Newman Lake · ducted or ductless
Heat pump installation at Newman Lake to retire the baseboards
On one stretch of Newman Lake Drive, three houses can call for three different systems: a ducted heat pump, ductless heads, or plain central AC for a newer home that only lacks cooling. The site visit tells us which.
- 35 minutes
- Out Trent to Starr Road, on the same price card as Spokane.
- Ducted or ductless
- Whichever the building already suits, priced side by side.
- Remote alerts
- Phone alerts for seasonal owners if the indoor temperature drops.
Electric heat came to Newman Lake for a simple reason: power lines reached the shore long before anything else did. Cabins along Newman Lake Drive, places out toward Moab and over on the Hauser side, and many houses on Starr Road were built or converted around electric furnaces and baseboards. January runs colder here than in Spokane, and the bills that follow are what bring us out — a thirty-five-minute drive from the shop, out Trent to Starr Road or up from the Barker exit.
The install site visit costs nothing, and we spend it measuring: the house, whether there are ducts worth using, the panel, and the baseboard circuits a heat pump would let you reclaim. The written quote that follows is itemized and good for 30 days. If Saturday is when you are at the lake, Saturday is when we come, with no surcharge for it.
Newman Lake homes and what usually fits
| Situation | What we usually recommend | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Year-round cabin on a 1980s electric furnace | Cold-climate ducted heat pump on those ducts, furnace elements as standby | January resistance heating is the costliest heat in the county |
| Baseboards in every room, no ducts anywhere | Cold-climate ductless system, one to four heads sized per room | Bills follow the thermostat, and there is nothing at all for August |
| Newer Starr Road house with a furnace, no AC | Central AC or a heat pump added to that furnace and its ducts | Window fans all summer, and rooms that stay warm long after sunset |
| Standard heat pump already installed | Replacement rated to hold output at −13°F or lower | The strips are carrying the house whenever it drops below 20°F |
| Small cabin service, panel crowded with baseboard breakers | Reclaim baseboard circuits; panel and new circuit listed on the quote | Electrical is what usually stalls a lake conversion |
| Seasonal owner, house empty for weeks | Thermostat with remote low-temperature alerts set up at install | You hear about a fault before the pipes are at risk |
Ducted, ductless, or both on one outdoor unit
Most visits settle the big question early. A cabin with an electric furnace already has ducts, so a cold-climate ducted heat pump can take over that system and leave the furnace’s strips for the coldest nights. A cabin heated only by baseboards has no ducts, and cutting new runs through a 1960s structure seldom pays, so ductless heads — one in each main room — do the work with far less disruption. One year-round lake home had both: baseboards in the original rooms and an electric furnace serving an addition. We put a ducted unit on the addition and two ductless heads in the older rooms, all on a single outdoor unit.
Each quote begins with a Manual J of the real building — floor area, insulation that can be thin in an older cabin, the windows that face the water, and design temperatures that go below zero at the lake. For primary heat we specify only cold-climate models rated to −13°F or lower; standard units shed most of their capacity once it drops past roughly 20 to 25°F and hand the job back to the strips. With ductless, each head is matched to its room and the outdoor unit to the combined load. We also tell you at the start that most multi-zone systems cannot heat one room and cool another at the same time.
Outdoor units sit on a stand above the snow line, sheltered from the lake wind where the lot allows, with a path for defrost meltwater so it cannot turn into a block of ice under the coil. The lines are brazed with nitrogen flowing, leak-tested and evacuated deeply, and any refrigerant from old equipment is recovered by technicians who hold EPA 608 Universal certification. The written quote lists the new circuit and disconnect, the baseboard circuits to take out or reuse, and any panel upgrade the service calls for, with the permit as its own line. Most jobs are done in one or two days.
What lake conversions start at
Spokane-area starting prices, equipment and installation included: an inverter cold-climate ducted heat pump on existing ductwork from $4,900, a single-zone ductless system from $3,350, and from $1,900 for every indoor zone after the first. A cabin that needs several heads on one outdoor unit, or the ducted-plus-ductless mix described above, is a multi-zone system, and we price that on request after walking the property. These describe the region rather than your cabin; the number of heads, the panel and the placement set the figure, and it comes to you in writing after the visit — which costs nothing — with the cash price and the financed price listed together. Our lines are Mitsubishi, Daikin, Fujitsu, Carrier, Bryant and Goodman. We avoid bargain online systems, since many have no parts supply in the US — a real problem when one throws a code during a cold snap thirty-five minutes from the nearest supply house. We look up which utility rebates cover the property, and booking online takes up to $500 off a full system, first-year tune-up included.
| System, installed | Price |
|---|---|
| Inverter (variable-speed) heat pump | from $4,900 |
| Ductless mini-split, single zone | from $3,350 |
| Each added mini-split zone | from $1,900 |
| Central air conditioner | from $4,150 |
| Heat pump outdoor unit only | from $4,200 |
| Heat pump with air handler | from $5,750 |
| 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 really replace baseboards in a Newman Lake January?
A cold-climate one can. We specify units that keep their rated output at −13°F and below, which leaves margin for the lake’s coldest nights; if you want insurance, a few baseboards or a strip bank can stay connected. Sizing comes from a load calculation on your building rather than a chart, and the quote states plainly when the backup is expected to run.
How do the baseboard circuits and the panel show up on the quote?
As separate lines. Taking baseboard circuits out of service or reusing them, the new circuit and disconnect, and any upgrade to a small cabin panel are itemized on the written quote along with the permit. The install is permitted and inspected.
Ducted or ductless for a cabin — which is better?
The one the building is already set up for. Existing ducts from an electric furnace let a ducted cold-climate heat pump slip in with nothing visible changing in the rooms. A baseboard-only cabin is better served by ductless heads, one per main room, so nobody has to open walls for ductwork. When both could work, the quote prices both.
Is there a charge for the visit, given the drive?
No charge. The trip, the measuring, the load calculation and the itemized quote are all on us, and the quote holds for 30 days. Newman Lake is the far edge of our 35-minute area but sits on the same price card as a house near the shop, and a Saturday appointment is priced the same as a Tuesday one.
We are away for weeks in winter. Can the new system protect the house?
It can help a great deal. We install a thermostat you can check from your phone that sends an alert if the indoor temperature falls, so a fault at the lake gets noticed long before pipes are in danger. A heat pump holds a low setback for very little, the backup heat stays on call, and you hear about trouble before the neighbors do.
Call, text or book
Saturday visits are routine out here — call or text to set one up, or book on the website, which saves up to $500 on a full system. An existing heat pump that only needs a repair starts with the $99 diagnostic, which is part of the repair total, and the drive to the lake carries no surcharge.
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.