Ductless heat pumps for older homes

Warm and cool the rooms your old house has no ducts for

Plaster walls, baseboard heaters, radiators and no attic space to run ductwork. We plan every room first, then size the outdoor unit to the rooms that need it.

Start with the room that bothers you

Plan my rooms See a sample proposal

A two-storey gray house with board-and-batten gables, a covered porch and flower pots along the front walk

Room by room: which zones you need

A zone is one room, or a few rooms that share a setting. Most older houses need two to four. This is how we decide, room by room, on the walkthrough.

Read the full zone guide

Main floor living room
Usually one wall head on the longest wall that is not behind the sofa. An open arch to the dining room often means one zone covers both.
- A single head can reach through a wide arch
- A closed door makes it its own zone
Upstairs bedrooms
The rooms that run cold in January and hot in August. A head in each, or one in the hall if the bedroom doors stay open.
- Quiet side of the room, away from the headboard
- Two small bedrooms can share a head
Attic or dormer room
Where the radiators never reached. We check the roof insulation first, since a cassette cannot make up for an open rafter bay.
- Ceiling cassette or a wall head on the gable
- Line set through a closet or a chimney chase
Basement den or studio
Below grade, so it stays cool but never warm. A floor-level head keeps the wall clear for shelves.
- Floor-level or wall head
- The condensate drain is usually easy here
Home office
A room you sit in all day gets its own zone, so the thermostat does not argue with the rest of the house.
- Set the schedule for work hours
- Its own setting, apart from the bedrooms
Sunroom or porch
Glass on three sides is hot by noon and cold at night. We size it by the glass, not the floor area.
- Size from window area and exposure
- Often a good candidate for its own outdoor unit

The walkthrough

We look at the house before we pick a unit

A heat pump is sized from the house, not from a rule of thumb. The walkthrough is how we get the facts the proposal depends on.

On the walkthrough we check

What the walls are made of and what is inside them
Single-pane or storm windows, room by room
Where the panel has a breaker slot to spare
Where a line set can run without opening plaster
Where the outdoor unit can sit, and who will hear it
How each room gets used, and when

A white wall-mounted indoor unit of a ductless heat pump

Sample proposal

What the written proposal says, line by line

After the walkthrough you get the scope in words: every room, the equipment, the electrical, the permit and what is left out. The number comes with it, written for your house.

Read a longer sample

Two zones: living room and main bedroom
A 1926 Craftsman with plaster walls and electric baseboard heat. About 1,400 square feet, one floor and a basement.
Wall head in the living room, on the long wall away from the front window
Wall head in the main bedroom, above the dresser
One outdoor unit, model and capacity named in the proposal
Line set routed through the basement and up the old chimney chase
Dedicated 240-volt circuit, if the panel has the room
Condensate drain to the basement sink
Permit, inspection and the inspector's sign-off
Start-up check, remote set up and a walk-through of the schedule
Packaging and old materials hauled away
Painting after the wall is opened
Not included
Moving furniture
Not included
Sample only. The equipment, the line lengths and the total are written for your house.
Ask for a proposal like this

This sample states no price. Your proposal does, and says how many days it holds.

From walkthrough to a warm room

01
Step 1: You send photos and a few answers
Tell us how old the house is and what heats it now. Text a photo of each room you have in mind.
02
Step 2: We walk the house
We measure the rooms, open the panel, look at the walls and agree with you where each head and the outdoor unit would go.
03
Step 3: You get a written proposal
The scope, the models, the permit and the total in one document. You can take it to anyone.
04
Step 4: We pull the permit and book the crew
We file the permit, order the equipment and give you the install date in writing.
05
Step 5: Install day
The crew sets the outdoor unit, mounts the heads, runs the line sets and covers the floors. Plaster and chase work can add a day.
06
Step 6: Start-up and a walk-through
We check the system, set the remotes and the schedule with you, and leave the paperwork you need.

Ductless or ducts?

Adding ducts to a 1920s house, or going ductless

Both work. Which one fits depends on the house, and sometimes ducts win.

Adding ducts to a 1920s house, or going ductless
	New ducted system	Ductless heat pump
Work in the walls	New ducted systemSoffits, cut joists and new registers	Ductless heat pumpOne hole about the size of a coffee mug per head
Control	New ducted systemOne thermostat per system, often per floor	Ductless heat pumpEach zone has its own setting
Existing heat	New ducted systemUsually replaced	Ductless heat pumpBaseboards or radiators can stay as a backup
Mess and time	New ducted systemOften several days, with plaster repair	Ductless heat pumpA day or two of work for a small system
Looks	New ducted systemVents, and nothing on the wall	Ductless heat pumpA white unit on a wall or ceiling
When it is the better answer	New ducted systemSound ducts already in the house, or an even temperature in every room	Ductless heat pumpFew rooms, no ducts, plaster you want to keep

Neighborhoods

Seattle and the neighborhoods around it

Older housing, from Craftsman bungalows to 1950s ramblers, on both sides of the ship canal and out to the suburbs.

Seattle neighborhoods

Green Lake
Wallingford
Ravenna
Roosevelt
Wedgwood
Maple Leaf
Laurelhurst
Ballard
Phinney Ridge
Queen Anne

Nearby cities

Snoqualmie
Woodinville
Sammamish
Issaquah
Maple Valley
Covington

We do not install on the islands, on the Kitsap Peninsula or south of Federal Way. If you are near the edge of this list, call and ask.

Sample reviews

What the first call sounded like

“Keiko stood in every room of our 1948 rambler and told us which ones did not need a unit. We ended up with two heads, not four.”

Michela F.1948 rambler, Wedgwood

“The proposal named every line, including the chimney chase the line set would use. Nothing on install day surprised us.”

Jacek O.1926 Craftsman, Greenwood

“We had baseboards and a stuffy attic bedroom. The crew set the unit in a day and showed us the schedule on the remote before they left.”

Nandini B.1931 bungalow, Ravenna

Sample reviews.

Questions older-house owners ask

Do I need new ducts?

No. A ductless system sends refrigerant lines through a small hole in the wall to an indoor unit in the room. If the house already has sound ducts, we will say so and tell you what that does to the choice.

Will you cut my plaster?

A head needs one hole through the wall, about the size of a mug. We use chimney chases, closets and the basement wherever we can, and we tell you where the holes go before we cut.

Can I keep my baseboard heaters or radiators?

Yes. Many owners leave them in place as a backup in the coldest weeks and set the heat pump to carry most of the winter. We show you the settings.

How many zones do I need?

Most older houses need two to four. We decide on the walkthrough, room by room, from the walls, the windows and how you use each room.

Does it cool during a heat wave?

A heat pump cools as well as heats, room by room. A room with a head cools; a room without one does not. That is why we ask which rooms get hot.

Who handles the permit?

We do. The permit and the inspection are lines in your written proposal.

Main floor living room

Upstairs bedrooms

Attic or dormer room

Basement den or studio

Home office

Sunroom or porch

On the walkthrough we check

Two zones: living room and main bedroom

Step 1: You send photos and a few answers

Step 2: We walk the house

Step 3: You get a written proposal

Step 4: We pull the permit and book the crew

Step 5: Install day

Step 6: Start-up and a walk-through