Ionized, I am always amazed at the workings of Utilities. As I said, there is a significant rebate presence around the mini-splits to reclaim the heating market lost to gas and oil years ago. Remember the 50's & 60's when the mantra was the "Gold Medallion" home? Total electric! the embrace of that concept, low first cost, led to a huge market in gas conversions. That is the primary market I attacked with the Rinnai Energysavers in New England and we sold a couple hundred thousand of them. I've heated my home with them since '91. In conjunction with the mshp's it is just a great combination. Gas is still the right alternative for heat, but as the compressor bearing technology continues to improve and they get better at hot water it is going to be really interesting going forward. So, today, gas for heat and hot water is the right choice, for me at least. Once cooling gets into the equation the heat side is impacted and we'll have to see where it goes. It's a big market and nothing is going to happen all at once. On the duct work leakage question of interior/exterior things definitely get murky. The thing is, every system has a personality. The exterior mounted stuff is the worst. The interior systems have substantial problems too. It is fairly common where due to leakage you create different pressure zones (+/-) in a home that can actually increase infiltration into the space. Snidely, it is difficult to say it is this cost. The output of the units will vary somewhat with temperature. Actually, the Feds don't even know how to accurately determine seer ratings. When I speak with the Japanese Engineers they say the 25's are closer to 35 seer, but we live where we live, so.... 25 it is. I can tell you that in my home here in the dry dry foothills of CA, I heat with my Rinnai EX22 and a dual mshp upstairs. I have a 25 seer 12 and a 23 (?) seer 15 downstairs. I also run a Rinnai tankless for dhw. My 250 gal LP tank lasted 14 months. The house is 2200sq ft. My highest bill to run the whole place peak of winter and summer (well, lights, heat/cool, the works) has been $85 and we do not suffer comfort wise under any circumstances. In the spring/fall shoulder seasons the bill falls to $35-40. If you are looking for heat, I'd absolutely go with the Rinnai's over the mshp's. From a comfort point, gas is hard to beat. From a technology point with the modulating burner, blower, etc the Rinnai's are the best heating appliance I've seen in 50+ years in the business. You have a decision to make on your 40 yr old leaky ducting. If you can find someone to do the job, do not pay for it until the system meets the CA requirement of a max of 6% leakage. I spoke with a contractor who, in Clearlake repaired a single story raised ranch with 12 outlets. two men 1.5 days, $2,400. I spoke with another contractor who repaired big home up in Carson City, $11,500. Yikes! When we moved west 4 years ago my duct system was beyond salvation and would have been impossible, due to access issues, to repair. I pulled it all our and took it and the five year old furnace/condensing unit to the dump. with my current combination of the Rinnai's and mishap, I am all zoned, net to the space and comfortable. Oh, and I gained two closets by removing the ductwork and also gained the storage under the staircase. Doing what I did is a REAL step, but you need to evaluate the whole package first, break it down and see what is best for your home. Fun isn't it?

RIGHT SIZE MINI SPLIT. https://www.minisplitairconditioningsystem.org/ 9000 Btu|3/4 Ton|(under 400 Sq Feet) 12000 Btu|1 Ton|(400-600 Sq Feet) 18000 Btu|1.5 Ton|(600-800 Sq Feet) 24000 Btu|2 Ton|(800-1200 Sq Feet) 30000 Btu|2.5 Ton|(1200-1500 Sq Feet) 36000 Btu|3 Ton|(1500-1800 Sq Feet) 48000 Btu|4 Ton|(1800-2000 Sq Feet) 60000 BTU|5 TON|(OVER 2000 SQ FEET) BENEFITS OF A DUCTLESS MINI-SPLIT. https://www.airconditionersductless.com/ EASE OF INSTALLATION In most cases, you can connect the air handler with the compressor/condenser by running the electrical conduit through a three-inch hole in the wall. The outdoor unit can connect to the air handler from as far as 50 feet away, allowing you to place it in a less conspicuous area even when connecting to rooms that face the street. Also, mini-splits are ideal as a retrofit add-on for old homes without preexisting ductwork. They are increasingly being found in homes that: Have a costly heating system but no cooling option Have an outbuilding that ducts cannot reach Are located in areas with high fuel costs ZONING CAPABILITIES Chances are you need more than one room heated and cooled, and fortunately, one outdoor unit can power as many as four air handlers. You get the option of zoning, then, without the need for cumbersome ductwork, dampers, and so on. Each room, or zone, can have its own thermostat, letting you condition the air only when those rooms are occupied. There are smart thermostats available that are compatible with mini-splits. LOWER ENERGY BILLS Energy loss through ductwork accounts for more than 30% of all HVAC energy consumption, according to the Department of Energy. Mini-splits bypass this concern altogether. They also transfer heat rather than generating it through electric resistance or the burning of fuel, so they are very energy-efficient. This will translate into lower bills.

Hi Elmer I read through your comments strongly supporting NG over HP option due to its cost advantage. Do you know a 10 KW solar system can be installed in CA today for $15000 after tax incentive , which will generate approx. 15000 KwH of electricity per year ? I am exactly doing this for my 1995 built 3375 sq ft home in bay area as this appears to be the cheapest route to bring down my energy cost as compared to other options like improve insulation, change windows or upgrade 1995 installed 80% efficient NG furnace etc. Till my NG furnace is alive and kicking, I plan to use it minimally in the morning to take the chill out of the home and rely on supplemental electrical heating ( resistive ) to keep the house warm . Resistive heating is inefficient, but ok as stop gap option particularly if my electricity is coming from solar. When it's time to bid farewell to these antique NG fired machines, I plan to take HP route for my home heating and air conditioning. Even without any of these actions and just install of solar, my current electricity only bill will be reduced from $2800 / year ( 10000 KwH ) to zero. That will pay for solar install cost in just 5 years. Add to it cost saving from an electric car ( which I don't have at this time ), payback is even shorter. My yearly NG heating consumption is 700-750 therms. The baseline consumption of 20 therms / month or 250 therms / year will always remain due to NG cooking appliance and NG water heater. But the rest 500 therms / year NG consumption can be eliminated when I replace central ducted existing NG Furnace / AC system with ducted heat pump (no splits). There will be more upfront cost to install heat pump as compared to NG furnace / AC option , but I am hoping this differential to be in the range of $2-3K , particularly if I go with heat pump option like MrCool Universal ( will work well in temperate Bay Area weather ) instead of fancy Fujitsu or Mitsubishi heat pumps. And saving of $1000 from eliminating consumption of 500 therms / year should help offset this cost sooner rather than later. Due to these considerations, I decided to go for 10KW Solar System that gives me enough capacity of solar generated electricity to meet these loads. Time to give a fresh look to all ( almost ) electric home with recent price reduction ( actually since June, 2020 ) in solar install cost.

Ductless is not going to offer “air purification” or lower noise. With ductless, you have a blower in each “head.” The air filtration is just the basic dust-filter like is on a portable AC. As others have said, 1600ft ranch is too small for 5 zones. Probably you’re looking at bedrooms on one zone and living areas on the other. But you shouldn’t really think of it like that - orientation matters most. Consider the heat gain at various times of day. If one bedroom is on the East side and one on the north side, the East bedroom is getting cooked while the north bedroom is experiencing little heat gain. Mini-split doesn’t necessarily mean ductless. They can be hooked up to small or full-size air handlers. You could do two separate mini-split ducted systems - one for the bedrooms and one for the living areas for example. This will likely give you the best efficiency and comfort. Mini-splits don’t modulate nearly as well when multiple heads are connected to one compressor.