[vmh1928]

How many btu? How many sq feet or meters are you trying to heat or cool? Are you in the U.S.? What brand? $2500 seems low or for a small living space.

copied from the web (so you know it's true.) "30 BTU of heating output per 1 sq ft of living space. For every sq ft of living space, you need about 30 BTU of heating output. That means, for example, that for a 1,000 sq ft home, you would require a 30,000 BTU heat pump (that's a 2.5-ton heat pump)."

Cost from 2021 (so it's more now with shortages and inflation.) For $2500 USD you are under 2 tons.

https://www.avsheatingandair.com/hvac-cost/heat-pump-install...

[andrew_]

> Are you in the U.S.?

Indeed

> What brand?

Carrier. 2.5 ton.

In fairness, you reference a single retailer. And that's really important here - retailers will always have a significant markup. You want to go to a wholesaler like CE [1] for a good deal. Most HVAC wholesalers and suppliers will give walk-ins an above wholesale price, which is still less than retail.

> For $2500 USD you are under 2 tons.

Certainly not. Perhaps with installation, but not the equipment. Here's some super lazy validation https://www.google.com/search?q=carrier+2.5+ton+heat+pump&sx...

[1] https://www.carrierenterprise.com/search.html?query=heat%20p...

[bal00ns]

Most people are not able to install a heat pump themselves. I consider myself a fairly technical DIY sort of person but was not comfortable installing it myself. Installation is going to be the majority of the cost for the typical person buying a new heat pump.

[andrew_]

The labor to install mine was $450. Granted I'm in the Southeast of the U.S. so YMMV, but that is not universally true and shouldn't be stated as such.