Most people shopping for a ductless system are picking a brand and a price. Then the technician asks a question nobody prepared them for: where do you want the indoor unit, and what shape should it be?
That answer changes how the room feels every day for the next 15 to 20 years. It also changes the install scope, and in a few cases the efficiency rating on the paperwork. Here's how we walk Puget Sound homeowners through it.
The four indoor unit styles, plainly
Every ductless mini-split system has an outdoor unit and one or more indoor units — heads. The outdoor unit is the same regardless. The head is the part you live with.
1. Wall-mounted head
The familiar white rectangle mounted high on an exterior or interior wall. This is what roughly most installs use, and it isn't laziness.
- Cheapest to install. Least labor, most straightforward line-set routing, smallest wall penetration.
- Best efficiency numbers. On any given brand, the wall-mount lineup usually carries the highest SEER2 and HSPF2 ratings and the widest capacity selection.
- Easiest to service. Filters pull out from the front in about ten seconds. No ladder into an attic.
- Strong airflow throw. Mounted 7 to 10 feet up, it can push conditioned air across a large open room.
The trade-off is visibility. It's on the wall, it's white, and no amount of design talk makes it invisible. Placement matters more than people think — high on a wall you don't stare at, aimed down the long axis of the room, not blowing directly at where you sit.
2. Floor-mounted console
A low unit, roughly two feet tall, sitting at floor level like a radiator. Common in Japan and Europe, underused here.
Where it wins:
- Under low windows. If the only sensible wall is glass from four feet up, a console fits underneath it.
- Vaulted, A-frame, and cathedral ceilings. A wall head placed way up in a peak dumps heat where nobody lives. A console puts warm air at the floor and lets it rise naturally.
- Baseboard replacement. Homeowners tearing out old electric resistance baseboard often prefer the same heat-at-the-floor feel, and the console frequently mounts in roughly the same spot.
- Ceilings you can't touch. Exposed beams, plaster, historic trim.
The trade-offs: it occupies floor space and wall space that furniture wants, it's easier for a couch or a curtain to block, and airflow throw is shorter — a console does better in a defined room than in a sprawling open-concept great room.
3. Ceiling cassette
Recessed into the ceiling with only a flat grille showing, blowing in one, two, or four directions. Visually the cleanest option by a wide margin.
What it needs:
- Real space above the ceiling. A drop ceiling, an accessible attic, or a soffit. Typically 10 to 12 inches of clear depth plus room for the condensate line.
- A condensate path. Cassettes almost always rely on a built-in condensate pump, which is one more component that eventually needs service.
- Service access. Filter cleaning means a ladder, and a future repair means getting above the unit.
Cassettes shine in finished basements with drop ceilings, in additions with attic space above, and in open rooms where a 4-way unit centered in the ceiling distributes air more evenly than any wall head can. They cost more in both equipment and labor, and on some product lines the efficiency ratings run a step below the wall heads on the same outdoor unit.
4. Slim concealed ducted air handler
A compact air handler tucked into a soffit, closet, or attic that feeds two or three nearby rooms through short duct runs and standard registers. Nothing shows in the room but supply and return grilles.
This is the middle ground between ductless and a full ducted heat pump. It's the best answer when you want three small bedrooms handled on one zone instead of three separate heads on three separate walls. It's the worst answer when there's nowhere to hide it — retrofitting a chase into a finished 1950s rambler gets expensive fast.
What each style does to the price
Here's the part that surprises people: the head style is not the main price driver. Zone count and equipment tier are.
Ductless installation in standard Puget Sound markets runs $8,000 to $14,000, $9,200 to $16,800 in affluent markets like Seattle, Maple Valley, or Fircrest, and $10,000 to $18,900 in luxury markets like Bellevue and Gig Harbor. A single-zone wall-mount job sits near the bottom of that band. Swap that head for a cassette and you move up within the range — you don't jump to a different range. Add a second and third zone and you move a lot.
| Head style | Typical position in the range | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Head styleWall-mounted | Typical position in the rangeLow end | Best fitMost bedrooms, living rooms, offices, ADUs |
| Head styleFloor console | Typical position in the rangeLow to middle | Best fitLow windows, vaulted rooms, baseboard swaps |
| Head styleCeiling cassette | Typical position in the rangeMiddle to high | Best fitDrop ceilings, attic access, open central rooms |
| Head styleConcealed ducted | Typical position in the rangeMiddle to high | Best fitTwo or three small rooms on one zone |
For a full breakdown by zone count, see our mini-split cost guide for Washington. Or answer seven questions and get Good, Better, and Best starting numbers in about a minute with the instant estimate tool.
The efficiency footnote worth knowing
On most manufacturer lineups — Mitsubishi, Daikin, and Hitachi included — the wall-mounted heads publish the highest efficiency ratings. Cassettes and concealed ducted air handlers frequently rate a notch lower on the same outdoor unit, because moving air through a grille in a ceiling or through short duct runs costs static pressure.
Usually that difference is small enough not to change your decision. Occasionally it matters, because utility rebate programs set minimum SEER2 and HSPF2 thresholds, and a system that clears the bar with wall heads might not clear it with cassettes. Programs change — we confirm your current eligibility against the exact equipment on your proposal and handle the paperwork. From April 2, 2026, PSE rebates also require a PSE-certified installer; Varsity is PSE Certified.
How we actually decide, room by room
The conversation goes about like this on an estimate visit:
- Where is the exterior wall? Line-set length and routing drive both cost and how tidy the outside of the house looks. Short and straight beats long and clever.
- What's above the ceiling? No attic, no drop ceiling, no cassette. That eliminates an option in about half the homes we see.
- How tall is the room? Standard 8-foot ceiling favors a wall head. Vaults, peaks, and lofts favor a console.
- What's coming out? Baseboard heaters and wall furnaces often leave a natural console location behind.
- Where do people actually sit? Nobody wants air blowing straight onto the couch or the bed all evening.
- Who's cleaning the filter? If a ladder into an attic is a non-starter, that's a real argument for a wall head.
Most of our multi-zone jobs end up mixed: wall heads in the bedrooms, a console or cassette in the main living space. That's normal, it's allowed within manufacturer pairing rules, and it usually produces a better result than forcing one style through the whole house.
One-day installs, ten-year warranty
Most single-zone installs are done in one day regardless of head style. Complex multi-zone systems can take two. Every installation Varsity does carries a 10-year parts and 10-year labor warranty, and we pull the mechanical permit on every job.
We're heat pump and ductless specialists, owner-operated out of Federal Way, serving 45 cities across King, Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties. We'll tell you when a cassette isn't worth the money in your house, because getting that wrong is a decision you look at every day.
Ready to figure out which heads belong in which rooms? Request a free in-home estimate or call (253) 785-4622 — Monday through Friday, 8 to 6.