The Cost of Ductless (Podcast)

In this podcast, Tim Schofield and Matt Torre from Jones Services talk about the cost of ductless with John Maher. They explain which factors affect the cost of a ductless system. Then, they look at surprise costs that may come up during installation and explain how Jones Services protects its clients from unexpected costs.

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher, and I’m here today with Tim Schofield and Matt Torre of Jones Services, a service company in Goshen, New York with a focus on Mitsubishi heating and cooling systems. Today, we’re talking about the cost of ductless. Welcome, Tim and Matt.

Tim Schofield: Hey, John. Thanks for having us.

Matt Torre: Hey, John. Nice to talk again.

How Much Does a Ductless System Cost?

John: Thanks. Guys, how much does a ductless system cost?

Tim: Yeah, John, that’s the big question. Ductless systems can range based on the design layout, the size of the home, and location of the equipment. That type of question is difficult to just give an answer on; but the bottom line is, we can come up with a design and a solution with a monthly payment plan and rebates that typically fit most people’s budgets.

Factors That Affect the Cost of Ductless

John: Yeah, and there’s a lot involved in it. It’s not just the cost of the equipment, right? You have the equipment and the installation, and obviously it depends on what models of ductless systems you’re installing, things like that?

Tim: Yeah, absolutely. John. There’s some things that can change the cost of the installation, but coming up with the right design for the home and then coming up with a cost for that is the best place to start.

John: What are some of the other things that play a role in the overall cost of a ductless system in a home?

Tim: Location of the equipment, the size of the home, the electrical supply to it. Then there’s a lot of different types of units we can install in a house, not just ductless that mounts on the wall. So those things will contribute to the overall cost.

What Determines the Cost of Installing Ductless?

John: When you talk about installation costs, what are some of the factors there that would increase or decrease the cost of an installation?

Tim: Well, the size of the house. The more heating and cooling you need is going to determine the size of your equipment. Naturally, a larger home is going to need either more equipment or bigger equipment. So that’s a direct installation cost.

Then location of things. So if you have your electrical panel on one side of the house, but you want your equipment on the other, there’s going to be some more time and material involved in putting all those things in those locations.

How Does the Installer Estimate Installation Costs?

John: All right. Can you talk a little bit more about what happens during the installation. When you come out, are you able to give a homeowner an estimate of what it’s going to cost based on, like you said, the location of where you’re installing each one of the indoor units and the outdoor units and how long those pipes are that have to go between those? Are you able to estimate that at the time that you’re doing a first review of a person’s house?

Matt: You know, John, that’s a great question. It’s something that a lot of customers ask us quite frequently when they’re calling in to possibly get some more information. Really, that’s why it’s so important to have somebody from our company come out and actually walk your property with you, take a look at all the rooms, take a look at the exterior and the interior of the home, because our goal is to be able to provide you with a price that’s going to include all equipment and labor charges so that you guys can feel comfortable with making that decision in choosing Jones.

There’s the idea of where we’re going to place the equipment, how much equipment we’re going use, on what wall we may mount something, or in what ceiling we may mount something are all things that are going to be important to the customer and are going to be important to us to know up front so that we can make sure that we’re pricing the job correctly from the start.

How Should Homeowners Prepare for Ductless Installation?

John: When you come out to do the installation, are there things that a homeowner needs to do to prepare for you to be there and do the installation? If there’s things that the homeowner doesn’t do ahead of time, does that incur extra costs or anything like that?

Matt: Well, I think the most important thing is to make sure that all the decision makers and the users of the equipment are going to be there, so anybody who’s going to interact with it. My wife and I may have different opinions and wants and needs of what we’re looking to have that system do. So it’s really nice when we can have everybody involved there to meet us all at one time to talk about what goals you have with the system and what concerns you may have with the system so that we can tailor our design to really match that.

Outside of that, there’s not a whole lot the customer really needs to up front other than just be aware that we’re going to have to have access to all spots within the home. So probably going to need to take a look in the attic if there is one, take a look down in the basement, view the electrical panel. So really just being able to provide us 60 to 90 minutes to ask them a bunch of questions about their home and what they want the system to do, and then to be able to take us through a tour of their home both inside and out is really all we’ll need to be able to tailor a solution to them.

Are There Unexpected Costs During Ductless Installation?

John: In terms, again, of the cost of installing a ductless system, is there anything else that could crop up maybe at the last minute that while you’re doing the installation, that all of a sudden you say, “Hey, this is going to cost a little extra because of this situation or that situation”? Do you see anything like that cropping up or is it all covered when you do the review of the house?

Matt: Part of the thing that we have with Jones Services is price guarantees. Basically, if we price a job and we expect it to take us three and a half days in your home and it takes a fourth for us to get the job done right, we’re going to take that on us and never apply that cost to the customer.

The one thing that I will say could affect the price while you’re in the middle of a project is if the customer chooses to relocate a piece of equipment or change the design from what was originally agreed on. But once we’ve given you a price and agreed on a design, the benefit of working with us is that you’ll know that we’re going to stick to that price even if we do incur some small additional costs while coming upon installation.

Should Homeowners Buy and Install Ductless on Their Own?

John: Should a homeowner attempt to purchase and install a ductless system to try to save some money? I know you can go online and you can buy a ductless system. Maybe they think that they’re handy and they’ve done some jobs around the house. Is it something that a homeowner could potentially install themselves? Or is that not a good idea?

Tim: The systems, if the homeowner was to try to purchase and do it themselves … I’m not saying they can’t, there’s plenty of handy people that can research and do things. But what they have to understand is those costs that they’re going to incur just for the equipment, the materials, the electrical supply, they’re probably going to need a lot of tools and specialty things to install that system. It’s almost a risk because in doing that with these types of systems you could void the manufacturer’s warranty because it wasn’t installed by a professional contractor.

Then a lot of the off-brand units that you could buy on the internet, they’re almost disposable. You could spend thousands and thousands of dollars putting it in yourself, have a problem, and then you can’t find any professional that’s going to want to work on that. So you’re risking a large amount of money to try to save a little bit up front.

Contact Jones Services to Learn More About the Cost of Ductless

John: All right. Well, that’s really great information. Tim and Matt, thanks again for speaking with me today.

Matt: Hey, thanks for having us.

Tim: Yeah, thanks John.

John: For more information, you can visit the website at jonesservices.com or call (845) 294-1010.