I was just about to press go on a mini-split purchase when I learned about minimum modulation and turn down ratio (postings here and elsewhere).

For my home this issue would be killer. Small rooms and a family that likes to keep doors closed, and I only have the kids half time. So there will be periods where I specifically want to condition only one room. Ducts would be a nightmare to install well (but if I want leaky and inefficient they wouldn’t be too hard…) Anyhow, more study before I go forward.

This got me to thinking: Do any mini split manufacturers provide the ability to ‘parallel’ two outdoor units to increase the turndown ratio of a multihead system? Rather than having a single 3 ton condenser unit, have a 2 ton and 1 ton with a shared refrigerant circuit, so that if load is low the 2 ton could be off and the 1 ton dialed back.

I know that this sort of technique is used in large systems with multiple compressors to adjust for load conditions, and I know that some mini split outdoor units have two compressors internally. But I’m wondering more about extending the ‘mix and match’ nature of mini split systems to the outdoor units.

Thanks
Jon