A heat pump install is a home-specific system design, not just an equipment swap
Brands we service and install: Daikin · Goodman · Mitsubishi · Carrier · LG · Bosch · Cooper & Hunter See all brands we carry →
A heat pump install is more than swapping equipment. It is a home-specific system design: load calculation (Manual J), refrigerant line routing, air handler placement, electrical capacity check, and on ducted systems sometimes ductwork retrofit. Skip any of those and you end up with an oversized system, bad airflow, or rebate paperwork that won’t pass review.
California climate zone matters for sizing. Bay Area homes fall across three CEC climate zones: CZ3 (Bay marine, coastal SF, Berkeley, Oakland), CZ4 (South Bay, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino), and CZ12 (inland, Walnut Creek, Concord, Livermore, Pleasanton). CZ3 design temps run ~81°F cooling / 38°F heating along the immediate coast and ~86–88°F at the inland edge of the same zone (Union City, Fremont); CZ4 around 90°F / 36°F; CZ12 around 100°F / 30°F. We use the right design temperatures for your specific address, not a single Bay Area average that would over-size coastal CZ3 and under-size CZ12.
BAAQMD Rule 9-4 affects what we install. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District restricts NOx emissions on residential furnaces and packaged units. Ultra Low NOx (ULN) compliance is required on most replacement installations in 2026. All-electric heat pumps sidestep Rule 9-4 entirely, no combustion, no NOx, no permit-side hassle. For homeowners choosing between a gas furnace replacement and a heat pump conversion in 2026, the regulatory tailwind for heat pumps is real.
What’s included:
- Full-home load calculation (Manual J)
- Equipment sizing and brand selection
- Rebate eligibility check across BayREN, MCE Heat Pump HVAC, PG&E thermostat and ENERGY STAR programs, EBCE / Ava in Alameda County, and manufacturer instant rebates. Programs and amounts vary; we confirm what’s currently paying and handle the paperwork.
- Permit and inspection coordination
- Removal and disposal of old equipment
- Refrigerant line set inspection (flush and reuse where viable, replace if damaged), indoor air handler, outdoor condenser
- Electrical scope (existing circuit retained when sized appropriately, sub-panel only when actually needed)
- Commissioning and system balancing
- 10-year manufacturer parts warranty plus 10-year labor warranty
- Performance logs established for baseline
Bay Area heat pump considerations:
Heat pumps work efficiently in our climate because winter design temperature is around 32 to 35 degrees in inland cities and rarely below freezing. Modern variable-speed units (Daikin, Mitsubishi, Bosch IDS) deliver full rated capacity in those conditions. Our climate does not require cold-climate-rated equipment, which means standard high-efficiency models are typically the best price-to-performance answer.
Refrigerant lines and R-454B:
We design new installs around R-454B, the current low-GWP refrigerant standard replacing R-410A. R-454B is a mildly flammable A2L refrigerant, and we are HC(A3) & HFO(A2L) certified (Mainstream Engineering) to handle it safely. Existing line sets can sometimes be flushed and reused; sometimes they cannot. We pressure-test and inspect line sets on every retrofit and tell you whether reuse is safe before any work begins.
Electrical and panel:
About a third of older Bay Area homes need electrical work to support a heat pump conversion. Sub-panels run $1,800 to $4,500 depending on existing capacity and routing. We include an electrical assessment at the estimate; the panel work is coordinated with a licensed electrician under the same project. For the full project numbers, equipment, labor, ductwork, and electrical line by line, see our guide to what heat pumps actually cost in the Bay Area in 2026.
What makes us different
Factory-trained on Daikin and Goodman. We earned factory training at the Daikin/Goodman plant in Houston: a 16,000-employee facility. Faster warranty claims, better parts access, direct manufacturer relationship.
Rebate paperwork is our job, not yours. We work with BayREN, MCE, PG&E, EBCE/Ava, and manufacturer instant rebate programs. As an MCE participating contractor, we submit MCE Heat Pump HVAC applications directly. Eligibility, amounts, and program funding vary; we confirm what is currently paying when we write your estimate. Federal 25C and Tech Clean CA closed in 2025 and are not part of the 2026 stack.
Honest sizing. Oversized heat pumps are the number-one installer mistake: short-cycling, bad humidity control, shorter equipment life. We size to the load, not to the sales commission.
What to expect
Every job, repair or install, follows the same rhythm. No upsells dressed as "package tiers." No "today only" pricing. If the answer is "wait six months and re-evaluate," that is what we will say.
- On-site visit
Andrew measures, photographs, and asks questions about your existing system. $75 diagnostic, credited toward any repair over $200.
- Written estimate
Line-itemed, model-named, sized to a Manual J calculation. Sent same day, never verbal-only. Walk-aways are fine; no pressure.
- Scheduled install
Same crew start to finish. Permit pulled where required. 10-year parts plus 10-year labor warranty with bi-annual maintenance plan in force.
- Follow-through
We check the install at six months. If your utility bill did not move in the right direction, that is on us; we go back and find out why.
Rebates and incentives: what we actually quote
For 2026 the active stack is BayREN heat-pump cycles when funding is open, MCE Heat Pump HVAC per-ton rebates for MCE customers, PG&E smart-thermostat and ENERGY STAR rebates, EBCE / Ava Community Energy for Alameda County customers, and manufacturer instant rebates when promotions are active. Eligibility, amounts, and program funding vary; we confirm what is currently paying when we write your estimate.
Closed for 2026: federal Section 25C (expired December 31, 2025 under OBBBA) and Tech Clean California (closed November 14, 2025). We do not quote either. The honest answer to "how much will I get back?" is: let us check before we quote you a number.
Recent installs near you
Three completed heat pump projects with real install photos, the equipment list, and the detail that mattered on each job. See all case studies.
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Two Carrier 19 SEER heat pumps, two zones, both old AC units out and new condensers running the same day
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Goodman 1.5-ton heat pump sized to the load calculation, not the biggest unit that fits
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Cooper&Hunter PEAK heat pump replacing a failed gas furnace, adding whole-house cooling
The diagnostic is seventy-five dollars and we credit it toward any repair over two hundred. If the answer is ‘your system is fine, here are the logs, call us next year,’ that is what the estimate will say.
Heat Pump Installation & Service: common questions
Is a heat pump right for my Bay Area home?
How long does installation take?
What rebates am I eligible for?
Do I need electrical panel upgrades?
Daikin, Mitsubishi, Carrier: which do you recommend?
How does a heat pump handle cold Bay Area nights?
Cities where we do this work
Tier-1 service area for heat pump installation & service: Danville · San Ramon · Alamo · Blackhawk · Pleasanton · Dublin · Walnut Creek · Lafayette · Alameda · Piedmont · Pleasant Hill · Atherton · Hillsborough · Los Altos Hills .
Also across the Bay Area: Livermore · Concord · Orinda · Moraga · Martinez · San Jose · Santa Clara · Cupertino · Los Gatos · Saratoga · Sunnyvale · Mountain View · Palo Alto · Los Altos · Menlo Park · Oakland · Berkeley · Richmond · Fremont · Hayward · Union City · Newark · San Leandro · Castro Valley · Milpitas . See full service area.
Schedule heat pump installation & service
Free on-site assessment, written the same day.
Bay Area · 7am–7pm · 7 days · no overtime charges