Mini Split Installation in Buffalo, WY
A new system here will heat from September through June and cool from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Johnson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of heat, and nights that drop to 14°F
Heat runs September through June here, ten months of the year. Winter nights average 14°F through December, January and February, so a mini-split has to hold that line night after night, not just take the edge off a cool evening. Summer is short, just July and August, with afternoons around 80°F.
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 ten months of heating and two of cooling, the heating rating is the one that matters most in this county.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 14°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For most Buffalo homes, yes, especially as a way to add cooling or heat a room that never gets comfortable. A mini split heats and cools the same space with one unit, and it works down into cold temperatures far better than a window unit or electric baseboard. Homes here need heat from September through June and cooling only in July and August, so the bigger question is usually whether a mini split can carry the whole house through a 14 degree night, not whether it's useful at all. A contractor can look at your home and tell you whether one unit, or several, makes sense for what you're trying to heat or cool.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- A single indoor unit is built for one room or an open area, but a multi-zone system can run several indoor units off one outdoor compressor. Each indoor unit has its own thermostat, so you can heat or cool one room without running the others. How many rooms actually work depends on the size of each space and how they're laid out, which is something a contractor needs to see in person to size correctly.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if enough indoor units are placed to cover every room, but that's a different job than installing one or two units for problem areas. Winter nights here average 14°F, so any system meant to carry the whole house through winter has to be sized for that cold, not just for a mild day. Most homes here heat with gas, and a lot of whole-house mini split setups work alongside an existing furnace rather than replacing it outright. A contractor can walk through your house and tell you what full coverage would take.