Medical Lake · two-season installs
Heat pump and AC installation in Medical Lake, for both seasons
A 1960s house off Lefevre Street on an electric furnace pays one of the steepest heating bills per square foot on the West Plains, then sweats through August beside a window unit. One cold-climate heat pump answers both problems.
- Fire rebuilds
- Heat pump, circuit and panel planned with the build, not retrofitted.
- Fairchild shifts
- Visits and installs scheduled around shift work, Monday through Saturday.
- Ductless option
- One head per room for lake houses without ducts.
Medical Lake is cold-climate territory. The town sits on the open West Plains at about 2,400 feet, wind crosses the fields from the Fairchild side with nothing to slow it, and January mornings below zero are ordinary. A heat pump serving as the main heat here has to be a cold-climate model with rated output well under 0°F and a fallback for the worst week, because standard units lose too much capacity below 20°F. The other half of the year counts just as much: high-90s afternoons in July and August, with houses on Medical Lake and Silver Lake full of guests. Cooling capacity matters as much as heating capacity here.
Getting both seasons right is the job, and it starts with an hour at the house. We measure rooms, rate the windows, check the insulation, look over any ductwork for leaks and returns that are too small, inspect the furnace or air handler, and open the panel to see how much headroom remains once the well pump, the dryer and the shop have taken their share. The visit and the written quote that follows are at no charge. Medical Lake is twenty-five minutes from our shop by US-2 and Highway 902.
Medical Lake installs we see most
| Situation | What we usually recommend | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s house in town, electric furnace in the basement | Cold-climate heat pump on the existing ducts; the furnace’s elements become standby | Resistance heat costs the most of any option on the West Plains |
| Rebuilding after the 2023 Gray Fire | Heat pump sized from the plans, circuit and panel designed with the build | A clean slate avoids every compromise a retrofit forces |
| Lake house with baseboards and no cooling | Ductless or ducted heat pump, depending on the structure | Space heaters in January, overheated guests in July |
| 2000s central AC still on R-22 | R-454B replacement sized to the house, old charge recovered | Scarce refrigerant and a worn compressor make repairs a poor bet |
| Shop, well pump and dryer have used up the panel | Panel upgrade itemized on the quote and inspected with the install | Without it there is no space for a new 240-volt circuit |
| Basement gas furnace with reusable ducts | Heat pump or AC matched to the furnace, ducts corrected where needed | Ductwork in many 1940s–70s homes can stay with modest fixes |
Town homes, lake houses and Gray Fire rebuilds
Installs in Medical Lake fall into three situations. The 1940s-to-1970s homes in town, many with electric furnaces or older gas units in the basement, usually have ducts worth reusing after some correction. The year-round lake houses are often baseboard-heated with no ducts at all, and ductless is the right call there: one head per main room, sized to its load, on a dedicated circuit listed on the quote. And around Medical Lake and Silver Lake, the homes going back up after the 2023 Gray Fire allow the heat pump, the line-set route, the circuit and the panel to be designed together from day one.
For a rebuild, the time to call is before the framing closes. We run the load calculation from the plans, quote in writing, and coordinate rough-in and final with the general contractor and the inspector. Pre-wiring the circuit and setting the line-set chase during framing costs far less than opening finished walls later. Rebuilds may qualify for programs beyond the usual utility rebates, so we check what applies to the address before recommending equipment, and we fill in the forms with you.
On install day any old refrigerant is reclaimed by technicians holding EPA 608 Universal certification. Copper is brazed under flowing nitrogen, pressure-tested and evacuated to a measured vacuum before the charge is weighed in and checked on gauges. Condensate drains through a trap to a real drain, the thermostat is set for the equipment’s staging, and backup heat stays locked out until the outdoor temperature calls for it. Disconnect, circuit and any panel upgrade are listed as line items on the quote, permitted and inspected — and we book the work around Fairchild shifts, six days a week. We pull the permit and schedule the inspection, so nobody has to trade a shift to meet an inspector.
Starting prices for Medical Lake systems
As a guide to the Spokane area, an inverter cold-climate heat pump starts at $4,900 installed, central AC on an existing furnace at $4,150, and each zone added to a lake-house ductless system from $1,900; a complete multi-zone layout, with one or more outdoor units, is priced on request after we have seen the house. Equipment and installation both sit inside those numbers. Read them as local starting figures, not a quote; the house, the panel and the ductwork settle your number, which comes in writing after the visit, itself at no cost, cash beside financed. Our equipment comes from Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Daikin, Bryant, Carrier and Goodman, and only cold-climate lines are used where a heat pump will be the main heat. If the site visit was booked online, a full-system install is up to $500 less, and the first-year tune-up is part of it.
| System, installed | Price |
|---|---|
| Inverter (variable-speed) heat pump | from $4,900 |
| Central air conditioner | from $4,150 |
| Each added mini-split zone | from $1,900 |
| Heat pump outdoor unit only | from $4,200 |
| Heat pump with air handler | from $5,750 |
| Ductless mini-split, single zone | from $3,350 |
| 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
Can a heat pump carry a Medical Lake house through January?
Yes, provided it is a cold-climate unit sized to the house from a load calculation and to the temperatures the West Plains really reach. Electric strips or the furnace already there take the coldest nights. What fails out here is an ordinary heat pump sized from a sales sheet, so for primary heat we install cold-climate equipment and nothing else.
We are rebuilding after the Gray Fire. When should we talk about HVAC?
Before the framing is closed in. Planning the heat pump, the copper route, the circuit and the panel alongside the builder avoids the compromises a retrofit forces. We run the load calculation from your plans, quote in writing, and coordinate rough-in and the final inspection with your general contractor and the inspector.
Do you install ductless heat pumps in the lake houses?
Often. A year-round house on Medical Lake or Silver Lake with baseboards and no ducts is well suited to wall-mounted heads, one per main room, each sized to its own load and fed by one or more outdoor units. The circuits appear as line items on the quote. If a ducted option could also work, the quote lays the two side by side.
Our panel is full. Can we still add a heat pump?
Yes. A new 240-volt circuit, the disconnect and any panel upgrade are broken out on the quote line by line, along with the permit, and the install is permitted and inspected. You know what the panel needs before you sign anything.
Is there a charge for the site visit if we do not go ahead?
None. You get the measurements, the load calculation and a written quote without paying anything, and the quote stays open for 30 days so there is no rush. Should you go ahead after booking the visit through our website, a full system is up to $500 off, with the first-year tune-up built in.
Call, text or book
Tell us your shift pattern by call or text and we will fit the visit around it, or book online and a full system comes down by up to $500. Repairing what you have now? The $99 diagnostic is included in the repair price you approve.
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.