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HVAC

Heat pump installation near you

Cold-climate and standard heat pump replacements.

Prepared by the TenBestFind Editorial TeamUpdated September 2026

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  • Part of

    HVAC

  • Companies offer it

    201

  • Cities covered

    8

  • Last checked

    September 2026

The work

What heat pump installation actually involves

One machine for heating and cooling, and what happens when it is cold

A heat pump is an air conditioner that can run in reverse, moving heat into the house rather than out of it. Because it moves heat rather than making it, it delivers far more heat per unit of electricity than a resistance heater, which is the whole point of fitting one.

Its output falls as the outdoor temperature drops, so the design question is what happens on the coldest days: either a back-up heat source, or a cold-climate model rated to hold useful capacity well below freezing.

Ducted heat pump

Uses the existing duct system

  • Needs good ductsYes
  • Whole house at onceYes
  • Room by room controlLimited
  • Visible indoorsNo

Ductless mini split

Indoor heads on each zone

  • Needs good ductsNo
  • Whole house at onceZone by zone
  • Room by room controlYes
  • Visible indoorsYes

Heat pumps deliver warm air rather than hot air, at a lower temperature than a furnace but for longer. It heats the house perfectly well and it does feel different at the vent, which is worth expecting rather than discovering.

Running cost

The saving depends on what you are replacing and what power costs

A heat pump is dramatically cheaper to run than electric resistance heating. Against cheap natural gas, in a cold climate, the arithmetic is much closer and sometimes goes the other way.

So the honest question is what you heat with now, what electricity and gas cost where you live, and how cold it actually gets. A contractor should be able to show you that comparison rather than assert the saving.

Rebates and tax credits frequently move the decision on their own, and they change from year to year, so it is worth asking what is currently available before committing either way.

Failure points

Two things that go wrong

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  1. Back-up strip heat left to do the work

    Ask: “At what outdoor temperature does the back-up heat come on, and who sets that?”

    Most ducted heat pumps include electric resistance back-up. If the controls are set poorly, or the unit is undersized, that back-up runs far more than it should, and the first winter bill is the one that tells you. It is a commissioning matter, not a fault.

  2. Nobody checked the ducts or the insulation

    Ask: “What did the load calculation assume about insulation and duct leakage, and was that measured?”

    A heat pump is more sensitive to a leaky, poorly insulated house than a furnace is, because it works with smaller temperature differences. Fitting one to a house that needed sealing first is the most common way an efficient machine disappoints its owner.

Before you book heat pump installation

How we rank →

Six checks, in the order they save you the most. None of them takes longer than a phone call, and the first one is the reason two quotes for the same job can be a thousand apart.

  1. In-house or subcontracted

    Ask whether the crew doing this specific work is on their payroll. Plenty of companies list a service and hand it straight to somebody else, which is not wrong, but it changes who is answerable when something goes back.

  2. The licence for the parent trade

    Look the number up with the authority that issues it rather than reading the certificate they send you. What a licence covers, and whether one is needed at all, changes by state and province.

  3. Insurance, confirmed with the insurer

    A current certificate sent to you by the insurer, not a photocopy from the company. Ask for liability and, where crews are on site, workers' compensation.

  4. What the quote leaves out

    Removal, disposal, subfloor or substrate work, permits and making good afterwards are where two quotes on the same job separate. Ask for the exclusions in writing next to the inclusions.

  5. Two warranties, not one

    The manufacturer covers the material and the company covers the workmanship. Get the second in writing, with its length, and ask whether it transfers if you sell.

  6. How a change is priced

    Agree before the deposit how anything found on the way is priced and approved. The moment to settle that is while you are still choosing between companies, not on the day somebody lifts a floorboard.

Where we cover it

HVAC shortlists by city

Every shortlist →

A company offering heat pump installation appears in the published list for its own market. Each one names the editor who built it and the date they last checked it.

On the lists

Companies that list heat pump installation

Drawn from the profiles where this service is recorded, not from what a company advertises.

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HVAC guides

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Common questions about heat pump installation

Ask us something else →

  • Who handles heat pump installation?

    Heat pump installation is handled by HVAC companies. Not every company in the trade takes this work on, so each ranking lists the services a company genuinely performs rather than everything it advertises.

  • What should I ask before booking heat pump installation?

    Ask what the quote includes and excludes, who is doing the work, whether a permit is needed and who is pulling it, and what the workmanship warranty covers. Get the answers in writing before anyone starts.

  • How do I compare quotes for this?

    Put them on one sheet line by line. Differences in price almost always turn out to be differences in scope, material grade or warranty length rather than margin.

  • Is heat pump installation priced separately from the rest of the job?

    Usually it is a line inside a larger quote rather than its own invoice, which is exactly why the exclusions matter. Ask for it itemised so you can compare that line between companies instead of comparing two totals.

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