Mini Split Installation in Reno, NV
A new system here will heat from October through May and cool from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Washoe County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What a mini-split in Reno has to handle
Your mini-split will run ten months out of the year here, heat from October through May, then cooling in July and August. That is most of the year with the system doing one job or the other.
Winter nights average 23°F, and that is the air a heat pump has to pull warmth out of to keep the house comfortable. Summer afternoons average 84°F, a steady load but not an extreme one. Any unit installed now also has to meet the federal minimum for split-system heat pumps, 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Nevada requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Nevada State Contractors Board tests contractors before it licenses them, then keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that covered their last install covers yours.
For a mini-split installed in Washoe County, the license is what stands behind the contractor's name, and the local building office is what stands behind the work itself. Most cities and counties require a permit for this kind of installation, with an inspection once the work is done.
Sources: Nevada Legislature · Nevada State Contractors Board
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For a lot of Reno homes, yes. Winters here run cold, down to 23°F on average overnight from December through February, and a mini split with a good low-temperature rating keeps heating through that without a backup furnace. It also covers the two hot months in July and August, so one system handles both jobs. Whether it makes sense for your house depends on how it's laid out and what you're heating or cooling now, so have a contractor look at the specific rooms before deciding.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- It depends on the outdoor unit. Some outdoor units run a single indoor head, others run several, each one heating and cooling the room it's mounted in. How many rooms you can cover comes down to how many heads that outdoor unit supports and how much capacity each room needs. A contractor sizes this by measuring the rooms and adding up the load, not by guessing at square footage.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if there's a head in every room that needs heat. A mini split doesn't move air through ducts the way a furnace does. It heats only the rooms with an indoor unit installed. Reno homes need heat from October through May, eight months a year, so a whole-house system here has to be sized to hold up through the 23°F nights in December through February, not just the mild shoulder months.