Beat the Heat

Get your home ready for the summer heat with cottage-friendly cooling.

As we look forward to summer, it’s easy to get excited about outdoor entertaining, gardening, vacations and adding bright colors to our décor. But even if you’re chasing the sun, you want your home to be a refuge from the heat rather than a stifling box. You also want to enjoy comfortable indoor temperatures without breaking the bank, ideally in the most energy-efficient way possible. We spoke with Rebekah Quarles at MRCOOL® about how their DIY® Ductless Mini-Split can address your home’s summer-cooling needs.

The historic Villas at Spanish Court in Minden, Louisiana, (featured as Cottages & Bungalows’ 2022 Project House) were given a fresh lease on life that also preserved its historic charm. There’s no reason a historic home can’t take advantage of modern heating and cooling technology, and the MRCOOL® DIY® mounted on the wall stays out of the direct eye-level line of sight. *Photo by Hector Sanchez*

Getting Started

The DIY® Ductless Mini-Split is a heating and cooling unit with wall-mounted and ceiling cassette air handler options. If you’re an experienced do-it-yourselfer, you can follow the instructions and videos on the company’s website to do most of the installation yourself. If you’re not comfortable installing it yourself, there are steps you can follow so that a paid professional’s time to install the unit will be minimal. In either case, Rebekah says, “The electrical portion of the installation should be performed by a professional.”

The 12k, 18k and 24k units are Energy Star Certified for efficiency and smartphone-compatible. What makes MRCOOL® even cooler is that it is an American company.

**Don’t let a heat wave rob you of a good night’s sleep. Install a MRCOOL® DIY® Ductless Mini-Split for comfort and non-intrusive style.**

Why It’s Perfect for a Cottage or Bungalow

As its name suggests, the DIY® Ductless Mini-Split is ductless, meaning it does not need to be connected to a system of ducts the way central heating and cooling systems do. Rebekah adds, “While ductless and central heating and cooling both have their individual uses and benefits, ductless systems are typically much more efficient overall, costing less throughout their lifetime. Ductless systems can also be directly installed in the area you need heating and cooling rather than having to rely on a central system pushing air throughout your entire home and potentially providing insufficient comfort for some rooms.”

Whether you need cooling in just one room or in multiple rooms, the MRCOOL® DIY® unit works for either a single zone (one room) or multiple zones where a larger condenser and multiple wall units can cool several rooms.

Rebekah also points out that the MRCOOL® DIY® is great for areas that are not connected to original ductwork, such as a converted garage, workshop, guesthouse or historical home that does not have central ducts.

The MRCOOL® DIY® is also versatile in that you can choose whether you want to cool just one room or multiple rooms. Whatever your home’s specific cooling needs this summer, keeping your home cool will help you enjoy summer comfortably.

Find out more from MRCOOL® about their DIY® Ductless Mini-Split and other heating and cooling options by visiting mrcool.com. To learn more about the installation process, watch “How to Install a MRCOOL® DIY® System” on YouTube.