-

Sistemas divididos sem

dutos
By Kurt Roth, Ph.D., Associate Member ASHRAE; Detlef Westphalen, Ph.D.; and
James Brodrick, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE

A maioria das residências nos Estados Unidos usam sistema de ar condicionado central dutado para
entregar frio e calor para os ambientes. Sistemas dutados consistem de um rede de dutos com um ventilador
que impulsiona ar condicionado para diferentes ambiente.
Uma unidade condensadoras externas resfriam o refrigerante, que então flui para as serpentinas de
resfriamento montadas em dutos. Se a unidade externa é uma bomba de calor, a serpentina interior também
transfere calor ao duto durante a estação de calefação. Mais comumente no entanto, o fluxo de ar dutado
passa através de uma chaminé que aquece o ar.

Em contraste, sistemas splits sem dutos provem condicionamento de ar do espaço sem

Ducted systems consist of a network of ducts with a blower that delivers cond
nnedairtodifferentindoorspaces.Anoutdoorcondens-ing unit cools refrigerant, which then flows to a refrigerant coil mounted in
the duct. If the outdoor unit is a heat pump, the indoor coil also transfers heat to the duct during the heating season. More
commonly, however, the ducted airflow passes through a furnace that heats the air
. Consequently, the indoor coil must be installed in
a
Incontrast,aductlesssplitsystemprovidesspacecondi location where it can distribute the conditioned air
tioningbydistributingcooled(and,inthecaseofaheatpu evenly throughout the space. Improper placement
mpunit,heated)refrigerantthroughanetworkofinsulate can cause an indoor unit to recycle already
drefrigerantlinestooneormore(typicallyuptofour)fan- conditioned airflow (short circuiting), resulting in
coilunitslocatedinconditionedspaces.Aductlesssplits
ineffective space conditioning.2
ystemwithasingleoutdoorunitandasingleindoorunital
Ductless split systems are the primary residential
soisknownasamini-split.Ultimately,low-
cooling systems in many parts of Asia, and most
profileceiling-orwall-mountedfan-
major manufacturers
coilunitstransferheatbetweentherefrigerantandtheroo
arebasedinAsia.However,theyhaveyettoachievesigni
mair.Availableincapacityrangesfromapproximately1t
ficant market share in the U.S., primarily because
o4tons(3.5kWto14kW),duct-
their system archi-
lesssplitsystemsaresmallerandsimplervariationsofvar
tecturediffersfromthepredominantapproach(ductedsy
iablerefrigerantvolumesystemsusedincommercialbui
stems) and operational limitations in colder
ldings.1 climates.
Ductless split systems often include features such
as vari-able-speed fans, variable-capacity Energy Savings Potential
compressors, and wireless controls. In addition, DuctlesssplitsystemscanreduceHVACenergyconsu
units with multiple evaporators have in-dividual mption relative to ducted systems in at least three
thermostats to control the operation (e.g., ways. First, ductless systems avoid losses of
temperature setpoint) of each indoor coil. conditioned energy via duct air leak-age. Second, a
Effective ductless system performance depends significant portion of duct runs are placed in
upon proper placement of indoor coils. Ductless unconditionedspaces,suchasatticsandbasements.Ifthe
systems take in ambient room air, condition the air, ylack
and then blow the air into the con-ditioned space. sufficientinsulation,theductscanexchangesizeablequa
ntities of energy with these spaces. Third, multi-
evaporator systems provide space-by-space heating
and cooling control, which en-
ablesthemtosaveenergybyonlyconditioningoccupieds
paces.
Althoughductedsystemsalsocanemployzoning,using
damp-ers and variable air volume blowers, they
typically do not.
Itisdifficulttoquantifytheenergysavingspotentialfro
mzoning.Studiesofresidentialductleakagesuggestthat
ductedsystemsdeliverlessthan70%oftheheatingorcoo
lingeffectproducedtotheintendedspaces.Forexample,
anevaluationofthedeliveryefficiencyof24houseswith
ductedsystemsinCaliforniafoundanaveragethermalde
liveryefficiencyof64%.3 Assum-
ingthatapproximatelyhalfoftheheatingorcoolingenerg
ylostfromtheductsistransferredtounconditionedspace
s,theaveragesystemwouldhavetorunapproximately20
%longer—consum-ing20%moreenergy—
tomeetcoolingandheatingloads.Asaresult,ductlessAC
systemswiththesameefficiencyasductedsplitsystemsc
ouldreduceresidentialHVACenergyconsumptionbyap
proximately20%.Whileductlesssystemsdoloseenergy
throughtheinsulatedrefrigerantlines,thesehavemuchl
esssurfaceareasthanducts,limitingtheirenergyimpact.
considered typical practice in the U.S. This general unfamiliar-
ity with ductless units decreases the number of contractors that
install the systems, as well as the volume of products sold. For
potentialreplacementofductedsystems,thecostpremium
growssubstantiallybecauseaductedsystemretrofitwouldonly
need to replace the indoor and/or outdoor units.
Furthermore,ductlesssystemsincolderclimateseither
requireextensiveuseofbackupelectricresistanceheating, which
increases operating costs, or installation of a separate
heatingsystem(suchashydronicradiantheating),whichfurther
increases their first cost premium.
1 Turpin, J. 2002. “Mini-Splits are moving
into the mainstream,” The Air Conditioning,
Heating & Refrigeration News Jan. 9.
2 Jump,D.A.,I.S.Walker,andM.P.Modera.1996.
Assuming20%savings,replacementoftypicalducted
systems with ductless systems could reduce the 2.1
quads of cooling energy consumed by central
residential systems4 by
approximately0.4quads.Additionalsavingswouldaccr
ue for central systems with heat pumps, as well as
from reduced conditioning of unoccupied spaces
from zoned control.
Well-sealed and well-insulated ducted systems
have much
smallerlossesthantypicalresidentialducts,i.e.,themost
efficient systems evaluated by Jump, et al.3 had
delivery ef-ficiencies of about 90%. Relative to
efficient ducted systems, ductless systems would
realize more moderate savings on the order of 5%,
or about 0.1 quad.
Market Factors
Although ductless split systems have become
more common in the U.S.,2 they still have a small
market share. Relative to the typical ducted systems,
ductless systems have two primary
disadvantages.Foremost,foranewair-
conditioningsystem for an entire home, ductless
systems typically have a higher
July 2006 ASHRAE Journal 115
Inaddition,ductlesssystemsuserefrigeranttodistributeheat-ing
and cooling and, as a result, have larger refrigerant charges and
long refrigerant runs than ducted systems with the same
capacity.Thisincreasesthepotentialforrefrigerantleakageand the
volume of refrigerant lost when a leak occurs.
On the other hand, ductless split systems offer at least three
advantagesrelativetoconventionalductedsystems.First, ductless
systems are easier to retrofit in many existing homes because
they use small refrigerant lines instead of much larger ducts to
distribute heating and cooling. Second, as currently
designed,ductlesssystemshavequieterindoorandoutdoor
fans,whichminimizestheiracousticimpactonoccupants.2
unit has its own temperature controls. This enables occupants
ofdifferentspacestocustomizeairtemperaturesettingsto reflect
their personal comfort preferences. In contrast, space-level
zoning is not typical practice for most ducted systems because
of its cost.
References
1.Goetzler,W.,K.W.Roth,andJ.Brodrick.2004.“Variableflowand
volume refrigerant system.” ournal 46(1):S164 –
S165.
“Fieldmeasurementsofefficiencyandductretrofiteffect
ivenessinresi-
dentialforcedairdistributionsystems.”Proceedingsoft
heACEEESummerStudy.
3 EIA.2001.“Residentialenergyconsumptionsu
rveys:2001 consumption and expenditures tables—
electric air-conditioning con-
sumptiontables.”U.S.DepartmentofEnergy,EnergyIn
formation Administration (EIA).
Kurt W. Roth, Ph.D., is associate principal and Detlef West-
phalen,Ph.D.,isprincipalintheHVACandRefrigeration
TechnologysectorofTIAX,Cambridge,Mass.JamesBrodrick,
Ph.D., is a project manager, Building Technologies Program,
U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.

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July 2006 ASHRAE Journal 117