the bill beautifully — it was whisper quiet, inside and out.

We do commercial work exclusively but were “roped” into this since we took care of the entire church campus. Being a residential application, the local code did not require any ventilation air; operable windows took care of that requirement. Which gets to the reason I read each of the splitless articles, beginning to end, I hoped I might get a clue as to how ventilation is handled in commercial applications.

When I reached Frank Landwehr’s article “Trends to Watch in Ductless,” I had high hopes. Included in the introduction to the article was a heading titled “Ductless Concerns” with “Outdoor Makeup Air” listed beneath. He does say this was a stated concern during a roundtable discussion, but there was no hint of any answer to the concern/problem. A dedicated makeup air system would require ductwork, nixing the big advantage of the ductless system.

In the many ads in our industry publications touting the virtues of the ductless splits, there is nothing but complete silence on this issue. If anybody has an answer to this dilemma, this commercial contractor is all ears.

Lou Bindner
Climate Engineering Inc.
Denver, Colo.

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Publication date: 05/28/2012