Nine Mile Falls · moving off electric heat
Heat pump installation in Nine Mile Falls to retire the electric furnace
Most of our Nine Mile Falls install calls begin with a January power bill. A cold-climate heat pump, sized on a site visit and installed by our crew, warms the same house on far fewer kilowatt-hours.
- Up Highway 291
- Roughly twenty minutes from the shop, past the dam.
- Saturday visits
- We measure Monday through Saturday, so lake owners can be there.
- Install saving
- Booked online, a full system is up to $500 less.
An electric furnace turns every kilowatt into exactly one kilowatt of heat, and from November through March it does that at full price. Out here the wood stove helps, but only while someone is awake to feed it, and by morning the furnace is carrying the house again. That pattern is behind most of the calls we take up Highway 291. A cold-climate heat pump moves heat instead of making it, so it becomes the steady base under the house, and the stove turns into something you light because you want to rather than because the bedrooms will be cold by dawn.
Nine Mile Falls is a rewarding place for a heat pump and an unforgiving place for a careless one. The housing ranges from Suncrest family homes built within the last twenty years, with ducts and a 200-amp panel, to cabins on the Long Lake shoreline and out toward Tumtum that grew one bedroom at a time and now have baseboards, a stove and a panel that has been added onto twice. We spend the install site visit measuring, and it costs nothing.
What we usually install in Nine Mile Falls
| Situation | What we usually recommend | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Electric furnace, winter bill roughly doubles | Ducted cold-climate heat pump on the existing ducts, strips held for deep cold | The ducts are already in place; only the heat source has to change |
| Wood stove as the main heat, chilly by morning | Heat pump as base heat, stove as the pleasant extra | Even warmth whether or not anyone gets up to load wood |
| Twenty-year-old add-on heat pump on R-22 | Current cold-climate system with a matched air handler, sized by Manual J | Poor efficiency, scarce refrigerant and defrost trouble every winter |
| Cabin with no ductwork anywhere | Ductless or a compact ducted unit laid out for the floor plan | Baseboards in each room, and nothing at all for July |
| Panel added onto twice, well pump and shop already on it | Service or panel upgrade itemized on the quote, permitted and inspected | Without the upgrade the new circuit has no home |
| Steep lot, lake-side deck, roof that sheds snow | Placement settled on site, with a wall bracket where a pad will not work | Airflow, snow and noise toward neighbors all decide the spot |
Suncrest, the shoreline and out toward Tumtum
Where the outdoor unit lives matters more on a lake lot than in town. Roofs drop their snow onto whatever sits below the eave, the deck facing Long Lake is where people want quiet in July, and steep driveways limit how equipment gets down to the house. On tight lots a wall bracket frequently beats a ground pad. We also look hard at the power: depending on the road, service comes from Avista or Inland Power, and a panel already running a well pump, a range and a shop may need work before it can take a heat pump and backup strips. That work lands on the same quote as its own line item.
The number on the quote comes from a Manual J of the real house — wall and ceiling insulation, window area and the direction it faces, air leakage — calculated with design temperatures for the Long Lake valley rather than a citywide average. For an electric-furnace conversion we match the outdoor unit to a new air handler or to the existing furnace, and the strips usually remain as backup. The quote is itemized, lists cash and financed prices together, and is good for 30 days. Because Saturday is a normal working day for us, a lake place you only reach at the end of the week is no obstacle.
A straight changeout is a one-day job; new copper, new electrical or duct changes make it two. Our technicians, who hold EPA 608 Universal certification, braze the lines with nitrogen running through them, pressure-test, evacuate and weigh in the charge. We set thermostat staging so the strips come on only when the heat pump truly needs help, then show you what a normal defrost cycle looks and sounds like so the first January cloud of steam is no surprise.
Starting prices for leaving electric heat
Spokane-area installs for this kind of conversion start at $4,900 for a ducted inverter cold-climate heat pump, from $3,350 for a single-zone ductless system in a small cabin, and from $1,900 for each indoor zone beyond the first, the equipment itself counted in every figure. A multi-zone system serving the whole cabin is quoted on request, once the floor plan has been sketched on site. Those figures are for planning, not a quote; the load calculation, the panel and the placement set your price, which arrives in writing after the visit that costs you nothing. Replacing electric resistance heat is where utility programs tend to put their weight, so we check which rebates apply and fill out the forms with you before install day. Daikin, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Carrier, Bryant and Goodman are all on our list, and booking through the site-visit form takes up to $500 off a full system, 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 |
| 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
Will a heat pump replace our electric furnace, or just help it?
It takes over as the main heat. The electric strips stay in place as a reserve for the coldest nights, but a cold-climate unit sized to a Suncrest home or a shoreline house handles most of the winter without them. We program the staging so the strips switch on only when the heat pump falls behind, which should be rare.
Our cabin has no ductwork. Can it still have a heat pump?
Yes, two ways. Wall-mounted ductless heads, one per main room, are the usual answer; in some cabins a compact ducted unit hidden in a closet or crawlspace works better. We sketch both with your floor plan during the visit and price whichever fits, with the circuits and disconnect already included in the number.
Can you do the site visit on a Saturday at our Long Lake place?
We can. Our crew works Saturdays as a normal day, and a good share of Nine Mile Falls visits land then because that is when owners make it out to the lake. Saturday carries no surcharge, the visit itself has no charge, and the itemized quote you receive afterward holds for 30 days.
What if the panel needs an upgrade first?
We assess the panel during the site visit, and any service or panel upgrade goes into the same quote as its own line item, along with the permit. You see the full cost before install day.
Where does the outdoor unit go on a steep lake lot?
Wherever it can breathe, sit above the usual snow depth, stay out from under a shedding roof edge, and not hum beneath the deck you use all July. On narrow or sloping lots a wall bracket is often a better home than a pad. We decide the spot with you on site, and the quote names it.
Call, text or book
Text us a picture of the electric furnace’s label or phone to book; booking through the website instead takes up to $500 off a full-system install. Repairs on a heat pump you already own begin with the $99 diagnostic, and that amount sits inside 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.