Missoula, Montana
Heat Pump Installation in Missoula, MT
One system that heats and cools, at a running cost that beats resistance heat and propane.
Rebates
Two local rebates on a heat pump
You are on one electric utility or the other, so one of these applies to your house, not both.
Read this first. The Missoula Electric Cooperative rebate is for homes that heat with electricity today. If your house heats with gas, that one does not apply to you. We would rather say so here than at your kitchen table.
Up to $920
Missoula Electric Cooperative
Ductless heat pump, professionally installed, in a home that currently uses electric heat.
- Your home has to be heating with electricity today.
- Not available for new construction or homes with gas heat.
- One per home.
$450
NorthWestern Energy E+
Central heat pump, ductless or ducted.
- Requires ENERGY STAR rating, or SEER2 of 15.2 or higher and HSPF2 of 8.5 or higher.
- Existing homes only.
- Current program cycle runs through June 30, 2027.
We handle the rebate paperwork.
Both are utility programs, not our discounts. The utility pays them and the utility makes the final call on eligibility. We will tell you which one your house looks like it qualifies for before any work starts.
- Veteran-owned, Montana-built
- The two owners do the work
- Free estimates, no pressure
“406 Heating and Cooling were very quick in getting us a quote, installing our new unit and removal of our old unit. They were very professional and I will certainly be calling them in the future with any issues with HVAC.”
How it works
What actually happens, start to finish
Free estimate
We come out and look at the actual house. You get a clear scope and a number, at no charge, with nothing attached to it.
Load calculation and sizing
The equipment gets sized off a real load calculation for your house, not a square-footage chart. Insulation, windows, air sealing and which way the place faces all move the answer. This is the step that decides whether the system carries a February inversion or hands the job to backup heat.
Installation
Equipment set, refrigerant lines run and concealed properly, the outdoor unit placed above the snow line and clear of drifting, condensate handled so it drains where it should, and the electrical coordinated with the disconnect set.
Startup and walkthrough
The system is evacuated, charged and commissioned with the charge verified rather than estimated. Then we walk you through running it before we leave, and the rebate paperwork goes in.
How does a heat pump heat a house in a Montana winter?
A heat pump moves heat instead of burning fuel to make it, which is why it can deliver more heat energy than the electricity it consumes. In a Missoula winter that translates into a lower running cost than electric resistance heat or delivered propane, and in July the same box runs backwards and becomes your air conditioning.
What is included
What the job actually involves
- Cold-climate air-source heat pumps, ducted and ductless
- Dual-fuel setups that pair a heat pump with a gas furnace
- Manual J style load calculation before equipment is selected
- Existing ductwork inspected and corrected where it is the bottleneck
- Outdoor unit set clear of the snow line and drifting
- Backup and emergency heat staged and controlled correctly
- Thermostat set up so the changeover actually behaves
- Full commissioning with charge verified, not estimated
The part that matters
Sized on the house, not on the square footage
Almost every heat pump that disappoints someone was oversized, undersized or never commissioned properly. A load calculation takes into account your insulation, your windows, your air sealing and your orientation. It is the difference between a system that carries a February cold snap and one that hands the whole job to backup heat and runs your bill up.
Heat pump or furnace, in a Missoula valley winter
If you already have natural gas and a working furnace, a heat pump is usually an addition rather than a replacement. Pairing the two is called dual fuel: the heat pump carries the load through most of the season at a lower running cost, and the furnace takes over at the bottom of the range where gas costs less per unit of heat.
If you are on propane, electric resistance or an old oil system, the case for a heat pump is much stronger. Those are the fuels a heat pump beats decisively on running cost, and the payback is measured in seasons rather than decades.
If you are building new, it is worth deciding before the walls close. The equipment choice changes the ductwork, the electrical service and the layout, and all three are inexpensive to get right at framing and costly to change afterwards.
What the inversion does to your equipment
Missoula sits in a bowl, and on a clear winter night cold air drains into the bottom of it and stays. An inversion can hold for days, which means your system is not dealing with an average winter day, it is dealing with a sustained stretch at the cold end of the range.
That is the condition that finds an undersized system. It is also the condition that a properly specified cold-climate unit is designed for. The specification is the whole job.
Where you put the outdoor unit matters here too. It needs airflow, it needs to sit above where snow piles and drifts, and it needs somewhere for defrost meltwater to go that is not straight back under the coil to freeze.
Equipment
We install Mitsubishi Electric and American Standard equipment.
Mitsubishi Electric is what we reach for on the ductless and cold-climate side, because their cold-climate line is built for the temperatures this valley actually sees. American Standard covers the gas furnace and ducted work.
You will see both on the units in our own job photos rather than in a brochure.
Warranty
What is covered, and by whom
Equipment we install carries the manufacturer's standard warranty. The term and what falls under it depend on the manufacturer and on the specific system, and manufacturer coverage generally depends on the equipment being registered after it goes in.
We will put the actual terms for your equipment in writing with your estimate. We would rather do that than print a number on a web page that does not hold on every job.
Our own work sits alongside that. If something we installed was not installed right, we come back and put it right. Both owners are on the job, so there is nobody to hand that to.
Free estimate
Ask us about heat pump installation
Tell us about the house and what you are trying to solve. We will come out, look at it properly and give you a free estimate.
- You send this or callName and a number is genuinely all we need.
- We come out and lookAt the actual house. It is the only honest way to size anything.
- You get a free estimateA clear scope, no charge, and nothing attached to it.
Questions
Heat Pump Installation questions
Does a heat pump work below zero in Montana?
Can I keep my gas furnace and add a heat pump?
Does a heat pump replace my air conditioner?
Do you install ducted heat pumps or only ductless?
Where we work
Heat Pump Installation near you
Rather just talk to someone?
Call the shop weekdays, 8am to 5pm. You will get one of the owners.