Assessment, 9 questions
Is my home ready for a heat pump?
Tell us about your heat, the ducts and the house, and see how ready it is for a ducted heat pump, with the reasons.
Answer the questions
Your result
Answer the 9 questions and your result appears here. Nothing is sent anywhere, and every question asks about something you already know.
Which homes are ready for a heat pump?
Is my home ready for a heat pump? Most Boston-area houses with working ducts are, and many without ducts can be. At Clement Boston Heat Pumps we plan each one from a load calculation, and this assessment shows what your answers point to.
- Whole-home where the ducts reach every floor, the service has room and there's a spot for the outdoor unit.
- Dual fuel where you'd keep a furnace or boiler for the coldest days.
- Duct work first where there are no ducts, ducts on some floors, or rooms that get little air.
- An electrical check first on a service of 100 amps or less.
How does the assessment decide?
The rules run in a fixed order, and the first one that matches decides the result. The same answers always give the same result, with the answers that decided it listed.
| If you said | The result |
|---|---|
| One or two rooms, in a house without ducts | A wall-mounted ductless system may fit better |
| No outdoor spot you control | Settle the outdoor spot first |
| No ducts, ducts on some floors only, or rooms that get little air | Needs duct work first |
| A service of 100 amps or less | Needs an electrical check first |
| A ducted heat pump already | Heat pump replacement candidate |
| Keeping the old system as backup, or a gas furnace with no firm answer | Dual-fuel candidate |
| Anything else | Whole-home heat pump candidate |
Insulation, the type of home and a roof-only outdoor spot don't change the result. They add steps to it, because each changes the plan rather than the type of system.
What can't it tell you?
It can't size the equipment, judge the ducts or check the wiring. Those come from the load calculation, a static pressure and leakage test and a look at the panel at the home visit.
For a price, the cost calculator shows our typical range for your answers. The cold-weather guide and heat pumps in old houses go deeper.
Questions about the assessment
Can an online quiz tell me what size heat pump I need?
No. Size comes from a room-by-room load calculation: the walls, windows, insulation and air leakage of each room at your town's design temperature. The assessment only sorts out how ready the house is. We run the calculation at the home visit.
Why would you tell me a ductless system fits better?
Because for one or two rooms in a house without ducts, it usually does. Building ducts for a single room costs more than a wall-mounted unit. We install ducted systems only, so the assessment says so plainly instead of steering you to a job that doesn't suit the house.
My ducts only reach the top floor. What result fits?
Answer "On some floors only" and the rules send you to duct work first. Attic ducts from central AC can often carry a heat pump for that floor, and the rest of the house needs new runs or a second system.
Get an Exact Quote
Send your result and the house details. We add your answers to the request.