Mini Split Installation in Los Lunas, NM
A new system here will heat from October through April and cool from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Valencia County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What a mini-split in Los Lunas has to handle
Your mini-split will run most of the year here. Homes in this area need heat from October through April and cooling from June through September, 11 months of heating or cooling out of the year. Winter nights average 23°F. Summer afternoons reach 91°F. The same unit has to hold up on both ends.
A new heat pump mini-split has to meet the federal minimum for a split system, 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. That is the floor, not a target. It applies whether you're adding a room or replacing what's there. Most homes in the area heat with gas, so a mini-split installed for cooling or as a second heat source still needs to hold up through those winter nights averaging 23°F.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
New Mexico requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Construction Industries Division, and it belongs to the contractor, not to this particular job. The state tested that contractor before handing it out, and it keeps a record of who holds one, so a licensed contractor in New Mexico has already been checked once by someone other than the homeowner hiring them.
That license does not stand in for the local permit. Installing a mini-split in most cities and counties in New Mexico needs a permit from the local building office, and an inspection once the work is done. The permit is what gets someone besides the installer to look at the finished job before it's closed up.
Source: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For most homes, yes, especially for a room that isn't on the main ductwork, or a house with no ducts at all. Winters here average 23°F and summers average 91°F, so the unit needs to handle real heating and real cooling, not just take the edge off. A mini-split heat pump does both from one outdoor unit, and a licensed contractor can size it to the room or rooms you need covered.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- That depends on how many indoor heads the outdoor unit runs. A single-zone system covers one room, and a multi-zone system covers several, with each head heating and cooling the room it's mounted in. A contractor sizes the outdoor unit and picks the number of heads based on the rooms you want covered.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if it's set up with enough indoor heads to reach every room, but that takes planning around your layout, not just adding units. A house with open, connected rooms can sometimes get by with fewer heads than one with a lot of closed-off rooms and hallways. With winter lows averaging 23°F here, whichever system goes in needs to be sized for that cold, not just for mild days, so this is worth working out with a contractor room by room.