The Della Optima Series 12,000 BTU is a 115-volt, 23 SEER2 heat pump mini split with Wi-Fi app control, listed by Della for spaces up to 550 square feet. Wired rated it 6 out of 10: its reviewer found it cooled and heated the room well, ran quietly and had a capable app with Alexa and Google Assistant support, but could never get the geofencing feature to work and was quoted $3,600 for professional installation, several times the price of the hardware.
Full review
What Wired tested
Wired reviewed the Optima 048-TP-12K1V-23S-IN in April 2026 and rated it 6 out of 10. The unit offers 12,000 BTU of cooling and 12,400 BTU of heating, draws up to 960 watts from a 115-volt circuit, and is rated to cover 550 square feet, which Wired describes as one small room.
It arrived in three boxes: the indoor air handler, the outdoor compressor and the conduit with refrigerant lines, drain line and wiring. Della's own listing gives the efficiency as 23 SEER2 and the refrigerant as R454B.
Installation cost more than the unit
Wired had the Optima installed by professionals. A crew of two took about five hours to remove an old mini split and fit the new one, including drilling a new conduit hole. A local provider in Austin quoted $3,600 for the work, and Wired lists the fact that installation can more than quadruple the price among its complaints.
Cooling, heating and noise
By the afternoon of the install the unit was blowing chilled or hot air on request, and Wired's closing verdict is that the main job of keeping the room cooled and heated is working great. At 3 feet from the air handler Wired measured 50 decibels on turbo mode and 40 dB on night mode, with ambient sound at 30 dB.
The remote has 15 buttons and a busy LCD, with turbo, quiet and eco modes, a timer and a self-cleaning mode. Wired found it surprisingly complex. It is infrared, so a command entered without aiming at the air handler updates the remote's display but is not accepted.
App works, geofencing did not
Wired found the Della+ app considerably more intuitive than the remote. It offers scheduling by time and day of the week and works over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi from anywhere, and the unit supports Alexa and Google Assistant. Wired would have liked a running history of operations, which the app lacks.
The geofencing mode, which should switch the unit on or off based on the owner's location, never triggered once in Wired's testing, and 10 days of troubleshooting with Della support did not fix it.
Price and warranty
Wired calls the under-$1,000 price solid, while noting that cheaper import brands exist. Della provides a lifetime warranty when the unit is installed by a licensed HVAC technician or with its rental installation kit, and Wired warns that registration requires a copy of the invoice, the installer's license number and photos of the install.
Strengths
- +Wired found it kept the room properly cooled and heated after a professional install
- +Quiet in Wired's measurements: 50 dB on turbo and 40 dB on night mode at 3 feet, against 30 dB of ambient sound
- +Runs on a 115-volt circuit with a 960-watt maximum draw, per Wired
- +Della+ app adds day-and-time scheduling and remote control over Wi-Fi, and Wired set it up with Alexa for voice commands
- +Wired calls the under-$1,000 hardware price solid
Watch-outs
- −Geofencing never worked for Wired, even after 10 days of troubleshooting with Della support
- −Wired was quoted $3,600 for professional installation, far more than the unit itself
- −The 15-button infrared remote is complex and needs line of sight; Wired notes commands are ignored if it is not aimed at the air handler
- −The lifetime warranty Wired describes requires an invoice, the installer's license number and install photos at registration
How it compares
The Della Optima and the Senville LETO 9,000 BTU are the two 115V units on this page; the LG Artcool Deluxe KNSAL needs 208/230V. Its 12,000 BTU of cooling equals the LG and is above the Senville's 9,000 BTU. Wired lists 12,400 BTU of heating for it, under the LG's 13,000 BTU. It uses R454B refrigerant like the Senville, where the LG uses R-32.
Rating sources
Our 3.3 score is the average of these published ratings, each adjusted for how strictly its publisher scores. More about methodology.
