Most homeowners in Federal Way, Kent, Tacoma, or Olympia will buy exactly one heat pump in their lifetime. That means you are being asked to evaluate a $12,000 to $18,000 purchase in a field you have no reason to know anything about, usually at a kitchen table, usually under some amount of time pressure.
The good news is that you do not need to understand refrigerant charge or superheat to spot a bad proposal. Bad quotes leave fingerprints. Here are the nine we tell our own friends and neighbors to watch for — and what a real heat pump proposal looks like instead.
The nine red flags
1. A price without a load calculation
If nobody measured your house, nobody knows what size system it needs. Square footage alone does not determine the load — insulation, window area and orientation, ceiling height, air sealing, and layout all move the number, and the winter design temperature varies 12°F across our service area. Olympia designs to 17°F. Tacoma designs to 29°F. Same house, different equipment.
A quote produced from "about 2,000 square feet, so a 4-ton" is a guess. Oversized systems short-cycle, wear out early, and dehumidify poorly. Undersized systems run constantly and still fall behind. A proper Manual J calculation should be part of every estimate, not an upcharge.
2. No equipment model numbers
"High-efficiency 16 SEER heat pump" is not a product. It is a category. Without a manufacturer and a model number for the outdoor unit, the indoor coil or air handler, and the thermostat, you cannot verify the efficiency rating, you cannot check the warranty, and you cannot compare two bids against each other.
This matters more than it used to. Rebate eligibility is tied to SEER2 and HSPF2 ratings, and ratings are assigned to matched system combinations, not to an outdoor unit by itself. A mismatched pairing can quietly disqualify the whole job.
3. One number, no tiers, no breakdown
A single bottom-line figure with no scope underneath it tells you nothing about what you are buying. You should be able to read the proposal and see the equipment, the electrical work, any duct modification, the permit, the startup and commissioning, and the haul-away of the old system.
We present Good, Better, and Best in writing because the honest answer to "which should I buy?" is usually "it depends on how long you are staying and how much the quiet matters to you." That is a conversation, not a line item.
4. A discount that expires today
Manufactured urgency is the single most reliable sign that someone is selling you rather than solving a problem. Equipment pricing does not change because you slept on it. There is no seasonal clock on heat pump pricing, and the federal 25C tax credit ended December 31, 2025, so there is no tax deadline pressure either.
If a price is only real while the salesperson is sitting in your living room, it was never a price. It was a close.
5. A guaranteed rebate dollar figure before anyone read your bill
This one costs people real money. Rebates follow the meter, not the county. Across Varsity's 45 cities, roughly half a dozen different electric utilities are writing the rules, and the amount depends on what you are replacing and what gets installed. A figure that is accurate in one city is wrong two miles down the road.
A bid that promises you a specific rebate check before anyone has confirmed which utility bills your address is making a promise it does not control. Local utility rebates may apply, the amount depends on the equipment and the system being replaced, and programs pay only through their own contractor networks. We confirm what your utility actually pays and file the paperwork. The honest version of that sentence belongs on your quote. Our Washington heat pump rebate guide walks through how each program is structured.
6. No mention of a permit
Washington requires a mechanical permit for nearly every heat pump installation, including like-for-like replacements, and a changeout that adds a disconnect or new line set often needs an electrical permit too. A quote that is silent on permits is either planning to skip it or planning to bill you later.
Skipped permits are not a victimless shortcut. Unpermitted mechanical work can complicate an insurance claim and shows up on Washington's seller disclosure form when you sell the house.
7. Warranty language you cannot pin down
"Fully warrantied" means nothing. Ask three questions: how long on parts, how long on labor, and who honors it. Manufacturer parts coverage usually requires registration at the time of install, and labor coverage is entirely up to the contractor — which is why it is the term that varies most between bids.
Every Varsity installation carries a 10-year parts and labor warranty, regardless of which brand you choose. If the company that installed it is the company that stands behind it, you only ever make one phone call.
8. Nobody looked at your ductwork
In a ducted retrofit, the ducts decide whether the system performs. Crawl space sheet metal in our climate corrodes, flex duct sags and tears, and undersized returns strangle a new variable-speed air handler. If the estimator never opened the crawl space hatch or the attic, the bid is incomplete.
Sometimes the right answer is that the existing ducts are fine and reusable. Sometimes it is a duct modification, or a recommendation to skip ducts entirely in favor of a ductless system — our mini-split versus central heat pump comparison lays out when each one wins. Either way, somebody has to look.
9. No license number, no insurance, no name on the truck
Washington contractor license numbers are public. So is bond and insurance status. A legitimate proposal prints the license number on it — ours is VARSIHC766RJ, with $2,000,000 general liability and active workers compensation.
Related: find out who is actually doing the work. A door-knocker who subcontracts the install to whoever is available that week is not accountable to you in year four when something rattles.
What a real quote looks like
| What you should see | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What you should seeManual J load calculation | Why it mattersDetermines correct size, not a guess from square footage |
| What you should seeModel numbers, all components | Why it mattersVerifies efficiency rating, warranty, and rebate eligibility |
| What you should seeGood / Better / Best pricing | Why it mattersLets you choose, instead of being sold one option |
| What you should seeElectrical and duct scope spelled out | Why it mattersPrevents the mid-install change order |
| What you should seePermit included | Why it mattersLegal, inspected, and clean at resale |
| What you should see10-year parts and labor in writing | Why it mattersThe term that actually varies between contractors |
| What you should seeRebate explained, not promised | Why it mattersConfirmed from your bill, with the paperwork filed for you |
Two honest caveats
The cheapest bid is not automatically the bad one, and the most expensive is not automatically thorough. Price only becomes meaningful once the scope matches. Compare line by line. If one bid is $4,000 lower, find the $4,000 — it is in the equipment tier, the electrical, the ducts, or the warranty.
An estimate visit is a sales appointment. Anyone who tells you otherwise is managing you. What you should expect is a technical conversation, written options, and no pressure to sign in the room. Our customers tell us the absence of a hard close is the part they remember, and that is deliberate.
Before the first contractor arrives
Know your rough number first so no quote can anchor you. The instant estimate tool asks seven questions about your home and returns Good, Better, and Best starting prices in about 60 seconds, and the Washington heat pump cost guide covers what actually drives price up or down.
Then get a real one. Varsity is owner-operated out of Federal Way, serving 45 cities across King, Pierce, Thurston, and the edge of Kitsap County. Request a free in-home estimate or call (253) 785-4622, Monday through Friday, 8 to 6. We are not the cheapest bid. We are the one done right by people who answer the phone after the check clears.