A ducted system would be half that. Is that an option?

A ducted system would need a brand new furnace and ac unit or a zoning system for the basement. The quote for doing the zoning and redoing the duct work came out to around 12000. I don't want to just tap a couple vents off the main system as that will be suboptimal.

Both contractors I got quotes from told me they would come with a 2 man crew and they would be done in a day. Both do not include the electrical work as I told them the electrician I am using will do that when he's wiring the basement. I got another quote from a licensed hvac professional with good reviews on homeadvisor who primarily does builder jobs. His labor And all materials (which he told me to purchase myself) would come to $5500. I would be purchasing everything from a legitimate retailer (website is owned by furgeson) and according to them the warranty is valid as long as it is installed by a licensed hvac tech. I am strongly considering this route as I know a big builder in the area uses this guy (I see his truck on the site in a new development going up by my house). I like the setup of his business in that he eliminates all the excessive overhead you mentioned earlier.

My Mitsubishi minisplit system with 3 heads was $15,000. It took two men 5 or 6 days to install, plus there was an electrician. Two of the units are floor units so work had to be done under the house with very limited space - i.e. they had to dig some trenches to get where they needed to go. We had another quote that was about the same. We're very happy with the system. We had trouble at first with a noisy condensate pump but the company was very willing to fix it and keep us happy by changing over to gravity drainage for that head - that took several visits.

Some things to watch for during installation. Make sure they put down a proper pad for the outdoor unit. A concrete pad or one approved by Fujitsu. Read the installation instructions yourself and supervise the installation closely. Make sure any indoor wall units are hung from studs, using a level to be sure it is level (not just eye balled) with the correct number of screws (as described in the installation manual). Make sure they reseal the openings they cut through the walls or you will get rodents. Make sure all the drain lines are angled down otherwise they will freeze and split in the winter causing damage to your walls or ceiling. If they are installing any ceiling units get a civil engineer out to make sure they rebrace any cut beams properly.

We have two Fujitsu outdoor units and five indoor units. Love them but installation was a nightmare. Had to cut off one contractor, get our money back, and find another. Even then it failed inspection. Luckily the company owner was conscientious and returned with a crew of nine guys who spent the entire day with him going through it all. He even climbed in our attic and did some of the wiring himself.

I don't remember how long it took for the first two guys. Maybe 4 or 5 days (it has been so long that it could have been longer)? Then another nine (yes 9 + the company owner) guys spend another whole day (8 hrs). Even then they had to come back a few times to fix things that were done wrong. I think the cost was $16K but we had a number of quotes for $20K and $30K.

Both companies I hired (the one I fired and the one I used) were shown as trained installers on the Fujitsu web site.

Even so, neither company had anyone who understood the dip switches or power settings so that it is brought up properly. You will need to read the manual and understand how to set it up yourself to get it to run the way you want it to. If you use a separate electrician be wary of the finger pointing possibility with both contractors saying it was the other guys fault.

I will say we absolutely love the system and would install one again in a heartbeat. Hopefully there is more installation experience out there now so you will have less problems. But none of your current bidders sound like they know what they are doing. The most important thing is to get the most established reputable company you can find because you need someone who will come back and fix the installation problems.

Thanks for the posts. There is already a concrete patio where the hot tub was where we will place the outdoor unit. The walls will all be open so there will be no issues with studs or running lines. There are sufficient above grade area to run all the drain lines etc. I would be willing to pay a company $7000-$7500 since all the walls are open, electrical is done by someone else and the concrete pad is present.