I have high wall indoor units, 7 of them. Generally speaking, I think that they look fine. If I did not like the look of them, I'd consider putting a picture on them like putting lipstick on a pig.

Have you considered ceiling, floor or short ducted indoor units?

lol... yes i get that it's the white zinfandel of wine option, etc.

I know some people aren't bothered by the look of wall units.. I'm not a fan.

Floor I do not think would work, but I can ask about ceiling and will look that up.. it could work....

what models do you recommend? our walls are thin (older house) and this is just for our second story master bedroom.. Currently they have a small duct that runs central air up to this room, but it doesn't work well.

Room is guessing, but max 500 sq. ft. including the attached bathroom/closet.

No, the fan is inside the box ;-)

The ducted system can not be improved to function better?

Look at Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Panasonic (Sanyo) web sites for pictures of different equipment types. Everything else costs more than high wall units and are less efficient, but still plenty efficient.

Six of seven of My high-wall indoor units were all installed on interior walls of my single-story house. There is room in the stud space to install drain, electrical and refrigerant lines. I don't know what you mean about "thin walls". You don't have a conventional frame house?

I have an acquaintance with an old barge-board house that recently installed mini-splits. I understand that it is difficult to do any work in the walls of these buildings, but I am not familiar enough to understand why. She has professional construction experience and hired the installer that I chose after we talked about mini-splits. She felt it was her only option for getting modern heat and cooling into the house to replace gas wall heaters and window units. I have to get in touch to see how she is liking it.

The LG Art Cool series is the best looking mini-split because itâÂÂs perhaps the only one that doesnâÂÂt look like a mini-split. LG seems to have a good reputation and you could choose the extended 10-year parts and labor warranty.

Visit an HVAC showroom where you can experience it in action to see if you would like it. It is variable speed with inverter technology. However, there is a premium to be paid for this system both in price and in efficiency, as itâÂÂs only rated 13-SEER. In fact itâÂÂs the only LG mini-split combination in this series (picture frame head) that is NOT Energy Star!

That alone might make me reconsider this option.

SR

13 SEER compares favorably to ducted systems because there are no duct losses to add in.

âÂÂ13 SEER compares favorably to ducted systems because there are no duct losses to add in.âÂÂ

That may be true, however, the 13-SEER of the âÂÂpicture frameâ head as compared to the âÂÂup to 28-SEERâ for the top of the line head of that series might cause some pause. I guess the question becomes are you buying it for looks or efficiency?

SR

Any updates on this? Seems like they’re still the only company to make an attractive wall unit. We live in a historic home, so our options are very limited.

Mini-split heat pumps may not be the best option for historic homes, but if you want to go that route, consider floor-mounted mini-splits. They have a similar footprint to the traditional cast iron radiators. I consider them less obtrusive than wall-mounted units.

i will say this unit is still functioning despite folks calling it "lipstick on a pig" :) I don't know if we're lucky, and we did one have minor repair for $200 at some point. We only use it for our bedroom which doesn't get great circulation from the rest of the house so it doesn't have to heavy of a lift to cool and heat.

@stereotypeq What's the current status of your unit? We have an older home, as well, and between the picture rail and the moulding it just seems sort of wrong to put a regular minisplit in.