Yeah, you're talking about splits if I infer what you mean with 'ductless'. They're generally the units that hang up on the wall at ceiling height in each room. Pros: - Can accommodate central AC install with little renovation
- More efficient at cooling/heating because you're heating or cooling each room individually
Cons:
- Expensive initial investment
- Unit hanging in every room
- "More" maintenance (more moving pieces to break)
Rental Property Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 29 votes
7y
@Christian L Babcock
Thanks! Yes that’s what I was talking about. Where you have a unit in each room. I haven’t seen the price yet. He’s sending it to me but said it was cheaper because of rebates.
Real Estate Broker · Hyde Park Tampa, FL · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
One of my clients purchased several condos in a community that has the ductless system. We were "horrified/surprised" that many of the "Motel 8" units had lasted as long as 20 years (we're in Florida so AC life is half of what it is in "normal climates"). The older ones are downright ugly and loud. The client has replaced several of the old uglies and the new units are quiet, perform well, and many tenants are pleased they're not living with "ancient" duct work.
For 900 square feet, I would do it. Eliminating the leaks from dirty coils and more is worth it.
K so you're using Forced Hot Air in the winter and then window shakers for AC in the summer?
Not totally sure of your climate (how many months heating vs cooling) but I wouldn't trade the gas fired furnace for a heat pump. Heat pumps are efficient but electricity doesn't like being turned into heat. Caveats to that statement are:
- If your climate is temperate, no hot hot cooling days, no cold cold heating days
- If your furnace needs to be replaced
- If tenants expect Central AC in your area
- If your cooling/heating ratio is very biased to the cooling side
Just a quick personal story as to why I worry about splits/contractors. My current residence is a new house and had been built with baseboard hydronic heat and in wall vents/returns for central air. When I bought it, the air handler and AC unit had never been installed and literally just needed to be purchased, lines run, and hooked up to the existing duct work. I brought in an HVAC guy for an estimate, we went through the whole house, I showed him all the vent ends in the basement. He looked at me and said "I think you should go ductless". I think I felt my jaw hit the floor and managed to restrain my foot from making contact with his body and I said "I look forward to receiving your estimate".
I called another HVAC contractor, had them estimate what it would cost took hookup what I wanted and there was a 10k difference (as expected) in price. I went back to the ductless guy for a "told you so" kind of conversation and he pleaded the rebates route (but you get like $1500 in rebates!).
Moral of the story, some contractors receive a commission for peddling certain products no matter what the outlandishness of the proposal and will sacrifice contracts in order to push.
Rockland, MA · Member since 2017 · 20 posts · 10 votes
7y
@Jared Mann i install these systems professionally for my currnt employer. I just recently put a mitsubishi hyper heat system in my main residence to switch from oil. On average there is a savings of 80$/month in heat cost.
There are alot of options when it comes to these. The traditional wall unit. But now they are able to take that same heat pump condenser (the outdoor unit) and run it to a standard ducted system. There are also slim ducted units. These are small ducted units ideal for top floor bedrooms or 1st floor rooms where you can put the unit above the ceiling and run just 2 or 3 small ducts to the area being conditioned.
Some units also give you the ability to heat and cool independently per room which is a nice feature and eliminates fighting over the main thermostat.
Rockland, MA · Member since 2017 · 20 posts · 10 votes
7y
@Jared Mann They are great. Quiet and efficient only downside is they dont heat the "bones" of the house to well. So its not a real uniform heat. But in my situation where its a type of "live-in-flip" i think they are a great investment.
@Christian L Babcock the system i just installed in my house was eligible for a 1,600$ rebate in Massachusetts.
2600$ in material
Im a licenced hvac tech so labor was free
And a 1600$ rebate.
Not to bad for a brand new hvac system for 1000$
Yea, I get that in some cases it works out, for my 3200sqft house it didn't. Here's what the approx cost comparison was:
Splits: $10k materials as I needed multiple pumps and 7 handlers, 10k in labor as they would need to run the lines through all the walls in hook into electric in all the rooms minus $1500 for state rebate, so $28.5k in total
Central Unit: $6k in materials as I need 1 air handler and 1 central unit. $4k in labor as they just had to plumb into the existing terminations in the basement. $10k in total.
Keep in mind that I was just regarding it for AC as well, I have a pristine gas boiler for heat so it was a big pill to swallow for just 3 months worth of cooling per year.
Rental Property Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 29 votes
7y
@Christian L Babcock
No joke. That cost is ridiculous. I don’t blame you for not using the split system. I am expecting my quote tomorrow. I will let you guys know what they say.
WorldWide · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
I received my bid back for the HVAC.
Traditional HVAC full install - 6K
Split system - 4K
I called another compny for another bid. This all seems too high. It’s a 900 sqft house.
Jared, can you find a certified tech to install the splits? you can pick them up for under $2k for this house' size. Figure in a day's labor for this project.