Decisions Heat, west side West side
Ductless heat pump or keep the baseboard heaters?
Ductless heat pump, baseboards stay or Baseboards alone
Compared by the people who run this site. Updated . Rebates and prices checked November 3, 2026.
A ductless heat pump in the main area delivers heat for far less than baseboards, going by West side homes metered in 2008-09. Keep the bedroom baseboards: those pilot homes left the old heat in place, and the bill still shrank.
The verdict, by situation
If your house has baseboards in every room and an open living area
Add ductless to the main living area. Puget Sound homes in the NEEA field metering averaged a seasonal COP of 3.05, about three units of heat per unit of electricity.
If the bedrooms sit behind closed doors at the far end of the house
Add ductless and keep those baseboards in working order. ENERGY STAR says heat is impossible to move through a closed door.
If wood already does much of your heating
Keep the baseboards alone until you have read your bills. In the billing analysis, homes with supplemental fuel saved 747 kWh a year, and homes without it saved 2,718.
If you also want cooling or a way out of the next heat wave
Choose ductless. Baseboards can't cool, and Sea-Tac reached 108F on June 28, 2021.
If you heat with gas, oil or propane now
This is the wrong comparison. Start at the West side decision list, because most electric-heat rebates won't apply to you.
Side by side
| Compare | Ductless heat pump in the main room | Baseboards alone |
|---|---|---|
| Heat per unit of electricity | COP 3.05, Puget Sound, metered 2008-09 | 1 unit, plain physics |
| Rooms reached | Main zone, some spill to adjacent rooms | Each room with a heater |
| Heat cost, our arithmetic | $11.43 per million Btu delivered | $34.87 per million Btu delivered |
| Yearly savings, Puget Sound | 3,812 kWh metered; 1,677 kWh in billing data | Baseline |
| Cooling | Yes; pilot homes used 72 kWh a year | None |
| Smoke | EPA: usually no PM2.5 filter, so add an air cleaner | No fan, so no filtering |
| Outdoor equipment | Yes; Seattle sets a 45-decibel limit at the property line | None |
Sources: NEEA field metering, NEEA billing analysis, EIA state prices, Seattle SDCI. The heat cost row is our division, using 2024 statewide averages, not your utility's rate, and pilot homes metered in 2008-09. The full running-cost table has every caveat.
What would change the answer
- You burn wood most of the winter. The billing study found takeback, mostly wood, cut savings by about one-third.
- Your heating bills are already small. Savings come out of the kWh you now use, so a light user has less to give up.
- Your house is east of the Cascades. Inland Empire billing savings were 792 kWh a year, so read the Spokane heat pump comparison.
- Your main heat isn't electric resistance. PSE's conversion rebate would not apply.
- You run plug-in heaters in back rooms all winter. Those loads weren't in the metered numbers, and a second head may be worth pricing.
- You have ducts from an old electric furnace. Then ductless or ducted is the real question.
What it costs, with dates
We found no official installed-price figure for ductless work, so this page doesn't print one. Get at least two written bids that itemize the indoor and outdoor units, the electrical work, permits, and any rebate paperwork. Rebates, as of November 2026:
Ductless rebates from electric heat
| Utility | Offer | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| PSE (archived copy, May 2026) | $1,500; $2,400 income-based | Trade Ally or REP installs; apply within 30 days |
| Tacoma Power | $1,000 listed for up to 4 units | Participating Contractor; 0% loan up to $20,000 |
| Clark Public Utilities | $900, single or multi-head | Network contractor |
| Snohomish PUD | No ductless amount on the page | Ask the PUD |
| Seattle City Light | $300 to $600 instant, by HSPF2 | Participating distributors; no separate ductless figure |
PSE's figure comes from an archived copy, so confirm with the utility. Federal tax credits ended for anything installed after 2025. State HEAR rebates run through local administrators for households at or below 150% of area median income. See whether to claim a rebate now or wait.
Who does the work
A registered HVAC contractor handles the whole job, and most rebates here require a contractor on the utility's own list. Check the name on the L&I verify tool. Seattle requires a refrigeration permit for any split system, and electrical permits must be bought before electrical work starts. Refrigerant lines and wiring are not homeowner jobs. You can clean the indoor filter, keep the outdoor unit clear, and check a tripped breaker.
Do the baseboards have to come out?
No. The pilot's model was called displacement: the heat pump went into main living zones and the electric heat stayed.
Afterward, Puget Sound homes metered 1,978 kWh a year on the heat pump and 2,400 kWh on the old resistance heat. So the baseboards kept doing real work, mostly in the outer rooms. When occupants raised the heat pump's setting, it did more to offset those outer zones, as heat moved to adjacent bedrooms. Some people simply kept their bedroom thermostats lower.
How much will the bill actually drop?
Plan on the lower number. Metering in Puget Sound homes showed 3,812 kWh saved a year. The larger billing study of 3,621 sites showed 1,677 kWh of space heating savings there.
As an illustration only, at the state's 14.63 cents per kWh in August 2026, one summer month's rate, those work out to about $558 and $245 a year by our arithmetic. Your rate and your house will differ. ENERGY STAR's "up to 60% less energy" compares against standard electric radiators. It's a ceiling, and it isn't a promise about your whole bill.
Parts and examples
Plumbing Supply and More, which shares an owner with this site, has a mini-split category page. Use it to compare the equipment types a bid names. This equipment is for a contractor to install.
What people ask next
Can a ductless head run below freezing in a Puget Sound winter?
Yes. ENERGY STAR says these systems are tested to 5F and that back-up heat works most efficiently below that. Sea-Tac's normal January low is 37.7F, per NOAA normals.
Should I turn the baseboard thermostats down once the head is in?
Pilot occupants who raised the heat pump's setting offset more of the outer-room heat, and some kept bedroom thermostats lower. Try it room by room and watch your bills.
Does a Seattle ductless install need a noise review?
Seattle's permit guide says no review for ductless unless there's a complaint, though the 45-decibel limit at the property line still applies.
Decide next
One ductless head or one in each problem room?
- One head
- Open plan, short hallway, and baseboards kept for the far rooms
- Several heads
- Closed-off rooms that stay cold or that you heat with plugged-in heaters
Ductless or ducted heat pump for this house?
- Ductless
- No ducts, or ducts in poor shape, with baseboards to cover far rooms
- Ducted
- Sound ducts already reaching every room, often from an old furnace
Space heater or another ductless head for the cold back room?
- Space heater
- Short, occasional use in a room you're in and awake
- Wall baseboard
- A room that already has a working baseboard
- Another head
- A room in nightly use all winter
Where this came from
- NEEA/Ecotope: Ductless heat pump field metering report, checked November 3, 2026.
- NEEA: Ductless heat pump billing analysis, checked November 3, 2026.
- ENERGY STAR: Ductless heating and cooling, checked November 3, 2026.
- EPA: Heat and smoke guidance, checked November 3, 2026.
- EIA: State residential energy prices, checked November 3, 2026.
- EIA: Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, checked November 3, 2026.
- NWS: NOWData, Seattle area, checked November 3, 2026.
- NOAA: 1991-2020 monthly normals, Sea-Tac, checked November 3, 2026.
- PSE: Electric resistance to heat pump rebate (archived copy, May 2026), checked November 3, 2026.
- Tacoma Power: Heat pump rebates, checked November 3, 2026.
- Clark Public Utilities: Ductless heat pump program, checked November 3, 2026.
- Snohomish PUD: Heating rebates, checked November 3, 2026.
- Seattle City Light: Home energy solutions, checked November 3, 2026.
- IRS: FAQs on section 25C and 25D changes, checked November 3, 2026.
- Washington Commerce: HEAR, checked November 3, 2026.
- L&I: Verify a contractor, checked November 3, 2026.
- L&I: Electrical permits, fees and inspections, checked November 3, 2026.
- Seattle SDCI: Furnace and heat pump permit guide, checked November 3, 2026.