Find Someone Who Knows.

The gold standard. Installs heat pumps every day, knows cold-climate performance curves, sizes systems properly, can tell which brands actually perform in winter versus the ones that just market to heat pump buyers. Bonus: they also know your local incentive programs cold and will usually handle the rebate paperwork, which is the part most homeowners hate.

Fastest route: manufacturer dealer locators. Each major manufacturer keeps a vetted list of authorized contractors in your ZIP. Plug in your address, get a real call list.

• Mitsubishi Electric (Diamond Contractor network, cold-climate Hyper-Heat installers)
• Daikin (Daikin Comfort Pro dealers)
• Bosch heating and cooling dealer locator
• Carrier Factory Authorized Dealers
• Trane Comfort Specialist network
• Lennox Premier Dealers
• Fujitsu Elite Contractor network
• LG air conditioning dealers
• Goodman Comfort Net dealer locator

Cross-reference with cold-climate certification.

• NEEP Cold Climate Air-Source Heat Pump Specifier, the authoritative list of cold-climate-rated equipment. Match the model your dealer is quoting against this list before you sign.
• ENERGY STAR Save at Home, EPA guidance on choosing a qualified HVAC contractor plus ENERGY STAR-rated equipment lists.

State programs that publish a real contractor directory. These aren’t just incentive databases, they actually run a searchable list of installers who are participating in the rebate program right now. If you’re in one of these states, start here.

Hunting for rebates and tax credits rather than a contractor? That lives one page over at Stack the Money.

A new generation of installer companies has emerged specifically around heat pumps. Not generic HVAC shops that added heat pumps to a price list. They built the entire business around modern heat pump installations, transparent pricing, and rebate handling.

• Elephant Energy (elephantenergy.com) operates in Colorado, Massachusetts, and Los Angeles County. Hybrid model: in-house engineers design every system, vetted local contractors install. They handle rebate paperwork and offer a 10-year comfort guarantee (system maintains 68°F between -5°F and 95°F outdoor, or they fix it). Default to Mitsubishi cold-climate equipment.
• Vayu (vayu.pro) serves the San Francisco Peninsula. Founded by Shreyas Sudhakar, a former rocket propulsion engineer who also writes the Heat Pumped newsletter at guide.heatpumped.org. Installs Gree Flexx central systems and ductless mini-splits. Known for not upselling.
• Electric Air (electricair.io) serves the San Francisco Bay Area. Y Combinator backed (2022). Transparent online quoting plus engineering rigor (NEC electrical calcs, ACCA Manual J load calcs, full duct assessment in the standard quote). Standard 2-year labor warranty, extendable to 10. Claims 3-ton install pricing beats 92% of comparable Bay Area quotes.

The most common path, and also where the most things go wrong. Generic HVAC contractors who mostly sell gas furnaces will often oversize heat pumps (because that’s how you size gas furnaces), use the wrong thermostat, or recommend a “heat pump compatible” system that’s really just a single-stage AC with an electric resistance backup pretending to be a heat pump.

If you go this path, vet the contractor specifically on heat pump experience. See Don’t Get Screwed for the questions to ask.

If you can install a window air conditioner, you can install a window heat pump. Gradient makes a saddle-style window unit that one person can install in about an hour. No tools, no permanent modifications, no contractor. Plugs into a standard outlet. Midea has the closest competitor in the same category. This is the lowest-friction way into a heat pump, and you can do it tomorrow.

For mini-splits, doable with the right technical aptitude. Mr. Cool DIY mini-splits ship with pre-charged refrigerant lines you can connect yourself. No vacuum pump, no manifold gauges, no EPA Section 608 refrigerant handling license. Bolt the indoor head to the wall, mount the outdoor unit on a pad, run the line set through a 3-inch hole, connect the fittings, and turn it on. A YouTube-handy adult can do it in a long weekend.

Some modern heat pump companies bundle the install. You buy from them, they coordinate a contractor in your area, the contractor handles permits and installation. You pay one price and don’t have to manage the relationship.

The heat-pump-native installers above (Elephant Energy, Vayu, Electric Air) all run this model in their service areas. Nationally, Sealed bundles whole-home electrification packages including heat pumps, and Mr. Cool’s Universal series ships through a dealer network that handles installation if you don’t want to DIY.

A 3-ton air-source heat pump pulls roughly 30-50 amps under load. A 5-ton can hit 60-80 amps. If your home runs on a 100-amp service panel with a working electric range, water heater, and dryer already on it, you may be at or over capacity before the heat pump even goes in. This is the most under-discussed part of a heat pump install, and the most expensive surprise.

Three real outcomes, depending on what your installer finds:

• You have spare capacity. Most homes built after 1990 with 200A service can absorb a heat pump and a dedicated EV charger without panel upgrades. Cheapest path. Nothing to do.
• You don’t have spare capacity, but you can solve it with load management. Devices like the Span Smart Panel, the Lumin Edge, or the dcbel bidirectional system let you keep a 100A or 125A service by software-arbitrating which large loads run simultaneously. Roughly $3,500-$8,000 installed depending on panel. Considerably cheaper than a full service upgrade.
• You need a full service upgrade. Going from 100A to 200A service typically runs $2,500-$6,000 depending on whether the utility needs to upsize the drop from the pole, whether the meter has to move, and whether the local code requires you to replace the grounding electrode. In some older neighbourhoods with shared transformers, the utility itself has to upgrade gear, which can stretch the timeline to months. Ask your installer about this on the first site visit. Finding it out after the heat pump is on order is how projects double in cost.

A separate question: some heat pumps require 240V dedicated circuits with very specific breaker sizing. Cold-climate Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat units, for example, often want a 40A or 50A double-pole breaker on a dedicated run. Your installer should spec this; if the quote doesn’t mention the circuit, ask before you sign.

For incentives: a panel upgrade or load-management device can sometimes be partially covered under the federal 25C credit (when it was active), state efficiency programs, or as part of the heat pump install itself. Worth asking your contractor and your utility separately.

• Manufacturer direct for DTC brands like Gradient, Mr. Cool, and most window unit makers.
• HVACDirect for Mr. Cool, Goodman, Daikin, and many other brands.
• Home Depot / Lowe’s for Mr. Cool mostly.
• Local HVAC distributors for most contractors. You typically can’t buy direct as a consumer.