Panasonic mini split air cooling and heating solutions have been around since 1983, filling in HVAC retailer shelves and contractor’s packages for many years. And it still does today—just even better. Stylish, highly reliable, and super energy-efficient, these quality ductless systems for single-room and multiple-room applications provide proof why Panasonic is at the helm as one of the major leaders and key players in ductless technology.

Today, many similar new generations of ductless systems abound in the market. You’d not lack of choices in terms of system features. Nor you will have a dearth of options when it comes to capabilities. The availability of unique selections in terms of brands would not be scarce either. But amidst the many choices, Panasonic’s mini split air conditioners and heat pumps are proving to be among the most ideal, cost-effective alternative to traditional systems. These innovative solutions offer a new way of achieving home temperature comfort—minus the cost and installation complexities that people are used to. So if you’re in lookout for a better mini split solution for your unique cooling or heating applications, Panasonic ductless systems are definitely worth a try. But of course, when it comes right down to it, your purchasing decision will be heavily influenced by cost. To help you make a smart choice, this article discusses Panasonic’s mini split offerings and how much you can expect to pay for these systems. But first, a little backgrounder.

The Panasonic Mini Split Systems

Panasonic’s line up of ductless systems is composed of a wide array of highly versatile and efficient mini split air conditioners and heat pumps. Designed for residential and light commercial applications, these systems can be deployed and installed both in single-zone and multi-zone configurations. With Panasonic ductless systems, you will have the option to select a system based on your specific need. You can choose a system that is designed for cooling and heating or a system that can only be used for cooling. It’s up to you entirely. When it comes to indoor units, you will have a variety of mounting or installation options, depending on your requirement or unique installation considerations. Among your choices are wall-mounted, ceiling cassette, ceiling suspended, and concealed duct units. With regard to the installation, you will have freedom to install these systems in different types of configuration—from single-room to multiple-room applications. Panasonic ductless mini split systems are also available in different cooling and heating capacities, enabling you to achieve complete comfort regardless of the size of your rooms.

How Much Should You Expect to Pay for a Panasonic Ductless Mini Split?

In terms of determining the cost of a Panasonic ductless mini split system, one thing that you should remember is that all the available models are built with advanced technology, engineered to provide higher efficiency and capabilities, and packed with some of the most technologically advanced HVAC. All these elements must be factored in the equation when judging the price of these excellent units. Naturally, being technologically more advanced, the Panasonic ductless mini split systems will cost you a little bit more compared with traditional systems. On the average, the Panasonic mini split systems are priced between $1,200 and $4500. If we’ll go with the units that are available at ComfortUp, the Panasonic model CS-RE9SKUA has the lowest price. It comes at $507.99, which is not bad enough for a 16 SEER Pro Series ductless mini split wall-mount indoor unit with a rated capacity of 9,000 BTU. As for the highest-priced unit that you can find at ComfortUp, that would be credited to the Panasonic model U-42PE1U6, which is a 14.6 SEER ductless mini split heat pump outdoor unit with a rated capacity of 42,000 BTU. For systems package only, the cost of a Panasonic mini split varies depending on many factors. The type of the unit, its efficiency level, the built-in features and functionalities, the numbers of air handlers that are included (which applies to multi-room application) all affect cost. Now, let’s try to break all of these things down.

System Cost

Let us say that you need a ductless mini split system to be installed in a converted garage with a size of 350-square-feet footage. In this situation, one of the recommended options is a single-zone Panasonic Pro Series wall mount ductless mini split air conditioner and heat pump. The said model is good to be used for rooms with a size of 300 square-feet up to 500 square-feet. It is also available with efficiencies of 16 SEER and 10.5 EER. It also boasts of10,200 Btu/h maximum cooling capacity and 14,100 Btu/h maximum heating capacity. Given all these efficiencies, the unit is priced at $1,269.98. That will be your overall cost for a system package, which already includes a Panasonic Pro Series ductless mini split heat pump outdoor compressor unit with 16 SEER and a capacity of 9,000 Btu/h, a Pro Series ductless mini split wall mount indoor unit or air handler that come with 16 SEER and a capacity of 9,000 Btu/h, and a standard wireless remote controller. If you’ll choose to maximize the use of the compressor and use the system for dual-zone configuration, you will have to buy another air handler or indoor unit for the additional room. In such a case, you can choose to buy the Panasonic model CS-RE9SKUA, which is a Pro Series ductless mini split wall mount indoor unit at a price of $507.99. Like the other air handler that is included in the bundle, this unit has 16 SEER and 9,000 Btu/h capacity. It also already comes with a designated wireless remote controller. Take note that a typical ductless system can have one single compressor accommodating up to eight air handler units. Basically, the more air handlers you use, the bigger amount of money that you are going to incur. But let’s suppose that you’ve decided to use a standard Panasonic wired timer remote controller which is priced at $284.99 and an ECONAVI sensor which is worth $199.99. Given all these purchases, your expenses so far for the whole system amounts to$2262.95, which is broken down as follows:

Installation Costs

The installation costs typically go up depending on the complexity of the job that is needed in order to set up a dual-zone ductless mini split cooling and heating configuration. Ductless mini split systems are easy to install, but despite that, it is still advisable to hire an HVAC professional who has the license, certification, skills and knowledge, to handle the materials and get the job done. This makes the bulk of your installation costs; of course, aside from the expenses on additional accessories. Normally, two HVAC technicians may be involved with the average-type of installation work, especially if you hire a contractor. At $45.00/hour for each technician working for at least six hours, that would cost you around $270.00 per technician. For the two technicians, your overall labor costs would be $540.00. But normally, more will be added to the total installation costs to cover the supplies and logistics from the contractor. On the average, this expense would amount to $580.00. When you add this up to the labor costs, your total installation bill would reflect an overall expense worth $1120. Here’s the breakdown of the installation costs:

Additional Accessories Expenses

During the installation, your costs would compound a little bit more due to the necessity for additional accessories like the ductless mini split line set. For our sample system—the Panasonic Pro Series wall mount ductless air conditioner and heat pump—you will need a liquid line with a size of ¼ inches and a gas line or suction line with a size of x 3/8 inches. For this, you can use the JMF LS1438FF15W, which consists of two 15-feet semi-flexible copper pipes that you will have to use to connect the outdoor compressor unit with the indoor air handler (evaporator coil). This line set costs around $124.99. While some more materials may be needed, let’s just say that the line set is your only needed accessory for your new mini split. Here’s the breakdown of these particular expenses:

Your Overall Costs

By adding the system costs, installation costs, and accessories costs, you will get at least a ballpark of the total expenses. Check out the table below for the breakdown of all these costs for your dual-zone configuration:  With $1,754.96 as the total cost for a single-zone configuration, the dual-zone requires the addition of another air handler worth $507.99 and a wired timer remote controller priced at $284.99. Combined, these additional indoor unit system and accessory are worth $792.98. To come up with the costs for the tri-zone application, we simply add $792.98 to the dual-zone amount, signifying the addition of another air handler and a wired timer controller. This gives us a total expense of $3,055.93. The same goes with the quad-zone configuration. We just have to add the total costs for additional indoor unit and wired timer controller to the total cost for tri-zone, signifying the integration of another indoor unit and accessory. As a result, we come up with $3,848.91 as the total costs for quad-zone application. Check out the table below for the breakdown of this computation.