LG heating and cooling in Menlo Park, Atherton and Portola Valley is almost always a ductless system: an inverter heat pump outside and one or more indoor units in the rooms. Ductless suits rooms that never had ducts, which describes many older homes around Downtown Menlo Park. When an LG system acts up, service starts with the code on the indoor unit or the app, then the drain, the airflow and the outdoor unit.
What LG makes for homes
LG sells single-zone and multi-zone ductless heat pumps with several indoor unit styles: standard wall-mounted units, Art Cool units, ceiling cassettes and concealed ducted units. Art Cool is LG’s design line: the Art Cool Mirror has a reflective front, and the Art Cool Gallery has a frame that holds a picture. Many LG units can be run from LG’s ThinQ app over Wi-Fi. For large commercial buildings, LG sells Multi V variable refrigerant flow systems. LG is also a familiar name for room air conditioners and household appliances; this page is about the split systems.
Planning an LG ductless install
Most of the decisions are about the house, not the brand:
- Which indoor unit for which room. A wall unit is the simplest. Art Cool fits rooms where the unit is on show. A ceiling cassette or a concealed ducted unit keeps the equipment out of sight but needs ceiling or attic space.
- Where the unit hangs. High on a wall with a clear path for the air, out of direct sun, and with a short, sloped route for the drain.
- The line set route. Refrigerant lines, the drain and the control cable pass through the wall to the outdoor unit, usually under a cover on the outside wall.
- Multi-zone limits. One outdoor unit has a fixed number of connections and a total capacity, so plan any future room now.
- Electrical. The outdoor unit needs its own circuit and a disconnect within sight of it.
Estimates for new systems are free. See ductless mini-split installation and heat pump installation.
What we see fail
| Symptom | First thing we check |
|---|---|
| Code on the indoor unit’s display | The code, then wiring, sensors and the outdoor board |
| App shows the unit offline | The Wi-Fi network and module; the system itself may be fine |
| Water on the wall under the unit | Drain slope, a kinked line or a failed pump |
| Cools on mild days but not on hot ones | Filters, indoor coil, outdoor coil, then a leak search |
| Outdoor fan does not spin | Fan motor and the outdoor control board |
If the system will not heat or cool at all, our heat pump repair page explains what we check on a visit.
Warranty registration and what to keep
Setting the unit up in the ThinQ app may not count as warranty registration. Follow the steps in the warranty document, then keep:
- the model and serial numbers of the outdoor unit and every indoor unit; photograph the labels before the units go up on the wall;
- the installation invoice with its date, and the registration confirmation;
- notes of filter and coil cleanings.
Parts coverage pays for parts; labor is separate unless your installer’s written terms say otherwise. We are independent and not affiliated with LG.
Repair or replace
Sensors, fan motors, drain pumps, Wi-Fi modules and control boards are repairs. A compressor failure on an older system, or a leak in lines buried inside finished walls, is when replacement becomes a real comparison. Adding a room to an existing multi-zone system works only if the outdoor unit has a free port and spare capacity.
Local notes
Older bungalows around Downtown Menlo Park, Allied Arts and Felton Gables may have plaster walls and shallow attics. That decides where line sets can run and whether a concealed ducted unit fits, so we look before we quote. In Atherton and Portola Valley, a ductless system often goes into the part of a house the main ducted system serves poorly, such as an addition or a converted garage.