How do Ductless Heat Pump Brands Compare?

Author: Bill Hoelzer / Published: February 2021 / Read Time: Two and a Half Minutes

Mitsubishi, Daikin, Fujitsu, LG - You have lots of options for a new ductless heat pump. In this article, we offer a comparison of the pricing and features for each of the major brands, including efficiency, noise, warranties, and more.

If you want to learn more about which ductless heat pump makes sense for your home in Portland or Central Oregon, feel free to give us a call at 541.330.8767, or schedule an appointment online.

Compare Ductless Heat Pump Brands

How do you ductless heat pump brands stack up? Let’s compare the features of popular 12K BTU models with high efficiency ratings. The brand that’s best in class for each feature gets bolded in the table below.

Price + EFFICIENCY

If the upfront price is your #1 consideration, you’ll probably want to go with LG.

That said, LG offers the best price because they also produce the lowest quality systems (compared to the other major brands). There’s a reason that a ductless heat pump from LG comes with the shortest warranty coverage.

Mitsubishi offers the best ratio of efficiency to cost, followed in order by Daikin, Fujitsu, and LG.

LG ductless heat pumps are five to seven percent less efficient than Mitsubishi’s. The $200-$250 that you would save on the upfront price would get spent on higher utility bills within about three years. After that, you'll end up paying more money for an LG ductless heat pump.

noise levels

Decibel Ratings for Common Sounds

Every HVAC system makes some amount of noise. When you use your system, you have to live with that noise. Comparing the major brands of ductless heat pumps, Mitsubishi is the clear winner, operating with whisper-quiet efficiency.

A Daikin ductless heat pump makes about 30% more noise. The difference is noticeable, and it seems to affect some people more than others. If you’re sensitive to mechanical noises, you’ll want to go with Mitsubishi.

warranty

Both Mitsubishi and Daikin are known for the durability. That’s why they offer the best warranties on the market - 12 year warranties for the compressor and parts.

To get the full warranty for a Mitsubishi ductless heat pump, you’ll need to hire a Diamond Contractor® [cough] like GreenSavers [cough] for the installation, and register your new system within 90 days.

Here at GreenSavers, we register all new Mitsubishi heat pumps to make sure our clients get the full warranty coverage.

Air Quality

Each of the major brands includes washable air filters that remove general allergens and trap particulate matter that can cause foul odors in your home.

Here again, Mitsubishi has a slight edge. Their ductless heat pumps come with a catechin pre-filter. Catechin is a natural antiviral and antibacterial agent, which also acts as a deodorizer. After passing through the pre-filter, air then goes through a blue enzyme filter that stops active bacteria and viruses.

While all of the brands offer decent air filtration, Mitsubishi does more to remove fine particulates (think about wildfire smoke) that can make hurt your health at home.

Replacing Your Furnace

Want to go electric and replace your furnace with a high efficiency heat pump? You’ll find the most flexibility with Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi is currently the only company that allows you to replace your furnace with an air handler connected to a multi-zone outdoor unit, and take advantage of that to put wall mounted or additional ducted heads to create a zoned solution for control of comfort throughout your home.

“Mitsubishi Electric stands out in this field.”

(New York Times Wirecutter, June 2020)

At the end of the day, we find that Mitsubishi ductless heat pumps offer the best combination of price, performance, and features. That’s why we strongly recommend Mitsubishi heat pumps to our clients in Portland and Central Oregon. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line anytime: 541.330.8767.