The Mitsubishi Hyper heat are small footprint condensers with side exhausts. If you aren't space-limited then you may well be paying extra for something you don't need.

Not a fan of Lennox. Have you looked into American Standard, Carrier or Rheem?

I’ve gotten some quotes and I’ve only been offered either Mitsubishi or Lennox so far. Thanks so much for your input

Is there anything specific you don’t like about the Lennox?

"The Mitsubishi Hyper heat are small footprint condensers with side exhausts"

I think this describes all mini-split condensers. I think the outdoor units are all small and blow horizontally. Or were you referring to something else?

To choice one, look if tthe both system has the same: SEER, BTU, COOL AND HEAT, What model is more new, warranty. It is not just the brand there are a lot things that you need to consider before buy a system.

https://www.minisplitairconditioningsystem.org/

mitsubishi has been around a long time in the mini split market. Just wondering if Lennox is rebadging another brand or is this truly a Lennox product?

TD

What I think is to go with the Lennox, for no other reason except resale value when you decide to sell the house. People know the Lennox brand and it won't scare them away as fast as the Mitsubishi will. The mitsubishi car loses an average 0f 35% the first year, and they have a U.S. market share of only 0.71% (2019), so the brand isn't as popular as some mini split fans think. So go with the name brand so you'll only lose 10% of the sale price of your house than the average loss of 12%+ over a house with a central heating/cooling system with ducts.

The national association of realtors state the average resale price of houses with mini split systems sell for on average 12% less than houses with central systems. I'd say the reason involves the cost to rip out the mini haha's to have a central system installed.

Tell me who goes used car shopping for a Mitsubishi car. They may buy a used one because it's cheaper but would rather have a Honda or Toyota. So go with a name brand people know if you ever plan on selling the house someday and be aware you'll lose twice what the thing costs now when you sell.

Kevin - I can't agree with any of that.

Mitsubishi makes some excellent products. Cars aren't one of them.

Let's see a link on the on that NAR statement regarding mini-splits.

Hi Bryan, the US domestic manufacturers are playing catch-up to the Japanese. To me, there is no contest for Mitsubishi vs. Lennox, or carrier, or other American companies stepping into the ASHP market - yet.

Fujitsu is my top choice though Mitsubishi is a close 2nd depending on the situation, but usually the Fujitsu equipment is overall a better performer in our upstate NY climate.

I agree with David, Matt, and Elmer...the Legacy HVAC manufacturers are woefully behind in the Mini split market. They are widely accepted in Europe, so far only a small market share in the States but growing...

TD

The OP's house currently has electric baseboard heating, which is the most expensive and for most home buyers the least desirable way to heat a house in a cold climate like upstate New York. Installing an efficient mini split is going to increase the value of the house and not decrease it. A central ducted system may be more appealing, but in a retrofit situation is very expensive and likely not worth it.

I run across many mini splits in the New York city area, many of which are Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and other brands. I don't recall ever seeing a Lennox label.

Air conditioning in Europe is most commonly seen in the hot summer areas, as around the Mediterranean, and not so much elsewhere. There and throughout Asia, where mini-splits are also the most common approach, other than in newer high rise residential buildings, HVAC systems are rarely ducted. In Europe especially, hot water radiators are most frequently seen. So not only is there not a ducted system to add AC equipment too (as in OP's case), many building are older and adding such equipment is often not feasible. Instead, putting compressors on a roof, or on the ground (for homes) or attaching to an exterior wall, all that's needed is to do in addition is to drill holes in the (often masonry) walls to run the coolant lines to wall mounted units.

I read the 12% figure somewhere in the past but after searching I found the number is for homes without A/C vs homes with A/C so it wasn't a mini split install. I will stand firm on my opinion A whole house heating and cooling mini split system will lower the sale price because it lowers the buyer pool of people unwilling to look at those blowers hanging on the wall.

What do people think? Are they comparable or is one definitely better?

I think it's more important what you think. Do you like having a box that is going to hang on the wall of every room you want heating / cooling?

You're buying this system (whatever it is) for you. The next home owner may not like what you've chosen. I don't think you're taking on this challenge to sell the home? (Those are completely different parameters.)

What's in a name? If that name (whatever it is) is not installed properly? If you call up Lennox or Mitsubishi they are probably going to tell you to find a Licensed HVAC contractor in your area.

All manufacturer's HVAC equipment breaks. Every brand. Every model. Models change, parts change, features change.

When it comes to Mini splits -- shelf life is much shorter than traditional ducted AC systems. So what you buy today... you buy for today and not 10 years from now.

The hyper heat models have an advantage in my opinion and that is producing heat at low outdoor ambient temps. ---- provided of course they are installed properly.

If all the machine does is spit out error codes in the dead cold of winter who you gonna blame?

I have an older house and we retrofitted ac to it a few years ago. We went with one wall hung unit downstairs and a ducted evaporator unit in the loft all connected to one outdoor unit. We went with Mitsubishi hyper heat. Mitsubishi was the only brand at the time that did both a traditional ducted split with a wall mini split on one outside unit that had a decent warranty and an established reputation in the mini split industry.

We have a super efficient gas boiler but it is only one zone for the whole house so we only use the heat pump function as supplemental heat when we want to just heat the ground floor a bit warmer than the bedrooms in fall and spring. I am in connecticut so it does often see sub freezing temps and the heat pump is very fast.

The one wall unit 18k btu in my dining room, although aesthetically unpleasant, both heats and cools my entire downstairs floor very well. Downstairs I have about 1000 sq feet with 9foot ceilings with double door ways between rooms. The ugliness bothered me less than the loss of closet space in every bedroom to house duct work. Even if we went with a high velocity system my already small closets would have lost much needed space. We also have a wood plank and tin ceiling downstairs and honestly the grills in those rooms would have bothered me more than the minisplit does. Grills are ugly too.

Mitsubishi customer service has been wonderful with working to trouble shoot the one issue we had with cooling.

Lennox doesn’t make their own ductless split , it is made by Gree .

Gree is a Chinese brand that most North American HVAC brands use to make the units.They are not known for their efficiency and use cheap parts.

Mitsubishi is the premier brand and offers tremendous energy efficiency, Daikin,Fujitsu,Samsung are next in line for quality and robust performance.

These companies make their own product and aren’t made by someone else.They also offer at least 12 yr parts warranty as standard if registered.

Gree makes York/Lennox and Carrier is made by Toshiba.

However , Trane ductless are now made by Mitsubishi but they used to be Samsung.

The Trane ductless is very good (I don’t sell these)but very good competition !

Are you installing for heating ? If so you need to ask for the heating capacity of the Mitsubishi at 17F and then ask the same for the relabeled Gree/Lennox .

This will give you a base on which to compare the two.

How do I know? I have been in ductless industry since 2005.

Tip:

ask for the engineering data tables that show heating 17F or lower temp and cooling capacity at 68F as they are available to installer . If installer says its not available move on.

As well, compare C.O.P ( coefficient of
Performance) typically a good ductless will be around 3.5 and up.

I live on Vancouver Island in Canada and we have government rebates to install these of 2K for single zone and all way up to 6K .

I have had mine units in since 2006 and have never had any issues. If installed correctly they last a long time, and can save you a lot on Hydro .

Just as I suspected about the Lennox....this is a good post for those considering mini split systems...my first introduction to mini splits was a new boutique hotel in Western NC and as I recall it was a Mitsubishi...I was impressed....

TD

"The Mitsubishi Hyper heat are small footprint condensers with side exhausts". I think this describes all mini-split condensers. I think the outdoor units are all small and blow horizontally. Or were you referring to something else?

I assumed the Lennox system would be a traditional split system, not a minisplit.

The first sentence said the guy is looking into mini-splits.

I have Mitsubishi my neighbor just got lennox. I can hear hers start from across the street and down a few spaces.Mine does not make that noise! If I lived right next to hers it would bother me.Happy with my mitsubishi

The OP lives in upstate NY, as do I, where it gets very cold (-20), so cold weather performance for heating is paramount. The local HVAC contractor I contacted recommends Fujitsu. However, his business is primarily commercial refrigeration, so I don't know how much he knows about the residential market.