Mini Split Installation in Yakima, WA
A new system here will heat from September through June and cool from July through July every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Yakima County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A mini-split here works ten months of the year
Yakima County asks for heat from September through June and cooling for July, so a mini-split here spends most of its life in heating mode, not cooling. Winter nights average 24°F, and the unit has to keep pulling heat out of that cold air night after night, month after month. Summer afternoons average a mild 78°F, so the cooling side has an easier job.
Any mini-split installed new has to meet the federal minimum for a split-system heat pump, 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. With this many heating months on the meter, the HSPF2 number matters more here than the cooling rating does.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 1 months
- July through July, it cools
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 78°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration means the contractor's business is on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. It is not a trade exam, and no state agency has tested this contractor's skill. It tells you the business exists on the record, not that anyone checked the work they do.
For a mini-split installation, the protection here comes from the local building office instead. In most cities and counties, the job needs a permit, and an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is what checks the installation itself, not the state registration.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For most homes here, yes, because a mini split covers both sides of the year with one system. You need heat from September through June and cooling in July, so a heat pump that does both is doing real work most months. Winter nights average 24°F here, so look for a unit rated to keep producing heat at that temperature.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- A single outdoor unit can run one indoor head or several. Each indoor head heats and cools only the room it's mounted in, so the number you need depends on how many rooms you want covered separately. A contractor sizes the outdoor unit to match the rooms on the job, not the other way around.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if enough indoor heads are placed to reach every room, but a single head only heats the space it's in. Open floor plans do better with fewer heads than homes with closed-off rooms and hallways. With winter lows here averaging 24°F, whichever units you choose need to be rated to keep producing heat at that temperature, and a contractor can size the system against your home's layout.