heat pump, central air and heat and a mini split as far as cost of operation? heat pump same as central air and heat except that the heat pump provides the bulk of the heat. this is what I recomend to my clients based on savings compared to electric strip heat. with heat pumps the electric strip is emergency heat and for when temps are 30 degrees..which is not that often for us. central air is electric strip heating only. the most expensive way to heat your home. (espically if you have entergy for your utility provider) mini splits are pretty cool. expensive but fit a lot of needs and great for tight retrofit spots. the condensing unit goes outside like with any set up, but this is where it changes. in each room the air is provided by a wall mounted air handler unit. the condensing units are up to 3 tons. each room would have the ahu..this is what they are calling zones. cost is higher, but you don't have ductwork, so it evens out a little better. with the foam insulation & low e windows your tonnage of ac required will be less. although I don't recomend 'rule of thumb' sizing instead of the ususal 400 to 500 sq ft per ton, your house will be more in the range of 600 to 700 sq ft per ton. oversizing will cost more to operate, wear the equipment out sooner, and will NOT dehumidify. be diligent in finding out what is being spec'd for your home and what options are available for you. some systems will qualify for tax credit, and it is always a good idea to do better than the legal minimum allowed by law (code). in what part of La. are you building? best of luck.

Thanks for posting your paint color. I love it and was wondering what it was. I'll keep in mind BM Quiet Moments for our own bedroom. In terms of how the unit looks it doesn't bother me at all. The ceiling is already odd in that style room and the unit is the same color as alot of your other items in the room so it all sort of goes together. Glad you got to use it for heat. They do a great job at that and a great job of cooling. I see so many of my neighbors on nextdoor complaining that this room in their house either doesn't get enough heat in the winter or doesn't get enough cooling in the summer. You will never have that problem with a ductless mini-split. The room will always be exactly what you want it to be with no fuss. You'll get spoiled by the comfort and look at the unit with fondness.

I cannot. We have no ducting in the house as it relies on baseboard water heating and there was no A/C installed to begin with. The Unico system is a high velocity with duct sizing 2-3", so that would be out as well to use. Not to mention it will be removed when the entire system will be removed.

I've been sleeping with this Mitsubishi slim cassette above my bed for about 4 months. The condenser pump pumps the water to a nearby sink drain. During the crazy heat wave it was really cranking 24/7. The cassettes come in a default mode for the fan to stay on even with the condenser is not cooling or heating the room but you can change that so that once the room is at temperature it will turn off. This machine is far quieter than my forced air HVAC, but you can set the fan at silent mode, I find it doesn't distribute the cool air as aggressively as the HIGH fan speed. In my experience all the fan speeds are a low white noise and the pump is not an issue. Keeping the cassette high or on the ceiling is the way to go because it's an oscillating fan as well to circulate the air when the windows are open. There is a infrared add-on option that makes the airflow track you in the room, aiming the heating or cooling directly at you as you move... obviously that is best for a bigger room. The cost saving has been amazing. I can't recommend it highly enough.