Single-split: independence, room by room
A single-split system gives every room its own dedicated outdoor condenser. This means you can choose a different performance tier for each room — Standard in a spare bedroom, Diamond in the main living space — and if one unit ever needs a repair, every other room keeps running unaffected.
The trade-off is more outdoor units on the wall or ground outside, and each one is sized and priced independently, at full duty with no diversity discount.
Multi-split: one shared outdoor unit
A multi-split system connects several indoor units to a single shared outdoor condenser. It's tidier outside — one unit to maintain instead of several — and because we apply a diversity factor of 0.8 across the combined duty, the shared condenser is often better value once you're cooling three or more rooms.
The trade-off is less flexibility on tier: every wall-mounted room on a multi-split system uses our Premium tier, since that's the tier MHI's multi-split-compatible indoor units are available in.
Not sure? Compare both from the same answers
If you're not sure which suits you, our online quote tool can size and price both configurations from the exact same room answers, and show them side by side — including the price difference — so you can pick whichever fits your budget and priorities before committing.
FAQ
Can I mix single-split and multi-split in the same job?
Our online tool prices a job as either fully single-split or fully multi-split for a clean comparison. If you have a more complex requirement — for example, multi-split for bedrooms but a dedicated system for a home office — get in touch and we'll scope it as part of your free survey.