If you are building a new home in Central Texas, choosing the right heating and cooling system is a decision that will affect your comfort and energy bills for years. Two popular options are ductless mini splits and traditional ducted central systems. Both have strengths, and the best choice depends on your home's design, your budget, and how you plan to use the space.
If you are building a new home in Central Texas, choosing the right heating and cooling system is a decision that will affect your comfort and energy bills for years. Two popular options are ductless mini splits and traditional ducted central systems. Both have strengths, and the best choice depends on your home's design, your budget, and how you plan to use the space.
At Jester Climate, we install ductless mini splits across Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, San Marcos, and beyond. We know the local climate well: hot summers, mild winters, and the occasional ice storm. We do not sell ducted systems, but we believe in giving honest, plainspoken comparisons. This page will help you weigh the trade-offs so you can make an informed decision for your new build.
A ducted central system uses a single outdoor unit connected to an indoor air handler, which pushes conditioned air through a network of ducts hidden in walls or attic spaces. For new construction, this is the time-tested method. Ducts can be engineered for even airflow to every room, and a single thermostat can manage the whole house. A well-designed ducted system also allows for whole-house air filtration and humidification, which can be nice in our humid Central Texas summers.
However, ducts have downsides. They take up space in floor plans and require careful sealing and insulation to avoid leaks. In an attic or crawlspace, uninsulated ducts can waste energy, especially in our punishing summer heat. And if you want to heat or cool different rooms to different temperatures, a zoned ducted system adds complexity and cost. For a simple open floor plan, ducted can be a great fit. But for a home with many separate zones or an unconventional layout, ductless may work better.
A ductless mini split system pairs one or more outdoor compressors with indoor air handlers mounted on walls, ceilings, or floors. Each indoor unit serves its own zone and can be set to its own temperature. This means you can keep the bedroom cool while letting the living room warm up, or leave unused rooms alone entirely. Mini splits are also remarkably efficient because they move heat rather than generating it, and they lose no energy through ductwork.
For new construction, mini splits give you flexibility. You can add or remove zones easily, and the small refrigerant lines run through walls or chases without eating up space for bulky ducts. In Central Texas, where many new homes have open layouts but also separate guest quarters or home offices, mini splits let you tune comfort room by room. And if you ever add on to the house, adding another indoor unit is straightforward. The trade-off is that you will have visible indoor units (though modern designs are sleek) and you may need multiple outdoor units for a large home.
Cost is often the deciding factor. For a new construction home, a ducted system can be less expensive upfront if the ductwork is simple and the house is compact. But if you want multiple zones or the duct runs are long and complex, the cost can climb fast. Ductless mini splits are typically priced per indoor unit. For a typical three-bedroom home, a multi-zone mini split system often lands at a similar or slightly higher cost than a ducted system. However, you save on not having to build and insulate ductwork, and you may offset the higher equipment cost with lower monthly energy use.
At Jester Climate, we keep things simple for our customers. A standard ductless mini split installation is a flat $2,400 for materials and labor combined, regardless of how many zones (within reason for a typical residential setup). A $400 deposit books your install day, and you pay the remaining balance only after you have seen the system running and are satisfied. Payment is by card through a secure checkout. And once a week we run Joker Day, where the price drops below $2,400. The exact Joker price changes weekly and is always revealed on our homepage. No loans or financing gimmicks here. Just straightforward pricing and friendly, dragon-strong service.
Our Central Texas climate throws a lot at any HVAC system. Summer temps regularly hit triple digits, and humidity can make it feel even worse. In winter, we get freezing nights and occasional ice storms, though sustained cold is rare. A ducted system with a heat pump or gas furnace can handle both well, especially if the house is well sealed. Ductless mini splits are heat pumps too, so they provide both cooling and heating efficiently. Many mini splits can heat effectively even below freezing, which covers almost all our winter days. During polar vortex events, some mini splits lose capacity, but backup electric strip heat or a simple space heater can fill the gap.
One area where ducted systems shine is air filtration. You can install a high-MERV filter or even a UV light in the return duct to treat air for the whole house. Ductless units have filters in each indoor head that catch dust and pet hair, but they do not offer whole-house filtration. If someone in your home has severe allergies and wants a single, centralized air-cleaning solution, ducted might be the better choice. For most families, however, the individual filters on mini splits do a fine job, especially if you clean them regularly.
In general, yes. Mini split indoor units are extremely quiet, often around 20 to 30 decibels on low speed, which is softer than a whisper. The outdoor compressor is also quieter than many ducted outdoor units. Ducted systems can be noisy if the air handler or ducts transmit sound, but a well-designed ducted system can also be quiet. For most people, mini splits win on noise, especially in bedrooms.
Absolutely. Many homeowners choose a ducted system for the main living areas and add a ductless mini split for a guest room, home office, or finished attic that is hard to reach with ducts. This hybrid approach lets you get the best of both worlds: whole-house filtration and a central aesthetic in main rooms, plus zoned comfort where you need it. Jester Climate can install mini splits to complement an existing or planned ducted system.
Not really, but regular care helps them last. The most important task is cleaning the filters on each indoor unit every month or two during heavy use. That is easy: pop them out, rinse with water, let dry, and put back. Once a year you should have a pro clean the indoor coils and check the refrigerant charge. Jester Climate offers maintenance plans, but you can also handle the filter cleaning yourself. Ducted systems need filter changes and annual tune-ups too, so the workload is similar.
Yes, if the unit is sized correctly for the room. Mini splits are rated in BTUs and a properly sized unit will cool a room even on 105 degree days. The key is that each zone gets its own unit, so you are not trying to push cold air through long ducts. In our climate, oversizing can actually cause short cycling and poor dehumidification. We size every installation based on room square footage, insulation, and window orientation so you stay comfortable even in the worst heat.
Ready to talk options for your new build? Call Jester Climate at (512) 297-7493 to book your installation. Our standard flat rate is $2,400 with a $400 deposit, and check the homepage for this week's Joker Day price.