Compare heat pump quotes by scope first and price second. Put each bid’s equipment, sizing, duct work, electrical work, permit, Title 24 verification and rebate handling side by side, and fill in what each one leaves out. Two bids thousands apart are often pricing different jobs. Once the scopes line up, the price difference means something.
Tule Sacramento Heat Pump prepares written proposals for ducted heat pumps across the Sacramento region, with licensed and insured contractors performing the installations. This checklist works for any bid, including ours.
Make the scopes comparable
Before comparing prices, give every bidder the same information: which rooms are uncomfortable, whether you want a full conversion, dual fuel or a heat pump in place of the AC, any known panel or duct issues, and whether the installation should qualify for SMUD’s rebate. Then build a sheet with one row per line item and one column per bid.
| Line item | What a complete bid shows |
|---|---|
| Outdoor unit | Brand and model number, capacity, refrigerant |
| Indoor unit | Air handler or coil model number, listed as a match for the outdoor unit |
| Compressor type | Single-stage, two-stage or variable-speed |
| Efficiency | Certified SEER2 and HSPF2 for the matched pair |
| Sizing | Calculated cooling and heating loads and the method used |
| Ducts | Testing, sealing, return changes or replacement included |
| Line set | New, or reused after inspection and why |
| Electrical | Circuit, disconnect, any panel or subpanel work |
| Backup heat | Strip size, or the furnace in a dual fuel design |
| Thermostat | Model and whether it meets the rebate’s requirements |
| Permit | Which office, included in the price |
| Title 24 verification | ECC-Rater visit included, and how retests are handled |
| Removal | Old equipment and refrigerant recovery; gas line capped in a conversion |
| Rebate | Tier, who submits it, upfront or later |
Equipment: read the model numbers
Brand names say little. The model numbers do. Check that:
- the indoor coil or air handler is listed as a match for the outdoor unit, with a certified rating for that exact pair
- both use the same refrigerant, normally an A2L such as R-454B or R-32 on new equipment
- the compressor type is what you expect, since SMUD’s rebate excludes single-stage systems
The SEER2 and HSPF2 guide explains how to read the ratings, and the R-454B guide covers what to ask if a bid offers older R-410A stock.
Comparing tiers fairly
A two-stage bid and a variable-speed bid are different products. Compare each against the same tier from the other bidders, or ask every bidder to price both. Homeowners report being steered toward the top-tier system with little explanation; ask what the extra cost buys in comfort, efficiency and rebate for your house.
Sizing: ask how the number was reached
Each bid should say how the capacity was chosen. A room-by-room load calculation at your town’s design temperatures is the standard. A capacity copied from the old condenser’s label, or worked out from square footage or by counting registers, should prompt questions. Title 24 limits how far a replacement heat pump may exceed the calculated load unless airflow is verified at 350 cfm per ton, and the City of Sacramento’s standard change-out permit keeps the new unit within 25% of the old one’s size. The sizing guide explains both.
Ducts: what happens if the test fails
Every ducted change-out carries Title 24 duct sealing and an ECC-Rater test against 10% total leakage or 7% to the outside. Bids differ most in how they handle that.
Questions to ask
- Is duct sealing included, and how much?
- Was the return checked for size, and is it enlarged if needed?
- What happens, and what does it cost, if the ducts fail the test?
- If new ducts are proposed, are they insulated to R-8, as SMUD requires for its rebate?
A bid that assumes the ducts will pass with no work may be the cheapest on paper and the most expensive on install day. Heat pump ductwork covers the options.
Electrical: named, not discovered
A bid should state whether the existing circuit is reused, what the new circuit and disconnect involve, and whether the panel can carry the load, including backup strips. A panel upgrade discovered after work starts is a change order. A standard 100- to 200-amp upgrade typically runs $1,500 to $4,500 in the Sacramento area; the panel guide explains when one is needed.
Permit and verification
Every heat pump installation needs a building permit in California, and every ducted change-out needs ECC-Rater verification. A bid that leaves out the permit, or suggests skipping it, is leaving out work the law requires and the SMUD rebate depends on. The ECC-Rater is an independent third party; the bid should say who arranges the visit and how a retest is handled. The permit and Title 24 guide covers each office.
Rebate wording to check
SMUD
SMUD pays $3,000 for variable-stage and $2,000 for two-stage gas-to-electric systems, and $1,000 for electric-to-electric upgrades, on qualifying equipment installed by a participating contractor in the SMUD Contractor Network. A bid should name the tier and the conditions, say who submits the rebate and whether it is taken off the invoice. The SMUD rebate guide lists every requirement.
Programs that have closed
TECH Clean California stopped taking reservations on November 14, 2025, HEEHRA is fully reserved in California, and the federal 25C credit does not apply to equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025. A bid that subtracts any of them deserves a direct question. The California Energy Commission warns about scams offering federal heat pump rebates.
Using price as a check
SMUD publishes a running median of installed costs from its rebate program. For gas-to-electric heat pump projects it is about $18,950 before rebates. Across the Sacramento area, about half of recent furnace-and-AC conversions land between roughly $15,000 and $24,000 before rebates. A bid far outside that range is not necessarily wrong, but it should be explainable by its scope: new ducts, a panel upgrade, a hard attic, a larger system. The Sacramento cost guide breaks a price into its parts.
After the comparison
Once scopes match, weigh price against what each bid includes and how clearly it answered your questions. The installation process guide shows what should happen after you sign, and the cost estimator gives a quick budget to compare against. For a proposal to put beside the others, call (916) 516-1454 or request an estimate.