Is a ductless mini split right for me?

[medic483]

Looking to heat and cool a 30x30x14ft shop, wood construction with vinyl siding. We have a decent R value insulation in the walls with blow in in the attic and the 2 garage doors are insulated as well. We have a 200amp service at our disposal, and I'm really not looking to spend the extra cash to run a gas line to the shop, unless the savings is really worth it. Usage consists of 1-2 times a week, wood working and grinding on metal, located in the midwest where temps range from 10*f for a couple months to 95*f during the summer. I was quoted $5500 from a local hvac installer for a ductless mini split. Does this sounds outrageous? Cause to me it does. I don't want to go with a window unit at all. So is a ductless mini split right for this size shop given the high ceilings? Would a conventional home style HVAC be better suited/cheaper?

 

[JCByrd24]

The issue with a mini split in your situation is that it sounds like you don't want to heat it all the time. As such I would suspect you want pretty good recovery time from 40-45 degrees that the building will likely stay when unheated. A smaller minisplit of 15-25K BTU/hr will not do that like a 45K BTU/hr unit heater. That being said, you could get a larger unit or you could also supplement with cheap electric heater if you found recovery was not to your liking. Also, you'd have AC in the summer, a big advantage.

I'm not sure what you are talking about conventional home style HVAC. If you are going to have AC at all in a garage the minisplit is perfect, no need for ducting/zones/etc. What you do for recovery or when it's really cold and the mini split doesn't quite do it depends on home much you want to spend and how picky you are about the recovery rate. $5500 does seem high for a minisplit, unless it's a very large one. $3500 for a ~20K BTU/hr unit here is about the going rate.

P.S. We don't have NG here so mini-splits are competitive with any source of heating, even pellets, but my understanding is NG is really cheap in some places. My propane heater cost more to run the straight resistance electric because I don't use it other than the garage.