Cheney · homes, rentals and subdivisions
Heat pump and AC installation in Cheney, measured before it is quoted
Cheney fits a century of houses into a small town: sash windows downtown, baseboard rentals near campus, first-generation heat pumps fading at the edge of town. Each needs its own system and its own electrical plan.
- 25 minutes
- Down the Cheney-Spokane Road from our shop.
- Landlords
- One written quote per property, work timed around tenants.
- Own utility
- Cheney’s city utility checked for its own rebate programs.
Cheney’s houses do not agree on much. The homes from the 1900s to the 1950s around First Street and the downtown grid have basements, ductwork converted from gravity heat at some point in their lives, and panels that have been extended for decades. The rentals and small multi-family buildings near Eastern Washington University frequently run on electric baseboards with no ducts at all. The subdivisions off Betz Road and Salnave Road went up in the 1990s and 2000s with heat pumps that are now reaching the end of the line. A furnace in a 1920s basement, baseboards under a rental window and a tired heat pump beside a 1990s subdivision home each call for different equipment.
The climate narrows the choices further. Cheney sits above 2,300 feet, catches more wind than Spokane and routinely drops below zero in January. Any heat pump expected to carry a house here as its main heat has to be a cold-climate model with rated output well under 0°F, plus a backup plan for the coldest week; ordinary units give up too much capacity below about 20°F to be trusted. The site visit — no charge, and no expiring offer hanging over it — is where we work out which system fits which house.
Cheney houses and what we usually fit
| Situation | What we usually recommend | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown house from the 1920s, window units in three rooms | Central AC or a heat pump on the basement furnace, copper run tidily out of sight | Three noisy units, a big summer bill, and still nothing reaches the basement |
| Rental on baseboards with no cooling | Cold-climate heat pump, ducted or ductless, strips as backup | The highest heating cost per square foot in town, and tenants buying fans |
| Betz Road heat pump from the early 2000s, R-22 inside | R-454B replacement sized by load calculation; old refrigerant reclaimed | Parts and refrigerant are scarce, and the efficiency gap is roughly half |
| Oversized system, clammy rooms in July | Smaller two-stage or variable-speed unit after a Manual J | Short cycles leave rooms uneven and shorten compressor life |
| Older panel with no space for another breaker | Panel upgrade and new circuit listed on the quote, permitted and inspected | Planned at the site visit, not discovered on install day |
| Rebate forms gathering dust on the counter | Qualifying equipment chosen, paperwork done before install day | Programs depend on the utility, and Cheney runs its own |
Campus rentals, the downtown grid and Betz Road
One recent Cheney project shows how mixed the work gets. A landlord with three baseboard-heated rentals off College Avenue wanted cooling for his tenants and smaller bills for himself. Where a house had ducts, a cold-climate ducted heat pump went in; where it had none, single-zone ductless units did the job; and every house needed a new circuit from a panel without a spare slot. The disconnects, circuits and panel upgrades were listed on each property’s quote and permitted and inspected with the install, all scheduled around the people living there.
Cheney’s electric customers are served by the city’s own utility rather than Avista, so the rebate picture differs from the rest of the county. We look up which programs apply to your address before recommending equipment and complete the forms with you. Financing is available on installs, with the cash and financed price shown together on the quote. Rental owners get the permit, the inspection result and the warranty paperwork for each property, ready for their records.
The installation itself follows a fixed sequence. Old refrigerant is captured by technicians who hold EPA 608 Universal certification, never released. New copper is brazed with nitrogen flowing, pressure-tested, then evacuated to a measured vacuum before the charge goes in by weight and gets confirmed on gauges. Condensate runs to a proper drain, the thermostat is configured for whatever staging the equipment supports, and on a heat pump the backup heat is locked out until the weather actually calls for it. In the older downtown houses, copper is routed through the basement or along the foundation where it stays out of sight. A changeout on an existing furnace and line set takes one day; a new system with duct corrections takes one to two.
Where Cheney install prices start
Spokane-area starting prices for what we fit most often in Cheney, with the equipment and our install work counted together: an inverter cold-climate heat pump from $4,900, a single-zone ductless system for a rental room from $3,350, and central AC on an existing furnace from $4,150. A landlord who wants several heads running off one outdoor unit gets that multi-zone layout priced on request, once we have walked the building. Use these to budget, not as a quote — duct condition and panel work add to them, and the real number comes in writing after the visit, which carries no charge. We install Goodman, Carrier, Bryant, Mitsubishi, Daikin and Fujitsu in the tier that suits the building rather than the top of the catalog, and a visit booked online makes a full-system install up to $500 less, with the first-year tune-up included.
| System, installed | Price |
|---|---|
| Inverter (variable-speed) heat pump | from $4,900 |
| Ductless mini-split, single zone | from $3,350 |
| Central air conditioner | from $4,150 |
| Heat pump outdoor unit only | from $4,200 |
| Heat pump with air handler | from $5,750 |
| Each added mini-split zone | from $1,900 |
| Multi-zone mini-split systems | On request |
Starting prices with equipment and installation included, before utility rebates and before our up to $500 off a full system. Multi-zone systems are quoted on request. The site visit and written quote cost nothing.
Questions we hear
Will a heat pump keep a Cheney house warm in January without gas?
Yes, if it is chosen for Cheney’s weather rather than for a mild-climate brochure. We size from a load calculation at the elevation and wind the town actually gets, specify a cold-climate model with output well below zero, and keep electric strips or the existing furnace as the backstop for the few nights below the balance point.
Can you install heat pumps in rentals with baseboards and no ducts?
Yes, and landlords near EWU ask us for exactly that. Where a house has ducts, a ducted heat pump replaces the furnace or works next to it. Where it has none, single- or multi-zone ductless units go into the main rooms. Each property gets its own written quote, and we arrange the work around tenants.
My panel is full. Does that stop a heat pump install?
No. We check the panel at the site visit, and the new circuit, the disconnect and a panel upgrade if one is called for are permitted and inspected alongside the heat pump. Each piece of panel work is its own line on the quote, and a single written warranty covers the equipment and the install.
How long does an AC or heat pump install take?
Swapping equipment onto an existing furnace and line set usually fits in one day. A new system with new copper, a new circuit and duct corrections takes one to two. The dates are on the quote; at the end the old equipment leaves on our truck and its refrigerant goes into a recovery tank, not the air.
What does the site visit cost if we decide not to go ahead?
It costs nothing. Measurements, the load calculation and the written quote carry no charge, and the quote stays valid for 30 days so you can line it up against other bids. If you approve a full system after an online booking, up to $500 comes off and the first-year tune-up is part of the price.
Call, text or book
For a rental or your own home, call or text to arrange a site visit, or book it on our website and up to $500 comes off a full system. A unit that just needs fixing gets the $99 diagnostic, and it is included in the written repair price.
Book a visit
Tell us what is going on
We call or text back to confirm a time window, usually the same day.
- $99 diagnostic Counted inside the written repair price you approve. Say no to the repair and it is the whole bill.
- Up to $50 off An HVAC repair booked online. Appliance repairs booked online: up to $22 off. Never taken off the diagnostic.
- Up to $500 off A full-system install booked through our site-visit form, first-year tune-up included. The site visit costs nothing.
Prefer to text? Send a photo of the model tag to (509) 370-5361.