Ductless Mini Split Installation and Service in Denver Metro

Professional Installation Is A Call Away

Touchstone Mechanical installs and services ductless mini split heat pump systems throughout the Denver metro area. Mini splits provide heating and cooling without ductwork, making them ideal for finished basements, home additions, garages, sunrooms, and older homes without existing duct systems. These systems use an outdoor compressor unit connected to one or more indoor air handlers through a small wall penetration. Cold-climate models operate efficiently down to -15°F, suitable for Colorado winters. Single-zone systems serve individual rooms and cost $3,500–$6,000 installed. Multi-zone systems serve 2–5 areas from one outdoor unit and cost $6,000–$15,000+. Installation typically takes 1–2 days and includes system sizing for altitude, indoor and outdoor unit mounting, refrigerant line installation, electrical work, and performance testing. We serve homeowners, contractors, and property managers across Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Littleton, Centennial, and surrounding communities.

Mini splits have become one of the most popular HVAC solutions for Colorado homes—and for good reason. They’re efficient, they don’t require ductwork, and they let you control the temperature in individual rooms. Whether you’re finishing a basement, converting a garage, or dealing with a room that’s always too hot or too cold, ductless mini splits offer flexibility that traditional systems can’t match.

Touchstone Mechanical installs, services, and repairs ductless mini split systems throughout the Denver metro area. We work with homeowners, contractors, and property managers who need reliable heating and cooling for spaces where traditional ducted systems don’t make sense or cost too much.

What Are Ductless Mini Split Systems?

A ductless mini split is a heating and cooling system that works without ductwork. It has two main parts: an outdoor unit (the compressor) and one or more indoor units that mount on your wall or ceiling. A small bundle of lines connects them through a 3-inch hole in your wall—that’s it.

Each indoor unit works on its own with its own remote control. You can heat or cool specific rooms without changing the temperature in the rest of your house. Try doing that with a traditional furnace and central air.

Most mini splits are heat pumps, which means they provide both heating and cooling. Instead of burning gas or using electric coils to create heat, they move heat from one place to another. That’s why they’re so efficient—especially here on the Front Range where our climate isn’t too extreme in either direction.

Why Mini Splits Work Well Around Denver

Denver metro homes can be tricky for traditional HVAC. A lot of older homes don’t have ductwork at all, and adding it can easily cost $15,000–$25,000. Finished basements, converted garages, home additions, and sunrooms usually don’t have heat or AC because running ducts to those spaces isn’t practical.

Mini splits fix these problems without tearing your house apart. We can install a system in 1–2 days for most homes, and you’re not cutting into walls and ceilings beyond that one small hole for the lines.

Our climate is also perfect for mini split technology. Winters get cold but not Arctic-level cold like the upper Midwest. Summers are warm but we’re not dealing with weeks of 100-degree heat. Modern cold-climate mini splits work fine down to -15°F or colder, which covers almost every day we see here.

The altitude does affect things a bit. At 5,280 feet, the air is thinner, which impacts how well HVAC equipment performs. Mini splits handle it better than most systems because they run on electricity and don’t need oxygen for combustion like gas furnaces do. We account for altitude when we size your system so you get the performance you’re expecting.

Where Mini Splits Make the Most Sense

Finished Basements
Basements in older Denver homes usually have no climate control. Adding ductwork down there means working around plumbing, wiring, and support beams—it gets expensive fast. One mini split gives you year-round comfort without the headache or cost of ducts.

Home Additions and Sunrooms
When you add space to your house, your existing furnace and AC might not have enough capacity to handle it. Even if they do, getting ductwork to the new space can be a nightmare. A mini split gives that room its own heating and cooling without overloading your main system.

Garages and Workshops
If you use your garage as a workshop, home gym, or hobby space, you know how miserable it gets in summer and winter. Running ductwork to a detached or attached garage doesn’t make sense, and space heaters are inefficient and sketchy. A mini split keeps the space comfortable without the hassle.

Older Homes Without Ductwork
Lots of homes in neighborhoods like Capitol Hill, Curtis Park, and Highlands were built way before central air was a thing. Adding ductwork to these houses means ripping into plaster walls and historic details. Multi-zone mini splits can heat and cool your whole house without touching the structure.

Rental Properties and ADUs
If you’ve got an accessory dwelling unit, mother-in-law suite, or rental property, mini splits let tenants control their own comfort and pay their own utility bills without affecting the main house.

Problem Rooms
Every house has them—upstairs bedrooms that turn into saunas in July, north-facing rooms that never warm up, bonus rooms over the garage. Adding a mini split to one problem room is way cheaper and easier than redoing your whole HVAC system.

Single-Zone vs. Multi-Zone Systems

Single-Zone Mini Splits

One outdoor unit, one indoor unit. Simple as it gets. Best for:

• Finished basements
• Single room additions
• Garages or workshops
• One problem room

Single-zone systems cost less and install faster. If you only need climate control in one spot, there’s no reason to pay for more capacity than you need.

Multi-Zone Mini Splits

One outdoor unit connected to multiple indoor units—usually 2 to 5 zones. Each zone has its own temperature control. Makes sense for:

• Whole-home heating and cooling when you don’t have ducts
• Large additions with several rooms
• Master suites with separate spaces
• Multi-unit rental properties

Multi-zone costs more upfront but less than installing separate single-zone systems for each room. The outdoor unit handles all the indoor units, which saves space and keeps installation simpler.

One thing to know: if the outdoor unit fails, all your zones go down. With single-zone systems, a failure only affects one space.

Heat Pumps for Colorado Winters

Most mini splits we install around here are cold-climate heat pumps designed for below-zero weather. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heat pumps can cut your electricity use for heating roughly in half compared to baseboard heaters and electric furnaces.

Heat pumps don’t create heat—they move it. In winter, they pull heat out of the outdoor air (even cold air has heat energy in it) and bring it inside. In summer, they reverse and pull heat out of your house. Same concept as your refrigerator, just way bigger.

How They Handle Denver Winters

Regular heat pumps struggle once it drops below 40°F and basically give up around 25°F. Cold-climate mini splits use beefed-up compressors and variable-speed tech to keep heating down to -15°F or lower, depending on the model.

Denver’s average winter low sits around 18°F. We get occasional stretches in the single digits or below zero during cold snaps. Cold-climate mini splits handle typical Denver winters just fine. When we hit those rare extreme cold days (below -10°F), efficiency drops but the system keeps running.

Some people add electric backup heat for those brutal cold snaps. Others keep their existing furnace as backup and run the mini split as the main system.

What It Costs to Run

Mini splits are among the most efficient heating and cooling systems you can buy. Efficiency gets measured by SEER2 (cooling) and HSPF2 (heating). Higher numbers mean better efficiency and lower bills.

• Basic models: 15 SEER2 / 8.1 HSPF2
• High-efficiency models: 20–30 SEER2 / 10–13 HSPF2
• Cold-climate models: Built specifically for heating performance when it’s freezing

Compare that to older central AC systems at 10–13 SEER, or gas furnaces at 80–98% efficiency. Mini splits usually cost less to run than baseboard heat, space heaters, or older central systems.

What you actually pay depends on electricity rates, how well your house is insulated, what temperature you set, and how much you run it. We can estimate operating costs once we see your specific situation.

What Installing a Mini Split Actually Involves

Figuring Out What Size You Need

Size matters a lot here. Too big and the system cycles on and off constantly, wasting energy and making your house uncomfortable. Too small and it runs nonstop trying to keep up.

We calculate what you need based on:

• Square footage and ceiling height
• How well your house is insulated and what kind of windows you have
• Sun exposure and shade
• How many people live there and what generates heat (appliances, computers)
• Altitude (being at 5,280 feet affects performance)

We also figure out:

• Best spots for indoor units (where air flows well, looks decent, drains properly)
• Where to put the outdoor unit (away from bedrooms, accessible for service)
• Whether your electrical panel can handle it (mini splits need dedicated circuits)
• Best route for the lines (shortest path that doesn’t look terrible)

Installing The Mini-Split

A single-zone install usually takes 4–6 hours. Multi-zone systems take 1–2 days depending on how complicated it gets.

Here’s what happens:

• We mount the indoor unit on your wall or ceiling where it’ll work best
• We set the outdoor unit on a pad or wall bracket with proper clearance
• We drill a 3-inch hole through your exterior wall for the lines
• We run the refrigerant lines, wiring, and drain line through that hole
• We connect everything to both units and secure it all
• We vacuum the refrigerant lines to get moisture and air out
• We open the refrigerant valves and charge the system
• We test heating and cooling to make sure everything works right
• We show you how to use the remote and answer your questions
• We handle the electrical work, including adding circuits if your panel needs them. We pull permits when required and make sure everything meets code.

What About the Drain Line?

Mini splits produce water just like regular AC systems. The indoor unit collects it and drains it through a small tube that goes outside or into a nearby drain.

Usually gravity handles it—the drain line slopes down to the outside. If gravity won’t work (like in a basement below grade), we install a small pump to move the water up and out.

In winter when the system’s heating, the outdoor unit makes condensation and frost. The system runs automatic defrost cycles to prevent ice buildup. We place outdoor units where the defrost water won’t create ice patches on walkways or driveways.

Taking Care of Your Mini Split

Mini splits need regular maintenance to work efficiently and last their full 15–20 years.

What You Should Do

• Clean the filters monthly when you’re using it a lot (they’re washable, not disposable)
• Keep the outdoor unit clear of leaves, snow, junk, and plants growing too close
• Make sure water drains properly from the condensate line
• Wipe down the indoor unit with a damp cloth when it looks dusty

What We Should Do

We recommend annual professional maintenance:

• Deep clean the indoor coils and blower
• Clean and inspect the outdoor coil
• Check refrigerant pressures
• Inspect electrical connections
• Flush and test the condensate drain
• Test performance in both heating and cooling
• Replace remote batteries if needed
• Regular maintenance prevents the common problems—frozen coils, water leaks, poor efficiency, stuff breaking before it should.

Common Repairs We See

Most service calls are for:

• Refrigerant leaks (we find the leak, fix it, and recharge the system)
• Dead compressors or motors (usually covered under warranty if it’s still active)
• Control board problems (electrical or sensor issues)
• Clogged drains (causes water to leak from the indoor unit)
• Remote control issues (dead batteries or signal problems)
• We service all the major brands and keep common parts in our trucks. Most repairs get done in one visit.

We Serve the Entire Denver Metro

Touchstone Mechanical installs and services ductless mini splits throughout the Denver metro, including:

Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Littleton, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Parker, Castle Rock, Thornton, Westminster, Arvada, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Greenwood Village, and nearby areas.

We work with:

• Homeowners adding climate control to basements, additions, and problem rooms
• Contractors who need HVAC for remodels and new builds
• Property managers maintaining rentals and multi-family buildings
• Home builders installing efficient systems in custom homes

Is a Mini Split Right for Your Home?

Mini splits make the most sense when:

• You need climate control in a space without ductwork
• Adding or extending ducts would cost more than the mini split itself
• You want independent temperature control in different areas
• You’re looking for an efficient alternative to baseboard or electric heat

They might not be the best choice if:

• You already have modern, efficient ducted HVAC throughout your home
• You need whole-home heating and cooling and have easy attic or basement access for ductwork – Your budget is extremely tight (though they often cost less than adding ducts)

Not sure? That’s what consultations are for. We’ll look at your specific situation and tell you honestly whether a mini split makes sense or if there’s a better solution.

Questions People Ask About Mini Splits

What does a mini split cost?

Single-zone systems run $3,500–$6,000 installed, depending on size, efficiency, and how complicated the install is. Multi-zone systems run $6,000–$15,000+ depending on how many zones and what equipment you pick. We give you a detailed quote after we see what you’re working with.

Will a mini split work in an old house with terrible insulation?

It’ll work, but it won’t be efficient. Poor insulation makes any heating or cooling system work harder and cost more to run. If your insulation is bad, we can suggest improvements that’ll help whatever system you have.

Can a mini split heat my entire house?

Yeah, if it’s sized right. Multi-zone systems can handle whole-home heating and cooling for houses up to 2,500–3,000 square feet, depending on layout and insulation. Bigger houses might need more zones or a combination approach.

Are they loud?

Indoor units run at 20–40 decibels—about as loud as a quiet bedroom at night. Outdoor units hit 50–60 decibels, similar to normal conversation. Where we put them matters—we avoid mounting outdoor units near bedroom windows or patios when we can.

What happens if the power goes out?

Mini splits stop working during outages, same as central HVAC. If you’ve got a backup generator with enough capacity, the mini split can run on that.

How long do they last?

15–20 years with regular maintenance. Indoor units often outlast outdoor units because they’re protected from weather. Compressors usually have 7–12 year warranties depending on the brand.

Can I just buy one online and install it myself?

Not legally. Mini split installation requires refrigerant certification and electrical licensing. You also need specialized tools—vacuum pumps, gauges, flaring tools. DIY installs void the warranty and usually fail because of improper refrigerant charging or electrical work.

Are there rebates or tax credits?

Some models qualify for federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Xcel Energy sometimes offers rebates for high-efficiency heat pumps. We can help you figure out what qualifies and get you the paperwork for rebate applications.

Contact Touchstone Mechanical To Schedule A Consultation.

We’ll assess your space, explain your options, and provide a detailed quote with no pressure to commit.
Let’s figure out the right solution for your home.