Cleaner Air and Steady Temperatures for Allergy and Asthma Households
Central Texas air does not take a season off. Cedar in the winter, oak and grass in the spring, ragweed in the fall, and construction dust off the I-35 corridor year round. Inside the house, a system that blasts cold for ten minutes and then shuts off leaves swings in temperature and humidity that make a rough allergy day rougher.
A ductless mini split answers both problems at once. It filters the same room air over and over through a washable filter you can reach yourself, and it holds a set temperature with long, low-speed runs instead of hard on-off cycles. Our price for that is posted before we ever see your house. One zone is $2,000, two zones are $3,700, three zones are $5,400. Start at the [quote form](/#quote).
No Ducts Means No Dust Highway
A ducted system pulls air through sheet metal and flex duct that runs across a hot attic. Every seam, every crushed section, every gap at a boot is a place attic dust, insulation fiber, and whatever else lives up there can get pulled into the airstream and delivered to a bedroom. Cleaning ducts helps for a while. It does not change where the ducts live.
A ductless mini split has no ducts at all. The head hangs on the wall of the room it serves, pulls in that room's air, moves it across the filter and coil, and puts it back. The air path is about two feet long and all of it is inside the conditioned space. If you want duct sealing, duct removal, or attic insulation work on top of that, those are separate trades you arrange on your own. We install the mini split.
Filters You Can Actually Reach and Rinse
Most people never change a return filter on schedule because the return grille is in a hallway ceiling and the filter is an odd size nobody stocks. On a mini split, you lift the front panel of the indoor head, slide out the washable screen filters, rinse them in the sink, let them dry, and put them back. It takes a few minutes and costs nothing. A filter that actually gets cleaned outperforms a fancy filter that sits loaded for a year.
Many manufacturers also offer optional filter cartridges that clip in behind the main screens for additional particle or odor capture. Availability and replacement intervals depend on the brand and model you end up with, so check the manual that comes with your unit rather than trusting a general claim. We will tell you which filters your specific system uses and show you how to pull them at the end of the install.
Steady Temperature, Steadier Humidity, Fewer Triggers
Dust mites and mold do their best work in humid, stagnant air. An oversized single-stage system cools a room fast, satisfies the thermostat, and shuts down before it has removed much moisture. A mini split with an inverter compressor throttles down and runs long and slow at low speed, which keeps the coil cold longer and pulls more moisture out while it holds the room within a narrow band. This is comfort control, not a substitute for a whole-house dehumidifier, which is a separate piece of equipment we do not install.
The zoning matters just as much. A child with asthma sleeping in a back bedroom that runs six degrees warmer than the living room is not getting the same air as the rest of the house. Put a head in that room and it holds its own setpoint and filters its own air on its own schedule, all night, without the rest of the family freezing. And because a mini split is a heat pump, the same unit handles mild Central Texas winters without a furnace burning anything in the house.
How we compare
| Factor | Old West Minisplits mini split | Central ducted system |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront Cost | Posted flat: $2,000 for one zone, $3,700 for two, $5,400 for three. Four or more zones quoted individually. | Ductless installs in Central Texas commonly run $3,000 to $6,000 per zone on a custom quote from other contractors, most of whom require an in-home visit before quoting. |
| Air path | Room air only, roughly two feet from intake to filter to outlet, all inside the conditioned space. | Air travels through ducts in an unconditioned attic, where leaks can pull in dust and insulation fiber. |
| Filter access | Lift the panel on the wall head, slide out washable screens, rinse and reinstall in minutes. | Return grille filter, often ceiling mounted and in an odd size, easy to forget for months at a time. |
| Room-by-room control | Each zone holds its own setpoint and filters its own air, so a bedroom is not tied to the hallway thermostat. | One thermostat for the whole house, with hot and stuffy rooms at the end of the duct run. |
Straight answers
Does the $2,000 one zone flat price include the filtration hardware?
Yes. The washable filters that ship with the indoor head are part of the equipment, and the flat price covers equipment, labor, line set, standard electrical, refrigerant, testing, cleanup, and a Home Depot run for touch-up paint. No trip fees and no upcharges. Two zones are $3,700 and three zones are $5,400.
Do these prices cover cleaning my existing filters or fixing a unit that smells musty?
No. Our flat prices are for new installs only, never repairs or service calls. If you already have a mini split that needs a coil cleaning, a filter service, or a repair, that is not what these numbers cover. The $2,000, $3,700, and $5,400 prices apply to a new system installed by licensed contractors.
Will a mini split filter pollen coming from outside the house?
A mini split recirculates the air already in the room, so it does not bring in outdoor air and it does not stop pollen from riding in on clothes, pets, or an open door. What it does is filter the room air repeatedly and hold humidity and temperature steady. Sealing, insulation, and window work are separate trades you would arrange on your own.
What could change my flat price?
Three things, and we say them before we start rather than after. A very long line set, a panel upgrade your house already needed, or unusually difficult mounting. Anything beyond standard electrical is work for a licensed electrician you hire separately. If you want rebate or tax credit information, verify current numbers with your utility provider or the IRS, since we do not quote those figures. Submit the [quote form](/#quote) and we will tell you where you stand.
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