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A ducted air-source heat-pump shouldn't cost more than 10% on top of a regular AC system. In my case, the heat pump was the same price as the AC only system. Paid about $8k for a new 1.5ton Lennox condenser and furnace on a townhome. Only options are for electric heat on this property. Re-used existing ducting, line set, and power. Old condenser was toast and an r-12 system.

Dual fuel/hybrid systems will be pricier, but not needed in Georgia. If designed right, the aux heat will be more than enough to supplement.

Poorly sized installations in very poorly insulated homes will need more supplemental heat.

2 comments

This. Heat pumps are just AC run backwards, and it doesn't take much to make an AC able to run in both directions. The only thing is if you need a lot more heating than you need cooling you may need a larger system. But because they're new a different, as well as in demand, you get price gouging on installation compared to an AC in a lot of places.

If you need a lot more heat than cooling, you can't just get a larger system, you have to also go from single-stage to 2/multi stage or inverter-based, so that you can scale down in the summer so you don't cool too quickly and not dehumidify enough.

Subsidies are a real problem, the installers are jacking up the prices, instead of the real subsidies being passed to the consumer. Same thing happened with EV subsidies. You have Kia dealers marking up by exactly the amount the tax credit returns to you.

How did you just decide every sales man in North America is limited to a 10% markup on heat pumps?