Mini Split & Ductless AC in Lehigh Acres, FL

I'm Derrik Speck. True Care Air LLC is mine, license CAC1824801, insured, and I run every call myself. Lehigh Acres is a different kind of ductless work than the coast. The lots out here are big, so people build out instead of up: a detached workshop behind the house, a shed that turned into a real work space, a garage that got walled off into a bedroom, an in-law suite added on the back. None of those were on the original duct plan, and running duct to them is either impossible or a bad idea. That's what a mini split is for. The general background is on my Southwest Florida ductless page.

What people out here are actually trying to cool

  • Detached workshops and pole barns off Lee Boulevard where somebody is welding, woodworking or turning wrenches in August.
  • Garage conversions, which are the most common ask I get in Lehigh, usually an extra bedroom or an office.
  • In-law suites and added-on back rooms near Sunshine Boulevard, built after the house was already sized.
  • Sheds and outbuildings that have quietly become offices or gyms.
  • Multi-generational households where one side of the house wants a different temperature than the other, and everybody wants their own thermostat.

That last one is worth saying out loud. When three generations share a house, the arguments over the thermostat are real. A mini split on the suite or the converted garage gives that person their own control without touching how the rest of the house runs.

Sizing a workshop or a converted garage

A detached shop with a metal roof and no insulation is a heat load nothing like a bedroom of the same size, and a garage conversion with the old uninsulated overhead door still in the wall is its own problem. I look at what's actually there before I put a number on it. Undersize it and it never catches up. Oversize it and it short cycles, never dehumidifies, and leaves the room cold and clammy, which is the complaint I hear most from people who bought a unit themselves.

Mini splits are inverter driven, so the compressor modulates and runs long at low capacity rather than cycling on and off. That long run at low output is what pulls the humidity down in this climate, and in a shop with a slab floor humidity is what rusts your tools.

Equipment I install

I'm an authorized American Standard dealer, and that's what I put on a living space like an in-law suite. For a workshop, a shed or a garage where you want it done right but not gold plated, I carry a second line of 17 SEER2 R-32 mini splits at a lower price point. Same install standards either way.

When a mini split is the wrong answer

If the whole house is uncomfortable, don't let anybody sell you a mini split for it. That's a sizing problem, a duct problem or an equipment problem. Out here I find a lot of leaking and disconnected attic duct, which is duct repair and replacement work, and plenty of undersized or worn-out systems that need a proper AC installation in Lehigh Acres. I'll say so on the first visit even though the mini split is the easier job to sell.

Ductless repair, whoever installed it

I service ductless systems I didn't put in. The residential diagnostic is $109, and you get a flat repair price before I start any work. For central equipment, that's AC repair and HVAC service in Lehigh Acres. The usual failures:

  • Condensate pumps
  • Outdoor control boards
  • Refrigerant leaks at the flare connections
  • Blower wheels packed with sawdust and dirt, which happens quick in a shop

Estimates and financing

Estimates on new installs are free. I offer 0% financing through Wells Fargo for qualified buyers, laid out on my HVAC financing page. Call (239) 810-2500 or book online.

True Care Air LLC | License CAC1824801 | Serving Lehigh Acres, FL | (239) 810-2500 | TrueCareAir.com