2023 Mitsubishi Heat Pump Cost, Installation, Reviews

A Mitsubishi heat pump is regarded as the best in class, most reliable and efficient brand available in the US. Mitsubishi has a wide network of heat pump distributors and licensed installers in every state.

The starting cost of a single zone Mitsubishi mini-split heat pump is $4,580 – $5,890 including professional labor.

How Much Does A Mitsubishi Heat Pump Cost?

A multi-zone Mitsubishi mini-split will cost anywhere from $9,130 to $37,900, depending on the number zones (indoor units in individual rooms), SEER efficiency, and Cold Climate Heating options (H2i Hyper Heat).

Typical cost per zone for a multi-zone system, is about $4,100 to $5,200, including labor.

You can use our Mitsubishi HVAC Cost Calculator to estimate the cost of installing a Mitsubishi heat pump.

To get started on installing a heat pump, contact your local HVAC pros for FREE ESTIMATES!

These prices include all new equipment, new copper refrigerant lines (lineset), outdoor condenser unit stand / pad or wall mount, all necessary communication wiring, etc. Basic remote controls are included with each indoor unit.

Mitsubishi has a variety of options for smart and central thermostats as well as WiFi enabled controllers for each zone, or for the whole system. All these items will cost extra, depending on the type of controller, and how much wiring work will need to be done by installers.

Average cost for WiFi controllers, that work with Mitsubishi smartphone APP, will range from $175 to $225 per zone/room.

If you don’t have existing electrical AC disconnect, you will likely have to pay about $500-750 for electrician to install new circuit breaker, new electrical wiring and AC disconnect box near outdoor unit, to provide power for you Mitsubishi heat pump.

Cost of Labor To Install A Mitsubishi Heat Pump

Typical labor cost for installing Mitsubishi mini split systems, is about 35-40% of total cost, or 65-75% of total equipment cost.

Some aspects to consider here, is when you want to have Ceiling Cassette or Concealed Duct indoor units installed. These will required a lot of extra labor, thus increasing overall cost.

Ceiling Cassette type indoor unit will require some framing and mounting work in your attic (these units typically cannot be installed between floors). Your installing will need to install hangers to support the unit, as well as frame out a new opening that fits the Ceiling Cassette air handler.

Most Ceiling Cassettes are bigger than standard 16″ O.C. residential framing, and will not fit between ceiling joists. Finally, a water condensate pump and drainage hose will need to be installed, to get rid of water accumulation during cooling cycle.

Extra cost for each Ceiling Cassette indoor unit will be about $1,000 to $1,200.

Concealed Duct type indoor will require similar work, with the exception of framing out the openings in your ceilings. Instead, your installers will have to run supply and return ducts from an attic-mounted concealed duct air handler, and install ceiling inlets and outlets.

As is the case with Ceiling Cassettes, a Concealed Duct unit will also need condensate pump and drainage installed.

Extra cost for each Concealed Duct indoor unit will be about $1,300 to $1,700.

Is Mitsubishi Too Expensive? As good as it is, Mitsubishi may be a bit overpriced. But fear not – there are other, more reasonable alternatives. Cooper & Hunter (C&H) is one such alternative. Made by world’s biggest HVAC manufacturer (MIDEA), Cooper & Hunter offers reasonable costs (30-40% less than Mitsubishi), paired with very capable, reliable and efficient equipment.

Check out our Cooper & Hunter cost estimator, to see how much you can save compared to a Mitsubishi mini-split.

Factors That Impact Your Total Mitsubishi Heat Pump Cost

If you live in colder climates, and want to use your heat pump for heating, you will need to go with a Cold Climate rated H2i (Hyper Heat) Mitsubishi mini split system. These units typically cost about 5-10% more that a non hyper heat counterpart, with similar specs.

If you want a more efficiency systems – for example you want a 20 SEER vs 17 SEER efficiency, your cost will again be about 4-7% higher.

Another factor that will increase cost per zone is the fact that for 3+ zone systems, Mitsubishi uses a “branch box” which is used to distribute refrigerant from a central location in your attic or basement, to various indoor air handlers in different rooms of your home.

While this eliminates multiple refrigerant ports on the outdoor compressor, and reduces the number of copper tubes going from each zone to the condenser, it still complicates the installation, as now refrigerant lines need to connect to the Branch Box, often making the install more complicated.

Also, the refrigerant distribution is more complex, as now the condenser sends all the gas to the branch box, and from there, it is equally distributed to each zone, versus metered distribution using EEV (Electronic Expansion Valve) used by other manufacturers to control flow of gas to each zone.

Finally, each zone needs to be field-programmed by installation technician, to tell the main condenser, how many zones are connected, and what is the size and type of each zone.

All these factors complicate the installation, and increase total cost.

Cost of A Mitsubishi Heat Pump vs Daikin vs Fujitsu

Mitsubishi is widely considered by HVAC professionals, building engineers, architects and specifiers, as the most reliable and efficient Ductless heat pump brand (followed by Fujitsu and Daikin).

Another very popular brand of mini split heat pumps is DAIKIN – a Japanese HVAC equipment manufacturer (recently acquired by US HVAC manufacturer Goodman).

Daikin makes mini split heat pumps for residential market, and VRF (variable refrigerant flow) HVAC systems for commercial HVAC market, as well as other HVAC equipment and accessories. Daikin heat pumps are very reliable, although generally less efficient than comparable Mitsubishi mini split systems.

Cost wise, Daikin systems cost about 3-5% less than market leader Mitsubishi heat pumps of comparable size and efficiency.

Energy Efficiency (SEER rating) of Mitsubishi Ductless Systems

Most Mitsubishi heat pumps will have a SEER rating of 18-20 or higher! This alone makes them 70-100% more efficient then a conventional Central AC’s SEER rating currently in service across US, with an average 9-13 SEER rating.

Single zone Hyper Heat systems will have a SEER rating ranging between 24-33 SEER, which is a 100% to 200% more efficient that average Central Air systems.

NOTE: In our calculator, we have a single setting for 21-33 SEER, because this rating changes with the SIZE of the unit.

A 6000 BTU will be rated at 33 SEER, while bigger 18K BTUs will have a 21 SEER rating. The bigger is the Cooling capacity of a unit, the lower will be the SEER number.

Most multi-zone Mitsubishi ductless heat pumps will be rated between 17.9 SEER and 21 SEER, depending on size, and type of indoor unit being used.

PRO TIP: Typical cooling cost savings of a 20 SEER ductless heat pump vs an older 9 SEER central air will be:

$1,050 to $1,460 per year in the North East (MA, CT, NY, NJ, etc).
$1,100 to 1,270 per year in the South (FL, TX, etc).
$1,720 to $1,855 per year in California!

It totally makes sense to upgrade your old AC to a Mitsubishi Heat Pump. You can recoup your investment is as little as 5-7 years!

Use our AC efficiency SEER calculator to estimate energy savings in your state.

Besides direct SEER savings, which measures the efficiency of AC compressor, add another 10-30% wasted in the air ducts, and consider much better moisture removal of a variable speed inverter compressor on ALL Mitsubishi heat pumps, and you can enjoy your much smaller electric bill, and no more humidity!

Ductless Is The Name!

As name states, Mitsubishi heat pumps are (in most cases) ductless, as in do not use any air ducts. Each roof will have an individual zone (indoor unit), which has its own supply of refrigerant gas, and can operate independently of other rooms / zones.

This dramatically increases efficiency and energy savings in multiple ways.

• 1) No ducts means you eliminate as much as 10-25% heat loss common in your typical home’s ductwork.
• 2) Each zone can be individually turned ON or OFF. If you are in the living room most of the day and in your bedroom at night, there is not reason to cool or heat your whole house at the same temperature. You can completely turn off indoor unit (or lower the temperature) in the rooms that don’t have any people, tremendously reducing your heating costs & cooling costs.
• 3) Individual settings allow each person in your home to be comfortable. Some people like it warm, some like it cool. Each room’s temperature can be individually controlled, to please every person in your house!
• 4) Using Mitsubishi app, you can remotely control each room’s indoor unit, to turn it ON/OFF or schedule it to go ON/OFF at particular time of the day/night, etc! This is VERY convenient!

Heat Pump State Rebates

Cold climate heat pumps are often required to qualify for highest level of rebates, in states like NY, NJ and others, and should be included on NEEP cold climate heat pump list.

NOTE: Non-hyper heat Mitsubishi heat pumps will only heat in outdoor temperatures of +5°F, and will have lower heat output. They will also go into “defrost mode” more often than H2i models.

As can be seen in above video, a defrost cycle which happens only in heating mode, is used to melt ice build-up on the outdoor coil (condenser unit) which happens more often in high humidity, and block the air flow through the coil, which prevents heat absorption.

Heat pumps use reversing valve to change the flow of refrigerant, diverting hot gas through outside coil, which rapidly melts the ice.

However, this melted ice can accumulate and freeze at the bottom of a condenser unit (base pan). When ice build-up reaches fan blades, the heat pump becomes inoperable, as fan is needed for airflow through the coil.

This is where a base pan heater becomes essential. It will melt any ice before it becomes too big.

How Much Will My Heat Pump Rebate Be?

Since each state has their own rebate levels and requirements, which change often, we cannon provide information for each state.

However, just to give you an example, in the best case scenario, you can get as much as $15,000 in combined state and federal rebates and tax credits – see below:

In Massachusetts, you will get up to $10,000 (yes, 10 grand) in rebates to instal whole-house DUCTLESS heat pump, that meets requirements. Most Mitsubishi systems do!

In New York state, the rebate is $1000-$1400 per 10K BTUs of system size, per HeatSmartCNY website.

Up to $1,400 per 10,000 Btuh if removing your oil tank or previous fossil fuel heating source. $1000 per 10,000 Btuh, if not removing oil tank or old fossil fuel heating system.

All whole home incentives require heat pump to be the primary heating source.

Where they can “get ya” is on Heating vs Cooling capacity. Heat Pumps generally have 10% more heating capacity than cooling.

Thus, an 18,000 BTU mini split will have about 20-21K heating capacity. However, NY is not clear on which measure they use to calculate rebate.

We estimate a typical 2000 sq. ft. home in NY will need around 90,000 BTUs of heating capacity, and can qualify for up-to $12,600 in state rebates!

Federal Tax Credit is 30% of the project cost, up-to $2000, according to Energy Star.

Why Go For A Mitsubishi Ductless Heat Pump System?

First and foremost – Mitsubishi HVAC equipment is designed in Japan by a company that builds submarines, airplanes, and nuclear reactors.

These are some of the most capable engineers in the world, working with mindset of efficiency and reliability in leu of limited natural and energy resources in Japan.

With such high regard, comes a premium price tag for both equipment / material costs and installation labor.

While you will typically pay more for a Mitsubishi ductless system, the extra cost is a combination of higher-priced equipment, as well as more skilled labor.

Mitsubishi requires its certified installers to go through training classes to attain certification, which allow the company to install its equipment. This involves not just the company owner, but every single technician working on the installation of Mitsubishi HVAC equipment.

This is done, because Mitsubishi systems are more complex that most other mini-split brands. For example:

• Any modern multi-zone (multi-room) Mitsubishi heat pump with 3 zones or more, requires a Branch Box, which distributes refrigerant from a single supply line, to multiple rooms/zones.
  
  These branch boxes cost anywhere from $650 to $1000 each, adding up to total cost in equipment, and requires technician’s knowledge on how to properly connect individual indoor units to the box.
• Multi-zone Mitsubishi systems need to be field programmed for each zone (indoor unit) to tell the central condenser unit, how many zones are connected, and what size & type of indoor unit is being used.
  
  Without training and proprietary software, these systems cannot be programmed. This means that you will NOT get a “hack” HVAC installer working on your mini split.
• All flare connections must be done in accordance with Mitsubishi specification, and all systems are pressure tested, vacuumed using micron gauge, before any refrigerant is released into the system.
  
  This insures long-lasting performance, and eliminate/prevents most “freon leaks” which are so common with conventional Centra Air Conditioners.

These are just some of the examples that make Mitsubishi Heat Pumps stand out from a large multitude HVAC “manufacturers”, that often rebranded & mass-produced Chinese heat pumps, such as:

– Lennox
– Armstrong
– Carrier
– Bryant
– Many others

Most of the time, these are rebranded Gree and Midea heat pumps, with a fancy brand name slapped on the plastic cover.

Mitsubishi Heat Pump vs Fujitsu

Fujitsu, like Mitsubishi, is a Japanese HVAC equipment manufacturer. In our opinion Fujitsu & Mitsubishi are equally reliable, with Fujitsu being more efficient at same price level.

The reason Mitsubishi is more expensive, is because in the early 2010s Fujitsu has “dropped the ball” in the marketing of its products, while Mitsubishi picked up the lost market share, and increased/improved its marketing and outreach, creating a “narrative” that Mitsubishi heat pumps are better.

Now in 2023, most installers and architects consider Mitsubishi to be superior to Fujitsu, merely because of better marketing of the former. From a technical standpoint, Fujitsu is just as efficient and reliable as Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi Heat Pump vs Daikin

Daikin (another Japanese HVAC equipment manufacturer) has for the most part been a brand of more expensive mini splits and VRFs aimed at commercial market, large condo developments, etc, and low end residential market. By “low end” we mean low-cost, entry level models sold through various online and brick-and-mortar distributors.

While Daikin mini split heat pumps are very reliable, they are lacking in the high efficiency end of spectrum. Daikin does not have true Cold Climate Heating models (down to -15°F outdoor temps), and do not have any single-zone models above 28 SEER, while both Fujitsu and Mitsubishi have a multitude of Cold Climate Heating models, in both single & multi zone systems, and have several single zone models above 33 SEER.

To put it bluntly, Daikin is a reliable, middle of the road brand of HVAC equipment.

Mitsubishi Heat Pump vs Lennox

Lennox is NOT a true Ductless Mini Split heat pump manufacturer, as Lennox does not product (manufacture) any of its mini split systems. Instead, Lennox sources their ductless equipment from Chinese manufacturers, such as GREE and MIDEA (possible others), and rebrands these systems as Lennox.

These non-Japanese manufacturers (when compared to Mitsubishi, Fujitsu & Daikin), have lower quality, and lower efficiency equipment. Also, because these Lennox systems are simply rebranded models, Lennox does not have true oversight or control of manufacturing, quality control, parts sourcing, etc.

As a result, the homeowner will get a system of unknown origin, with no true manufacturing oversight, and pay a huge premium for the Lennox brand.

Is A Mitsubishi Ductless Heat Pump Worth It?

If you want top of the line, no compromises, highly reliable and efficient Mini Split Heat Pump, and are ok to pay a premium for the “brand name”, Mitsubishi is definitely worth it! Here is why:

When installed correctly, you should have 10-20+ years of service-free use of your AC/Heat Pump. No refrigerant leaks, no service calls, no wasted days waiting for the HVAC guy to show up, no refilling the refrigerant at $300 per visit. If you ever had a central air, you know all of this too well.

Still, in our opinion, Fujitsu is just as reliable, yet less complicated (no need to field program each zone), and it just work, works well, heats and cools your home year round, and also does not pose any issues.

Both Fujitsu & Mitsubishi offer comparable systems, with one exception. Fujitsu Hyper Heat (-15°F) models top out at 4 zones, 36K BTUs and 20 SEER, whereas Mitsubishi goes up to 5 zones, 48K BTUs and 23 SEER rating, in a single residential multi-zone system.

If you need more than 4-5 zones, you will need to use more than one system regardless. The choice is your, and we can confidently say that both brands are equally reliable.