Heat pump installation in Toronto

A ducted heat pump replaces your central AC and uses your existing ductwork, so it suits most homes with a furnace. A ductless mini-split needs no ducts and suits additions, basement suites, third floors and homes heated by a boiler or baseboards. Some homes use both.

Ductless suits century homes in the Annex, Riverdale and Cabbagetown that heat with radiators. Your boiler handles the coldest days while the mini-split covers cooling and milder weather.

A cold-climate heat pump is built and rated to keep producing heat in Toronto’s coldest weather, into the minus 20s. Its output drops as the temperature falls, so the right model, sized for your home’s heat loss on a January night, decides how much of the winter it covers alone.

A heat pump moves heat instead of burning fuel, so it can deliver more heat than the electricity it uses. Cold-climate models use variable-speed inverter compressors that ramp up as it gets colder. In winter the outdoor unit runs a short defrost cycle now and then, and a little steam is normal.

A gas furnace burns fuel to make heat, while a heat pump moves heat and also cools. A furnace delivers hotter air on the coldest nights, and a heat pump is often cheaper to run in milder weather. A dual-fuel heat pump system pairs the two.

In a dual-fuel setup, the thermostat switches to the furnace on the coldest days, when gas costs less to run. Whether dual fuel or all-electric suits you depends on your home, your panel and current gas and hydro rates, so we price both. Our furnace team services the furnace side too.

Every heat pump installation in Toronto starts with a home visit and a heat-loss calculation, followed by a flat-rate quote, a rebate eligibility check and the install itself. We confirm a two-hour arrival window for each visit and text you when the technician is on the way.

• We measure the house, check the ducts and panel, and calculate heat loss room by room.
• You get a flat-rate price, with ducted, ductless or dual-fuel options side by side.
• We confirm current rebate eligibility with you before you buy.
• We install and commission the system, then show you how to run it.

We install heat pumps across the GTA too, including North York, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Markham, Mississauga and Oakville.

A heat pump sized only to match your old AC is often too small for winter heating. We calculate heat loss room by room so the system is sized for a January night, not a mild October day, then check whether your ducts can carry the airflow it needs.

Electrical panel and line sets

A heat pump needs its own circuit, and some older homes with smaller panels need an upgrade first, so we check before we quote. We pressure test and evacuate each new line set and route the condensate drain.

Outdoor unit placement and permits

The outdoor unit needs airflow, a spot above the snow line and room for service, which takes planning in tight Toronto side yards. We handle any required permit, and in condos and townhouses we go over building rules with you first.

HSPF2 measures a heat pump’s heating efficiency over a season, and SEER2 measures its cooling efficiency. Higher numbers mean lower running costs. COP, the heat delivered for each unit of electricity, shows how efficient a heat pump is at one outdoor temperature, which matters in a Toronto cold snap.

ENERGY STAR Canada (opens in a new tab) explains what the ENERGY STAR label means.

The Home Renovation Savings Program, from Save on Energy and Enbridge Gas, is the heat pump rebate program open in Ontario right now. It offers rebates on eligible heat pumps installed by a participating contractor, and amounts depend on the system, your home and your current heating fuel.

The Canada Greener Homes Grant and Loan, the Enbridge Home Efficiency Rebate and the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program are closed. Programs change, so we confirm current eligibility with you before you buy and help with the paperwork.

Check the Home Renovation Savings Program (opens in a new tab) page for current rules and amounts.

The cost of heat pump installation in Toronto depends on the system type and size, how many indoor heads you need, and what your ductwork and electrical panel need. After the home visit, you get a flat-rate price for the full job before work starts.

The price you approve doesn’t change halfway through the job.

We handle heat pump repair year-round on ducted systems and ductless mini-splits, including defrost faults, refrigerant leaks, reversing valves, sensors and controls. Our 313A-certified mechanics find the actual fault and give you a flat-rate price to approve before any repair starts.

Repair usually makes sense when a heat pump is well short of its typical 15-year life and the fault is a single part like a capacitor, sensor or fan motor. Replacement makes more sense when an older unit needs a compressor or a major refrigerant repair.

We give you both prices side by side and tell you which we’d choose for our own home.

If your heat pump stops heating in winter, call us any time. No-heat emergencies are answered 24/7 and go to the front of the line. If your thermostat has an emergency or auxiliary heat setting, switch to it so the backup heat keeps the house warm while you wait.

• Smell gas near a dual-fuel furnace: leave the house right away, don’t flip switches or use your phone inside, and call Enbridge Gas at 1-866-763-5427 from outside.
• Carbon monoxide alarm: get everyone outside and call 911. Ontario requires these alarms in homes with fuel-burning appliances.
• Outdoor unit buried in snow: turn it off before clearing it, and never chip ice off the coil.

A heat pump runs in both seasons, so it works more hours than an air conditioner and benefits from yearly service. A tune-up checks refrigerant pressures, cleans the coils and ductless filters, tests the defrost controls and clears the condensate drain, keeping the efficiency you paid for.

Our maintenance plan includes two tune-ups a year and priority booking, so your heat pump and any backup furnace are checked before each season. Between visits, keep snow and leaves clear of the outdoor unit.

We service and repair heat pumps from all major brands found in Toronto homes, including Mitsubishi, Daikin, Lennox, Carrier, Trane, Goodman, Rheem, York and Napoleon. When you’re adding or replacing one, we recommend a model based on your home’s heat loss and ductwork.