Two estimates on the kitchen table. One is $13,400. One is $19,100. Same house, same week, both companies licensed. Most homeowners look at that spread and assume somebody is gouging them.
Usually nobody is. The two proposals are for different jobs — different equipment size, different ductwork scope, different warranty, different handling of the rebate paperwork. The price gap is a symptom. The scope is the actual story.
Here's how we tell Puget Sound homeowners to think about second opinions, including the cases where getting one is a waste of everybody's afternoon.
The short answer is tied to the size of the number
Use a rough threshold.
- Under about $1,000 — skip it. Heat pump and furnace repairs run $150 to $1,500 in standard markets. A second diagnostic visit can eat a third of that. Get the failed part named, get the price in writing, move on.
- $1,000 to $3,000 on an aging system — get a second opinion, especially if the first tech mentioned refrigerant, a compressor, or a cracked heat exchanger. Those are the conversations where "repair" and "replace" genuinely diverge.
- Over roughly $8,000 — always. Ducted heat pump installation runs $12,000 to $18,000 in standard Washington markets, $13,800 to $21,600 in affluent markets, and up to $24,300 in Bellevue and Gig Harbor. Ductless mini-splits run $8,000 to $14,000. At those numbers, an hour of your time is cheap insurance.
A second opinion is not price shopping
This is where most people get it backwards. If you collect three quotes and pick the lowest, you didn't get a second opinion — you ran an auction and let the winner define the scope. What you actually want to know is whether the plan is right for your house.
Sizing
Ask both companies what size system they're proposing and how they got there. A real answer sounds like a Manual J load calculation: insulation, window area and orientation, ceiling height, air leakage, and the winter outdoor design temperature for your address. That last number swings 12°F across our service area — 17°F in Olympia and Lacey, 21°F in Kent and Renton, 24°F in Federal Way and Seattle, 29°F in Tacoma and Gig Harbor. A bid sized off square footage alone, or off "whatever's in there now," is a guess.
Oversizing is the most common problem, and it's the one that never shows up on the invoice. An oversized system short-cycles, dehumidifies poorly, and wears out its compressor early. "Bigger to be safe" is not safe.
Ductwork scope
If one bid is $5,000 higher, check the ducts. Ductwork replacement runs $3,000 to $8,000 standard, and Puget Sound crawl spaces are hard on sheet metal and flex duct. One contractor may have priced the repairs your ducts need; the other may be planning to hang new equipment on a leaky, undersized system and let you discover the problem in February. Neither approach is automatically wrong — but you should know which one you're buying.
What's included versus excluded
Lay the two proposals side by side and look for these line items specifically:
| Line item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Line itemPermit and inspection | Why it mattersWashington requires a mechanical permit on nearly every install, including like-for-like swaps |
| Line itemElectrical work | Why it mattersA new circuit or disconnect is real money and real scope |
| Line itemLine set | Why it mattersReused or replaced — and whether it's compatible with the new refrigerant |
| Line itemThermostat | Why it mattersA heat-pump-compatible control, not the one on the wall now |
| Line itemLabor warranty | Why it mattersParts warranty is the manufacturer's. Labor is the contractor's promise |
| Line itemRebate filing | Why it mattersWho does the paperwork, and who eats it if it's rejected |
A proposal that lists equipment model numbers and named scope is comparable. A proposal that says "install new heat pump system — $14,500" is not comparable to anything.
Rebate handling
This one has teeth right now. Utility rebate programs pay only through their own contractor networks — if the company doing the work isn't in the program, the rebate is forfeited, no appeal. We check the current requirements before quoting rather than after, and file the paperwork as part of the job. Ask any bidder directly whether they can actually file your rebate, and whether their rebate figure is already netted out of the price or something you're expected to chase yourself. Programs change constantly, so we confirm your current eligibility rather than quoting you a number from a brochure. Details on how the money actually works are in our breakdown of heat pump rebates in Washington.
Also worth saying plainly: the federal 25C tax credit ended December 31, 2025. Any quote that still lists a $2,000 federal credit is working from an outdated worksheet — which tells you something about how carefully the rest of it was assembled.
When a second opinion is a waste of time
We'd rather tell you this than pretend otherwise.
- The house is cold and the fix is small. Getting heat back today beats saving $120 next week.
- You already have two detailed, similar proposals. A third rarely adds information. It usually adds two weeks of decision fatigue.
- The repair is under a few hundred dollars. The second diagnostic fee cancels the benefit.
- You're chasing the cheapest possible bid. If price is the only variable you care about, more quotes will find you a lower number — and the install quality that comes with it.
Red flags that mean get one today
- A same-day-only discount. Real pricing survives until tomorrow.
- A replacement recommendation with no diagnostic explanation. Ask which component failed and what it costs to fix. Legitimate heat pump repair conversations start with a named part.
- A "cracked heat exchanger" call with no photo and no red tag. It's a real and serious finding. It's also the single most abused one in this trade. Ask to see it.
- No permit in the scope. Skipping it can complicate an insurance claim and shows up on Washington's seller disclosure form when you sell.
- No load calculation. See above.
- Pressure at the door. Nobody who knocked on your porch uninvited should be sizing your heating system.
What a much lower bid usually means
When we get called in as the second opinion and we're higher, the reason is almost always one of five things: smaller equipment, a lower efficiency tier, ductwork or electrical work left off, a shorter labor warranty, or no permit. Occasionally we're higher for none of those reasons — we're just not the cheapest company in the Puget Sound, and we don't try to be.
When we come in lower, it's usually because the other proposal included work the house doesn't need — a full duct replacement where sealing would do, or a panel upgrade that a 100-amp service doesn't actually require.
Both outcomes are fine. Both are information you couldn't have had from one quote.
How to run it cleanly
Share the first proposal's scope — model numbers, tonnage, line items — and hold back the price. Ask the second company to price the same job, then to tell you where they'd do it differently and why. Ask both for the labor warranty in writing; ours is 10 years parts and labor on every installation. Then decide on total value, not the bottom line.
And be straight with people. An estimate visit is a sales appointment on both sides of the table — you're evaluating a contractor, and they're bidding for work. Telling us you're getting a second quote costs you nothing. We'd rather earn it than win it by default.
Ready to be the second opinion
If you've got a heat pump, furnace or AC proposal on the table and something about it doesn't sit right, have us look at it. We're owner-operated out of Federal Way, we specialize in heat pumps, and we'll tell you if the quote you're holding is a good one.
Request a free in-home estimate or call (253) 785-4622, Monday through Friday, 8 to 6.