Cost wise, if the wall furnace and window AC have been serving you well, I'd stick with those. Replacing a gas wall furnace should not be an expensive job, even if some patching around the sides is needed.

Thanks! Well, the AC isn't super effective so it would be nice to have a better system, but I hear you about the price. Our HVAC company said it would be $750 to retrofit the wall unit, and $4,000 to put in a new one which seemed kind of outrageous. The unit is effective when it works, but it's ugly and takes up a lot of valuable wall space. The mini split would be an improvement aesthetically too ( I know some folks think they're ugly but you should see my furnace lol). I guess I'm wondering if this guy who quoted $2300 to put in a mini split seems *too* cheap? I just don't understand why our HVAC said $6000. If I can get a mini split for $2300 it seems smarter to not fix the gas furnace if that makes sense?

It's hard to know what the setting is and what the wall opening is like but just as a for instance, a 30K BTU wall furnace should be more than adequate (unless you're in an inland valley) and shouldn't cost more than $1000 for the equipment alone. That doesn't include labor to remove, install, and patch the hole. Compared to a $4K quote, I'd get a few others if you're looking for an economical fix.

$2300 for a mini-split does seem too cheap. I have no personal experience but I've heard the best brands are Mitsubishi and Fujitsu and neither are cheap. With a small cottage, other than the electrical work, it should be an easy job. But in contrast to the cheap fix, better quality mini-split equipment is expensive and $6K doesn't seem out of line.

Minisplits are notoriously expensive. That's because HVAC contractors either 1) don't know how to install them correctly, so they're building in the cost of multiple return visits to correct their incompetence or 2) there's not competition so they charge whatever the market will bear.

If the systems quoted are the same, I see no reason not to go with the $2300 bid. What did the bids include for such a large difference?

Thanks all. I need to find out more about the $6000 quote. I'm getting another quote from a recommended HVAC guy today who specializes in mini splits.