Mini Split Installation in Gallup, NM
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 McKinley County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of the year, your mini-split is working
Gallup asks a lot of a heat pump. Winter nights average 18°F from December through February, and that's the range where a mini-split has to work hardest to pull heat out of the air. Summers run milder, with afternoons around 85°F, but between the two you're looking at heat from October through May and cooling in July and August. That's ten months of the year one system needs to cover.
A new unit installed here has to be sized for that 18°F low, not just the mild months on either side of it. Any mini-split heat pump manufactured now has to meet 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, but the number that matters more is whether it was chosen for your coldest nights, not your average ones.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
New Mexico requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
New Mexico's Construction Industries Division tests contractors before it licenses them and keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that qualifies someone to work on a furnace or a water heater qualifies them to install a mini-split.
For a mini-split installation, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. In most cities and counties in New Mexico, the job also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the installation is done. That inspection is separate from the state license. It checks the work itself, not the contractor's standing.
Source: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For most of the year here, yes. Homes in Gallup need heat or cooling ten months out of the year, and a mini split handles both jobs with one system. It also gives you heat in a room without ductwork, which matters if you're adding on or heating a space the main system never reached well.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- A single outdoor unit can run up to eight indoor heads, depending on the model. Each indoor head heats and cools the room it's mounted in, so the number you need matches the number of rooms you want covered. A contractor sizing the job will look at the square footage and layout of each room before recommending how many heads to install.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if enough indoor heads are placed to reach every room. Winter nights here average 18°F, so the system has to be sized for that cold before it goes in, not adjusted for it afterward. A contractor can tell you, room by room, whether a mini split alone will keep the house warm or whether it makes more sense alongside the heating you already have.