Please Rec Brand Mini-Split Heat Pump
 

Ready to pull trigger on minisplits.

Looking to buy two units, each dual head, 18000 BTU I think, heat pump type qualifying for the tax credits. Each head will be in a bedroom room about 450 sf, in an old (poorly insulated) house, surface mounted high on exterior wall. Needs to heat with outside temp down to 15F, and cool with outside temp up to 110F. Will buy the tools to pull vacuum and leak test, so don’t need to be a DIY type. Want tidy install, no loose loops of excess line. Condensors will be on second floor so medium length line runs. Compressor on supports bolted to house concrete foundation.

Welp . . . there are too many choices! I don’t want to become an expert in heat pumps!

Has anyone done the research and able to recommend a brand?

Thanks!

I have installed two Mitsubishi mini splits in two different man cave garages . Excellent performance with zero issues . My current 24x26 man cave has been running a 24k Mitsubishi for 4+ years and it has had zero issues . They do tend to be on the high end on pricing .

Like anything else there are good/better/best and anything in the better/best will serve you well . Daikin is another solid unit . I would recommend you talk to three local HVAC companies to get quotes and see what brands they sell . Local support is highly important IF you have warranty issues .

I had a Fujitsu 18,000 btu unit installed a year ago. Very happy with it. Uses minimal electricity.

In our last home we installed a Daikin (three heads and one condensing unit). Before that, during an addition to another home, we had a Futitsu installed (two heads with one condensing unit). Both were really great units. I discovered that none of the sizing calculators ever agreed to the 'proper' sizing of the units... lots of research and I picked some winners. We hired a HVAC contractor to do the install only. After looking around, it was way evident that purchasing from a dealer drove the price up - WAY UP!!! Instead, I bought the units from ecomfort.com as their prices were much, much more attractive. Just for the heck of it, compare the prices to what you found versus ecomfort's.

@jyl do you have your terminology correct? I don't separate condenser and compressor as they are the same unit. Heads are evaporators. I'm asking because I don't understand the compressor and bolting comment.

Sorry, I believe my terminology is wrong. When I said condensor I meant the air handler unit that goes in the room. When I said compressor I meant the unit that sits outside.

Apologies, I wrote the post at 2 am sitting in a hospital emergency room waiting for news on a young woman who’d taken an overdose of sleeping pills, between trying to sleep and warily watching a weirdo pace up and down in front of us.

Fujitsu are great quality also .

John, I have install a few of these things but mainly in sun rooms and bedrooms for additional cooling or heating as well as ADUs and offices. I always suggest Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, and LG. They have these outlets that come out of the ceiling now instead of the big old ugly box that's attached to the wall. Last one I did was for a small reading area above the staircase. It was a square wall outlet that's was about 8" in depth, about 20" square with a photo inserted on the surface to make it look like the family photo hanging mid way off the stair case. So much better then the ugly box. My HVAc installer seems to like Carrier. I ahve nto had any issues with any of them and they run all day in socal summer heat.

Maybe I should install one “top brand” like Mitsubishi, etc and one bargain-basement that is $1,000 less, and see how they compare.

I installed a Senville mini split in my shop 3 years ago. Works great. One catch, is that it has to be installed by a licensed contractor to get the warranty. It was inexpensive enough that I risked just doing it myself. Knock on wood.......

Buy Asian. Something like 95% of all HVAC in Japan is Mini-splits. That's all I know. And I was on the BOD of the Oregon HVAC trade association for 20 years.

I only install name brands for clients but for myself, I go cheap

One thing I noticed when we were traveling across China during the summer was the amount of mini-splits hanging outside of their buildings. More then 90% of there were some Chinese brands but I did see a few Carriers, Sanyo, and Mitsubishi. If I were every to put in my home, it would be a cheap brand only because I am cheap and do not need the lift time or whatever warranty. Its an AC, how bad can it be made. Its like buying an elec. or gas scooter. I buy Chinese over a Vespa any day of the week only because there are more then a few millions out there running daily. If it breaks, throw it over from the roof and install another.

Any of the Japanese brands for single or multi evaporator systems is a good bet.
If you are fussy about what the indoor unit looks like check out the manufacturers websites to find a type that you like (if you care) and could see installed in your home.
Fireant/Daryl's approach is a good one in regards to maintaining warranty.

Download the Installation/Operation/Maintenance manual for the units to plan the best location for mounting the indoor unit. The condensate is typically drained through the wall to the outdoors but in some instances drained to sanitary sewer in the building.

Daikin claims some pretty low outdoor ambient temperature operation on their heat pumps if that is a concern.

OK, looks like if I got two name-brand (Mitsubishi Fujitsu Daikin etc) dual-zone 18000K BTU mini splits with wall mount air handlers, with lines, line covers, mounting hardware, electrical hardware, etc. I'd be into it for about $8-9K assuming fully DIY install. Going no-brand could get that down to $6-7K. Less tax credits of a few hundred $.

Not nothing, but I'd have functional AC and heat in the four second-floor bedrooms and I think I'll save electricity as my central AC/heat unit would only heat/cool the ground floor instead of struggling to condition the second floor through small ducts with no returns.

Seems sensible to me. Anyone think I should be able to do this much cheaper?

^^^ Are those prices buying locally ? It has been my experience that the online retailers are less expensive than buying locally .

I used HVACDirect.com and another online retailer for pricing.

A coworker of mine left to go work for Bosch. He got me a killer deal on two 18k outdoor units which I used to power 4 indoor units. My house is in NW Ohio and is a 1960's built split level. I have one 12k indoor handler that takes care of our main living area and then 3 9k indoor handlers (this was overkill) in our 3 upstairs bedrooms.

I installed them myself after purchasing a Harbor Freight vacuum pump. I made my line covers out of white plastic down spouts. It was not rocket science, but it took me a couple weeks of part time work to get everything around and to install conduit and AC fuseboxes outside to power the outdoor units.

I was under $4k but much of that was due to the employee discount.

Our house only had electric ceiling and baseboard heat and window/wall mounted AC.
We have been using the minisplits for both heat and cooling. They work great so far and are very quiet both inside and outside.

I am guessing most modern brands are similar in performance these days?

JYL you have a PM.

Ecomfort is a good online mini split seller .

I am not much help but replied by PM