I went and built a house...

[Ries]

On new a construction I would go with the traditional ductwork if you aren't pressed for overall space. I like the cleaner walls, vents in every room, the ability to use a gas furnace, and the filtering/circulating of air benefits.

If it is a retrofit I vote mini splits as well.

I own one unit with ductwork- and we have problems with dust, mold, and rodents, none of which are issues with minisplits. There is a lot of space in those ducts that you cant see, or clean.
We once had a full sized raccoon emerge from the duct in the living room. He had somehow worked his way into a sagging joint in the crawl space, and he was as surprised as we were when he arrived. I quickly opened the front door and ushered him out, but I feel safer with mini-splits- no danger of carpincho guests arriving uninvited.

 

[Mizu]

I own one unit with ductwork- and we have problems with dust, mold, and rodents, none of which are issues with minisplits. There is a lot of space in those ducts that you cant see, or clean.
We once had a full sized raccoon emerge from the duct in the living room. He had somehow worked his way into a sagging joint in the crawl space, and he was as surprised as we were when he arrived. I quickly opened the front door and ushered him out, but I feel safer with mini-splits- no danger of carpincho guests arriving uninvited.

Good Points

 

[GMan_27]

Mini-splits all the way. A little more maintenance but more redundancy and a more efficient system. You just do not need that much heating or cooling capacity.