Can I advertise space heated by a mini-split as heated living area?
QUESTION: I am listing a property where the sunroom at the back of the home is heated and cooled with a permanently installed mini-split system. The rest of the house uses more conventional furnaces and heat pumps. Can I include the sunroom as heated living area when I advertise the property in the MLS? Would your answer change if the mini-split is located in the room adjacent to the sunroom?
ANSWER: If the sunroom is permitted and meets the other criteria for heated living area, the fact that the space is heated and cooled with a mini-split would qualify the space to be included in the heated living area calculation. The other criteria for heated living area are set forth in the Commission’s Residential Square Footage Guidelines, which can be accessed here.
When it comes to the types of heat sources that are acceptable, the Guidelines state that the space must be “[h]eated by a conventional heating system or systems (forced air, radiant, solar, etc.) that are permanently installed in the dwelling — not a portable heater or fireplace — which generates heat sufficient to make the space suitable for year-round occupancy.”
Mini-split units have become common, and we believe they fall within the definition of a “conventional” heating system when they are permanently installed.
As for your second question, the Commission has advised us that to include a room’s square footage in heated living area, it must have its own heat source. In your case, if the mini-split is not located in the sunroom itself, you may not include the sunroom’s square footage in heated living area, even if the mini-split generates heat sufficient to make the sunroom suitable for year-round occupancy. Under the Guidelines, it is not sufficient that a room receives heat from an adjacent area.
It should finally be noted that if the sunroom was not permitted, then the square footage would need to be separately identified. We have written Q&As on this topic here and here.
Release Date: 4/24/2025
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