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Free tool, 9 questions

Is a mini split right for my house?

Tell us about the rooms, the heat and the house, and see which kind of mini split fits, with the reasons.

Answer the questions

1. What isn't working for you right now?
2. How many rooms need heating or cooling?
3. What heats the house now?
4. How do you cool it now?
5. Does the house have ducts?

Floor or ceiling vents connected to a furnace or air handler.

6. What kind of home is it?
7. Is it in a historic district?

Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Bloomingdale and many other DC neighborhoods are.

8. Where could an outdoor unit go?
9. Do you know how much room your electrical panel has?

Answer from what you already know. There is no need to open the panel.

0 of 9 answered

Your result

Answer the 9 questions and your result appears here. Nothing is sent anywhere, and every question asks about something you already know.

Who is a mini split right for?

Most DC homes without ducts: row houses with radiators, top floors that bake in July, additions and basements. At Roomwise DC Mini Splits we plan them room by room, and this assessment sorts out which kind of system your answers point to.

  • Single zone for one room that never gets comfortable.
  • Multi-zone for two to four rooms or a whole floor, on one outdoor unit.
  • Whole house for five or more rooms, often replacing window units throughout.
  • Ducted where good ducts already reach every floor.

How does the assessment decide?

The rules run in a fixed order, and the first one that matches decides the result. The same answers always give the same result, with the answers that decided it listed.

If you saidThe result
An old mini split needs replacingPlan a replacement
A condo or co-op apartmentStart with the condo board
No outdoor spot you controlSettle the outdoor spot first
Ducts on every floorCompare a ducted system first
Five or more rooms, or the whole houseA whole-house mini split
Two to four rooms, or a whole floorA multi-zone system
Anything else (one room)A single-zone mini split

Historic district, a full panel and a roof-only spot for the outdoor unit don't change the result. They add steps to it, because each changes the plan rather than the type of system.

What can't it tell you?

It can't size the equipment or pick where each head goes. Those come from a heat-load calculation for each room and a look at the walls, the panel and the outdoor spot at the home visit.

For a price, the cost calculator shows our typical range for your answers. The zones guide and cooling an old house without ducts go deeper.

Questions about the assessment

Can an online quiz tell me what size mini split to buy?

No. Size comes from a heat-load calculation for each room: its walls, windows, insulation and the way it faces. The assessment only sorts out the likely type of system. We do the calculation at the home visit, before any equipment is chosen.

Why does the assessment send condo owners to the board first?

Because the building controls the outside walls and the roof. Where an outdoor unit can sit, how the line set leaves the apartment and where the drain goes all depend on the board's rules, so the plan starts there.

My house has ducts on one floor only. Which result fits?

Answer "On some floors only" and the rules treat the floors without ducts as rooms to serve. A ductless head or two often covers a top floor the old ducts never reached, while the existing system keeps the rest.

Talk through your result

Send your result and the house details. We add your answers to the request.

Step 1 of 2

The house and the work