If you are thinking about a two zone mini split for your Central Texas home, one of the first questions is usually "how long will it take?" You want to plan your day, know when the crew will be around, and get back to normal as fast as possible.
If you are thinking about a two zone mini split for your Central Texas home, one of the first questions is usually "how long will it take?" You want to plan your day, know when the crew will be around, and get back to normal as fast as possible.
For a standard two zone installation, you can expect the work to take about one full day. Some jobs wrap up a little sooner, some run into the next morning. The exact time depends on a few things we will walk through. At Jester Climate, we price the whole job as a flat $2,400 for materials and labor, so the clock is about your schedule, not your wallet.
A two zone system means two indoor heads connected to one outdoor condenser. That is a common setup for a main living area plus a bedroom, or for a couple of rooms that need independent temperatures. Most installs in Austin area homes take between six and eight hours of on site work.
The crew arrives in the morning, sets up protection for the work area, and starts by mounting the two indoor units. Then they run the refrigerant lines, drain lines, and power cables between the indoor heads and the outdoor unit. The outdoor condenser gets placed on a pad or brackets, and the electrical connection is made. After that comes the vacuum test, the final connections, and the startup. Once the system is running and cooling both zones, the crew does a quick walkthrough to make sure you are comfortable with how it works.
Several factors affect the total time. Easy access to the attic or crawl space and short line set runs (under 50 feet total) are the big speed boosters. If the indoor units are going on exterior walls and the outdoor unit is right outside, the job can be done in five to six hours.
On the other hand, long line set runs, complex routing through finished walls, or having to run new 240 volt electrical from a distant panel can add one to two hours. Very rarely a job needs two days, for example if the homeowner prefers the line set to be hidden inside walls that require patching and painting afterwards. In that case the crew may do the rough in one day and the drywall repair the next. We will always talk through those details before we start so you know what to expect.
Central Texas is full of slab on grade foundations, pier and beam crawl spaces, and attics that feel like pizza ovens by noon. In Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, and the rest of the area, older homes often have thick limestone or brick exterior walls that take a little longer to drill through. Newer homes in subdivisions like Kyle or Buda tend to have truss roofs that make running lines straightforward.
If your house has a pier and beam foundation, the crew can usually route lines underneath without much fuss. Slab homes often need the lines to go up into the attic or be surface mounted in a neat raceway. All of this is routine for Jester Climate. The one day estimate holds for the vast majority of two zone jobs here in Texas. For the rare tricky situation, we will let you know during the free estimate.
It is possible if everything lines up perfectly: the indoor units go on exterior walls, the outdoor unit sits right next to them, the electrical is already nearby, and there are no surprises in the attic. But for most homes a half day is tight. We quote a full day to give the crew enough time to do the work carefully and leave you with a system that runs right from the start.
Permit requirements vary by city. In Austin, a permit is often needed for new mini split installations. We handle that part for you, and it generally does not add extra time on install day because the application is submitted ahead of time. The permit may take a few days to be issued, so that can affect how soon we can schedule, but it does not stretch the hours the crew is on site.
High ceilings (over 12 feet) mean the crew needs a taller ladder and a bit more care mounting the indoor head. That might add 30 minutes. Long line set runs, say 75 to 100 feet total for both zones, add time for pulling and vacuuming the lines. These conditions are common in Central Texas great rooms and ranch style homes, and our crews are used to them. A two zone install with long runs may take seven to nine hours rather than six to seven.
Yes, most homeowners stay home during the install, or at least stop by at the end. You do not need to be there every minute, but someone needs to let the crew in and be available for questions. The final walkthrough happens after the system is running so you can confirm everything works. That is also when we collect the remaining balance via secure card checkout.
One day each week is the Joker Day with a lower price than the standard $2,400 flat rate. That day fills up fast because the price is a deal. The exact Joker Day price changes weekly and is shown on the homepage. If you want the Joker Day rate for your two zone install, call us early in the week to see if that day is available. The deposit and balance process is the same: $400 holds the date, and the rest is due when you see the system running.
To book your two zone install at a fair flat rate, call Jester Climate at (512) 297-7493 or visit the website. A $400 deposit sets your date and the balance is due after you see the system running.