Heat pumps are significantly less needy when it comes to maintenance than combustion-based heating systems, but they still need tune-ups and the occasional professional once-over to look for developing problems before they require expensive repairs. As a rule of thumb, thorough professional servicing will be necessary at least once a year, even for a supplemental system. If a heat pump is your primary source of heating, cooling, or both, you’ll probably want two or more professional visits a year to be safe. Of course, if you have other HVAC systems in place, as you likely do given our climate, you can simply have your heat pump maintained along with the others, however often you have them serviced.

It’s very difficult to assess the exact cost of a full replacement installation in advance, as the cost of components and labor can vary significantly depending on the size of your home, how many indoor units you want installed, how difficult running the refrigerant lines is going to be, etc. Heat pumps are generally considered easy to install, however, so if you’ve had a traditional system installed recently, you can expect your heat pump to run you less (barring unusual circumstances or a large number of internal units).