Toadman is West of you in PA, IIRC. He has good experience with mini splits. Take a look at his posts. How many discrete areas do you have to heat?

For a space of that size and likely room count you'd do very well to go with ductless mini/multi-splits.

Guessing the pricing has to do with installing the duct work from scratch.

800 sq ft includes multiple bedrooms?

Let me add that if your portable AC unit was a single duct model, rather than 2 duct, it was pretty inefficient since it draws indoor air to cool the condensing coil.

If a 12,000 btu portable barely did it, two tons is way too much. You might need to oversize the cooling to get adequate heat. In that case, variable speed equipment is your friend for the reason, humidity control, that you brought to the front.

I looked at mini-splits and they were pricey as well. Here were the 2 quotes for Fujitsu units. The 2 bedrooms are very small 9X10. One major area that the wife didn't like was running the refrigerant lines up the outside of the house. Even with the trim work painted to match she didn't like it. I guess they could be run through the internal walls and I could do the drywall work post install. The company that quoted these also recommended that I retain all the electric baseboard units just-in-case and that was a bit disturbing. This again the wife desires those to be gone so she can reclaim some wall space.

option 1: Install a Fujitsu Ducted Mini Split Model 18RLFCD with 7 diffusers and a central return. Backup heat strips can be added for nominal cost (~$200) $7,516

option 2: Install Three Fujitsu indoor units, 2 – 7K units for bedrooms and 1 – 12K unit for main living space, with a 24,000 BTU 24RLFXZH Hyper heating unit rated to -15 degrees. $7,848

>> Guessing the pricing has to do with installing the duct work from scratch. <<

With a main trunk and return and everything else flex this was a surprise.... assuming the previous Goodman combo was in the $2,500 (I would expect their cost would be less) w/$1,200 install that would make the ductwork fabrication/install around $3,000+ . It's all wide open crawlspace and basement. No ceilings/drywall etc. and ductboard at that! The metal ducts on the Trane quote are probably fabricated off-site at the shop after on-site measurement.

I have one other quote in the works for a Broan (Nordyne) HP. Should have that in-hand by the end of the week and will have to make a decision or look for other options.

Thanks,

Bob

@diveguy1 that price for a ductless mini-split system seems high. Even if you have very long line sets that price seems like it has a lot of installation cost and unit markup attached. I'd get additional quotes on different brands from a different installer. Daikin and Mitsubishi both make good mini-split units.

There is one more option you could consider as well. Lennox has a company called Magic-Pak that makes packaged HVAC for residential applications. They are very popular for condos since you can replace the unit without entering the premises. It could allow you to cut down to a single return if you choose to. It is also very easy to hide from the outside, which it sounds like your wife would appreciate. It can look as minimal as a single grill against the outside of the house for the condenser to cool itself.

Mini-splits are always expensive here in the US. Don't know why - probably because they can! A new install is going to be more expensive than a replacement - additional electrical work, condensate plumbing, refrigerant lines, ductwork, etc. Having said that the estimates do seem high. get a couple more estimates.

Don't go with ductboard, go with metal trunk/return and flexduct.

So... how do you send a message to Toadman77 on this new site? Do I have to just reply to one of his other posts?

Bob

Bob,

To send an email to a poster you have to "follow" them on Houzz. Go to a topic which Toadman77 has posted, click on his name and then click follow. You should then be able to send an email.