A ductless heat pump heats a room or an open floor plan through a slim indoor head on the wall, with no ductwork needed. It is the most common job in Cape Breton because most older homes were never built with ducts.
We install ductless heat pumps from North Sydney and Baddeck to Inverness and Isle Madame. Every job starts with a free visit and a written quote.
A ductless heat pump has two parts, an outdoor unit and one or more indoor heads, joined by a small copper line set. The line set passes through a hole about three inches wide in the wall.
The outdoor unit pulls heat out of the outside air, even when it is well below freezing, and sends it to the indoor head. In summer it runs the other way and cools the room. Each indoor head has its own remote, so you set the temperature room by room.
A heat pump that is too small runs flat out and still leaves the house cool on a January night. One that is too big switches on and off in short bursts, which wastes power and leaves the room clammy in summer. Sizing should come from the house, not from the square footage alone. During the free visit we look at the insulation you can see, the windows, the drafts, the ceiling height and how the rooms open into each other. Last winter's power or oil bills help too, because they show how much heat the house really used. The written quote names the model, its heating capacity and the room it is meant to carry.
Cape Breton winters are damp and windy more than they are bitterly cold, with plenty of freeze-thaw days. That is hard on an outdoor unit. A cold-climate model keeps producing useful heat on the coldest nights instead of handing the job back to the baseboards. Features worth asking about are a heated base pan, which stops defrost water from freezing inside the unit, and a coil coating for homes near salt water. Efficiency Nova Scotia only pays rebates on models that appear on its eligible heat pump list at efficiencyns.ca/heatpump, so every model we quote is checked against that list first.
The indoor head goes high on a wall in the room you use most, usually the living room or the kitchen, where warm air can spread through the open space. We pick the wall based on where the heat needs to travel, not just where the hole is easiest to drill.
In a story-and-a-half house, warm air from the main floor head rises up the stairs and helps the bedrooms above. Bedrooms behind closed doors usually need their own head, which is where a whole-home heat pump system comes in.
The outdoor unit needs to sit above the snow, out of the drip line of the roof and where defrost water can drain away without freezing into a sheet of ice on the step. In most yards that means a raised stand or a wall bracket on the side of the house that gets the least drifting. On the Gulf shore near Inverness and Chéticamp, and anywhere on Isle Madame or the Bras d'Or, we keep the coil out of the worst of the wind and salt spray where the yard allows it. The copper line set runs from the outdoor unit to the head inside a cover that is painted to suit the siding.
One ductless heat pump is enough to carry the main living area of most bungalows and small homes for most of the winter. Rooms at the far end of the house will still need some help from baseboards or a stove.
We tell you plainly in the written quote how much of the house one head will heat. If the answer is "the main floor and not the back bedrooms", the quote says that, and it shows what a second head would cost.
The crew protects the floor and furniture under the spot where the indoor head is going. The mounting plate goes on the wall, a hole about three inches wide goes through to the outside, and the line set, power cable and drain line pass through it. Outside, the stand or bracket goes in and the outdoor unit is set level. The electrical work is done under permit. The line set is pressure tested and pulled into a vacuum before the refrigerant is released, then the system is started and checked in heating mode. Before the crew leaves, you are shown how to use the remote, clean the filters and read the error lights.
A ductless heat pump does not mean ripping out what heats the house today. Most homes keep their electric baseboards, wood stove or oil furnace in place. The heat pump carries the main living area, and the old system covers the far bedrooms and the coldest nights. The trick is to stop the two systems fighting. Set the baseboard thermostats in the heat pump's room a few degrees lower than the heat pump, so the baseboards only come on if the heat pump cannot keep up. In an oil-heated house, turn the oil thermostat down and let the heat pump lead. The written quote tells you what share of the house the heat pump is expected to carry.
The price of a ductless heat pump is set after a free visit, because it depends on the size of the head, the length of the line run and any panel work. The written quote is itemized and shows HST on its own line.
As of October 30, 2026, the Efficiency Nova Scotia Home Energy Assessment pays $300 a ton for an eligible ductless heat pump, up to $5,000 per home. The $199 assessment has to happen before the heat pump goes in, and the work must be finished within 12 months. If oil, propane or another non-electric fuel is your main heat and your income is under the limits, apply for the Moderate Income Rebate first and wait for approval. It adds up to $5,000 more. The new National Heat Pump Rebate ($2,000, or up to $10,000 for low- to median-income households) opens in early 2027 and covers eligible installs from November 1, 2026.
Call (902) 201-6758 or send the form below and we will book a free visit. Have last winter's heating bills handy if you can, because they help us size the system. You can also go back to the Comfort Heat Pumps Cape Breton home page to compare every service we offer.
A cold-climate model keeps heating well below freezing. Its output does drop on the coldest nights, which is why most Cape Breton homes keep baseboards, a stove or the oil furnace as backup for those few days. The quote names the model and what it is rated to do in the cold.
Usually not for a single head, which needs its own breaker and circuit. Older 60- or 100-amp panels that are already full are the exception. We check the panel during the free visit and put any electrical work in the written quote.
In an open main floor, often yes for most of the winter. Closed bedrooms and basements usually still need their baseboards or their own head. Most people leave the baseboards in place as backup.
Yes. The same unit runs in reverse to cool and dry the air. On muggy August days the dry mode alone makes a damp Cape Breton house much more comfortable.
The indoor head makes a low fan sound that most people stop noticing within a few days. The outdoor unit hums, and you will hear a whoosh during defrost in winter, which is normal. The outdoor unit is placed away from bedroom windows where the yard allows it.
Someone needs to be home at the start to agree on the head location and at the end to see how the remote and filters work.
The Home Energy Assessment and Moderate Income rebates only pay on newly added capacity, so a straight replacement of an existing heat pump does not qualify. The federal rebate rules for replacements are due on November 1, 2026.
Every service below is available across Cape Breton Island.
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Tell us a little about your home and what heats it today, and we will book a free visit. Calls go to (902) 201-6758.
