Small power home appliances (refrigerator compressor motor drives) demand ever better efficiency at moderate initial cost. An efficiency of 85% has been already reached at 100 W, 2930 r/min, with line-start split-phase capacitor induction motors (IMs). To boost performance, the present paper models and analyses a split-capacitor IM with regular rotor cage plus two flux barriers filled with permanent magnets to also exploit the reluctance of such torque for 100 W, 3000 r/min and, thus, raise efficiency to 90% for a 4.22-kg motor. The present paper introduces a circuit model for asynchronous operation; a magnetic nonlinear equivalent circuit model to assess synchronous magnetization inductances ${\rm{L}}_{{\rm{dm}}}$ , ${\rm{L}}_{{\rm{qm}}}$; a circuit dq model in rotor coordinates for transients; and finite element method (FEM) validation of ${\rm{L}}_{{\rm{dm}}}$ and ${\rm{L}}_{{\rm{qm}}}$ to fully model the machine and offer digital simulation for the case study. Then, an optimal design methodology based on the modified Hooke–Jeeves algorithm and a multicriterion objective (cost) function that includes machine materials + capacitor + energy loss capitalized cost, as well as penalties for starting torque, synchronizing torque, and power un-realization, is unfolded and applied for same 100 W, 3000 r/min case study. Finally, a prototype was build and tested to validate the developed modeling and optimal design methodologies.