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The no 1 obstacle in us adopting heat pump is the installation cost, currently there is no way you can recuperate the initial cost of replacing gas furnace with a mini split, because you can get billed 10k in labor for a 1.5 day work even the equipment itself cost only 2k.

You can not just send people checks and expect things can go well.

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There are DIY mini-split systems that require only a couple of wrenches and drill. Installed one myself in garage last year. Only paid to electrician to run 240v

You should use vacuum pump to avoid emitting GHG

there is nothing to vacuum in diy systems. wall and outdoor units come pre-vacuumed and all the refrigerant is in lineset

I didn't know that pre-charged refrigerant lines is a thing. I wonder how they purge air.

wall unit and outdoor unit come pre-vacuumed and sealed. lineset filled with gas and sealed. when you connect lineset to units seals are broken and gas fills entire system.

The same reason can be asked why not just buy a couple hard drives and a server instead of going to cloud, because most people can not do much beyond their professions.

What makes the installation so expensive?

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