What people ask us before they book

About as loud as a quiet conversation at a few metres, and quieter when it is running slowly, which is most of the time. It gets louder on the coldest nights and during a defrost, which lasts a few minutes.

On its low setting, an indoor head is a soft hum, quieter than most bedroom fans. We set up a quiet mode for bedrooms during install.

We place the outdoor unit away from bedroom windows, yours and theirs, and set it on rubber pads. If there is only one sensible spot, we talk it through with you first.

Keep them. A cold-climate heat pump sized to your house carries most of the winter, but on the few nights near -25 °C a backup source takes the edge off. With a ducted system the furnace switches in automatically.

A heat pump needs electricity, like an electric furnace or baseboards. If you heat with wood or have a generator, we can tell you what it would take to run the system on it.

We can add a ductless system to an oil-heated home and leave the oil furnace as backup. We don't service, repair or remove oil furnaces, so keep your oil technician for that.

Rinse or vacuum the indoor filters every month or two, and keep snow and ice clear of the outdoor unit. We show you both on install day.

We recommend a check every one to two years: coils cleaned, drainage and refrigerant pressures checked, settings reviewed. It runs $160 to $220 depending on the number of heads.

Commonly 15 to 20 years with basic care. Salt air near the coast can shorten that, so for waterfront homes we quote coastal-coated models.

The manufacturer's parts warranty, usually 10 to 12 years on registered cold-climate equipment, which we register for you. Our own workmanship warranty is five years.

No. New-construction duct design is best handled by your builder's HVAC contractor. Once the house is built, we are happy to talk about ductless options.

Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville and Cole Harbour regularly, and further out by arrangement.