SeaTac and Tukwila are ten minutes apart, share a winter design temperature, share a housing era, and share a quirk that trips up almost every heat pump quote written for them: neither city has one electric utility. Depending on your exact address, your power comes from Seattle City Light or from a second electric utility. That single fact decides whether a rebate number belongs on your proposal at all.
Here are the real 2026 numbers, and the honest version of what changes them.
What a heat pump costs here in 2026
Both cities price in standard market territory. You are not paying the Seattle or Bellevue premium, which is worth knowing when you're comparing bids against a friend's quote from across the city line.
| What you're buying | Installed cost |
|---|---|
| What you're buyingDucted heat pump — whole home, uses existing ducts | Installed cost$12,000 – $18,000 |
| What you're buyingDuctless mini-split — single zone to multi-zone | Installed cost$8,000 – $14,000 |
| What you're buyingHeat pump replacement — swapping an existing unit | Installed cost$10,000 – $16,000 |
| What you're buyingDuctwork repair or replacement, if needed | Installed cost$3,000 – $8,000 |
| What you're buyingHeat pump repair | Installed cost$150 – $1,500 |
Those are installed prices including labor, materials, permit and startup. Where you land inside the range is mostly about three things: the size of the load, the condition of what's already in the house, and which equipment tier you pick. We present Good, Better and Best on every proposal so you can see what the money actually buys instead of guessing.
Want a number before anyone knocks on your door? The instant estimate tool asks seven questions about the home and gives you Good/Better/Best starting prices in about a minute.
The utility thing — read this before you believe a rebate number
Rebates follow the meter, not the county line. SeaTac and Tukwila are two of only five cities in our entire 45-city service area that are genuinely split between two power companies.
If your power bill does not say Seattle City Light
You're in local rebate territory. Rebate money is available toward a qualifying heat pump when it replaces an existing electric or fossil-fuel system. The amount depends on the system you're replacing and the equipment you install — converting electric baseboard or a furnace is not the same case, and the paperwork reflects that. Programs change, so we confirm your current eligibility and handle the filing. More detail in our local utility rebate breakdown.
One thing that matters in 2026: utility rebate programs pay only through their own contractor networks, and those rules change. If another bid promises you rebate money, ask the company directly whether they have confirmed the program's current requirements, because otherwise that money quietly evaporates at the end of the job and you're the one holding the bill.
If Seattle City Light bills your electricity
That other utility's heat pump rebate does not apply to you, full stop. We won't write it into your proposal and you shouldn't accept a bid that does. City Light runs its own programs, they change, and we'll tell you honestly what we find for your address rather than guessing at a number to make a quote look better.
Natural gas is simpler
Both cities have one natural gas provider. So it is entirely possible to be a gas customer of that company and a Seattle City Light electric customer at the same address in Tukwila. That combination confuses a lot of people, including some contractors. Bring your actual power bill to the estimate and the whole question resolves in thirty seconds.
What actually drives your price up or down
The load calculation, not the square footage
Washington's energy code lists a 24°F winter design temperature for the SeaTac and Tukwila area — the same as Seattle, Burien and Des Moines, and five degrees milder than Tacoma is cold. Every Manual J load calculation we run is against that number. Most homes here land between 2 and 4 tons. We do the load calculation on every estimate at no extra cost, because sizing off square footage alone is how you end up with an oversized system that short-cycles, dehumidifies poorly and wears out early.
If your home has had window and insulation upgrades — common near the flight path — the load is often smaller than the square footage suggests. That can mean a smaller, cheaper unit. We'd rather find that than sell you tonnage you don't need.
Ductwork condition
This is the biggest swing factor in South King County. The 1960s–1980s split-entries and ramblers that dominate both cities usually have a usable duct system in the crawlspace or the lower level, which keeps you in the ducted lane at the lower end of the range. But crawlspaces here are damp. Twenty-five-year-old flex duct with sagging runs and soaked insulation does not become a good duct system just because a new heat pump is bolted to it. If we find that, we say so, price the duct work as its own line, and let you decide.
Electrical
A ducted heat pump typically needs a 30–40 amp 240V circuit. Most homes with a 100-amp panel or larger take that without drama. Older Tukwila homes with a full panel or a legacy fuse box may need electrical work coordinated before install. We're an HVAC contractor — we scope it and coordinate the licensed electrician rather than pretending panel work is free.
Site conditions
Lot access, where the outdoor unit can sit relative to bedroom windows and the property line, line-set routing, and pad or bracket work all move labor hours. Flat lots with driveway access — which describes a lot of SeaTac — are the easy version.
Ducted or ductless in these neighborhoods
The 60-second rule: ducts in decent shape favor a ducted heat pump. No ducts favors mini-splits. Retrofitting ductwork into a finished home is invasive and expensive, and it usually erases the price difference between the two paths.
- Split-entries and ramblers with a furnace and ducts. Ducted heat pump, $12,000–$18,000. Often reusing the existing ducts and electrical, often done in one day.
- Older bungalows, wall-heater homes, and baseboard-heated units. Ductless, $8,000–$14,000. If the rebate-paying utility bills your electricity and you're converting electric resistance heat, this is the textbook rebate case.
- Converted garages, added bedrooms, and stubborn hot-and-cold rooms. A single mini-split zone alongside the existing system, usually at the lower end of the ductless range.
Two things that are no longer true
The federal 25C tax credit ended December 31, 2025. No 2026 installation qualifies for it. If a salesperson brings it up, that's a red flag about everything else they told you.
"Rebates because you're in King County" is not a thing. It's the meter. Always the meter.
What our estimate actually looks like
A technician comes out, measures the home, runs the load calculation, inspects the duct system and the panel, and asks what's actually bothering you about the house. You get a written proposal with Good, Better and Best options and a straight answer on rebates for your specific address. It's a sales appointment — we're there to earn the job — but there's no manufactured urgency and no one-day-only price.
Every installation we do carries a 10-year parts and 10-year labor warranty, most are finished in one day, and we pull the mechanical permit and schedule the inspection on every job. We install Day & Night, Carrier and American Standard for ducted systems, and Mitsubishi, Daikin and Hitachi for ductless.
Get a real number for your address
We're based in Federal Way, about fifteen minutes south of both cities, and we're owner-operated — Vlad or Jake is involved in the jobs we run. Washington contractor license VARSIHC766RJ.
Request a free in-home estimate or call (253) 785-4622, Monday through Friday, 8 to 6. Bring your power bill. That's the fastest way to find out what your heat pump actually costs.