Skagit County, Washington
Heat pumps, mini splits and HVAC in Burlington
9,152 people, 19°F on the coldest design day, and about 30 minutes from our shop on Larrabee Avenue.
- Electricity: Puget Sound Energy
- Gas: Cascade Natural Gas
- Permits: City of Burlington Building Department
- ZIPs: 98233
- WA L&I #BELLIHC808NM Active registration — verify it with the state
- $30,000 bonded Surety bond on file with L&I
- $1,000,000 insured General liability coverage
- Local since 2020 Owner-operated in Whatcom County
- We pull the permit City of Bellingham or Whatcom County, and we meet the inspector
The housing in Burlington
Burlington is mostly single-storey: 1950s–80s ranchers on the grid inside the Skagit River dike, 1990s–2010s subdivisions toward Gardner and Peterson roads, and manufactured-home communities near the Burlington Boulevard corridor. Ducted gas furnaces are the norm, which makes a ducted heat pump on the existing air handler the most common retrofit in town. Older homes near downtown sometimes still have ducts sized for a much larger furnace, and that changes the airflow conversation entirely.
The climate here
Burlington is named in WAC 51-11C-80100 Table C-1 at 19°F heating and 77°F cooling — the same heating design temperature as Bellingham, with a hotter cooling design. The valley floor here is wide and open, so summer afternoons build heat the Bellingham waterfront never sees, and a correctly sized heat pump earns its keep in July as well as January. The dike system exists for a reason, and floodplain elevation belongs in any equipment siting discussion.
Washington's energy code puts Burlington's outdoor heating design temperature at 19°F (taken from the nearest code station, Burlington). Bellingham is 19°F and Sea-Tac is 24°F, so equipment picked off a Seattle-area rule of thumb is the wrong equipment for this address.
What makes a Burlington install different
The City of Burlington Building Department on South Spruce Street issues city permits; anything past the city limits is Skagit County’s. Because so much of Burlington already has ducts, the pivotal question is whether the existing duct system can move the airflow a heat pump needs at lower supply temperatures, and a static-pressure check up front prevents a comfort complaint later. Cascade natural gas is available here, so keeping the furnace as backup in a dual-fuel arrangement is often the sensible plan.
Utilities, and what they mean for your rebate
Burlington is inside Puget Sound Energy's electric territory — PSE serves every address in Whatcom County, which is what puts its heat pump rebates within reach. Natural gas comes from Cascade Natural Gas, not PSE. PSE's hybrid heat pump rebate and its $4,000 moderate-income fuel-switching rebate both require PSE natural gas service, which does not exist anywhere in Whatcom County. So a gas-heated Burlington home currently has no PSE gas-to-heat-pump rebate at all. It can still add cooling and shoulder-season efficiency with a heat pump — it just does not come with that particular cheque.
Permits in Burlington
Mechanical permits for Burlington go through City of Burlington Building Department using its Permit application at the Building Department, 833 S. Spruce Street. We file it under our Washington contractor registration and we meet the inspector.
Nearby
We cover Downtown Burlington, Burlington Boulevard, Gardner Road, Peterson Road, Avon on the same runs. If you are near Skagit Regional Airport, Burlington-Edison High School, Maiben Park, we know the roads.
What a Burlington household can claim
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Electric Resistance to Air-Source Heat Pump Conversion
Puget Sound Energy
$1,500
Available now$2,400 with PSE Efficiency Boost for income-qualified households.
- Paperwork:
- We file it
- Deadline:
- No published end date — tariffed and subject to change
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
-
Efficiency Boost (income-qualified multiplier)
Puget Sound Energy
Raises other PSE rebates
Income-qualifiedHeat pump $1,500 → $2,400 · heat pump water heater $1,000 → $1,100 · smart thermostat $75 → $175.
- Paperwork:
- We file it
- Deadline:
- Ongoing
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
-
Hybrid Heat Pump Rebate
Puget Sound Energy
$1,500
Check first$2,400 with Efficiency Boost — but not reachable from a Bellingham address.
Bellingham note: Unavailable in Bellingham. This rebate requires PSE natural gas service, and Bellingham’s gas utility is Cascade Natural Gas. PSE supplies electricity to all of Whatcom County but no natural gas, so a gas-heated Bellingham home currently has no PSE gas-to-heat-pump conversion rebate at all.
- Paperwork:
- We file it
- Deadline:
- No published end date
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
-
Cascade Natural Gas Residential Rebates
Cascade Natural Gas Corporation
Amounts not published in a verifiable form
Check firstCascade’s rebate pages block automated retrieval and the current offerings PDF renders without its amount table. Figures circulating online (tankless $700, insulation $2.00/sq ft, duct sealing $500) come from a 2024 document and are treated as stale.
Bellingham note: We list this program because Cascade is Bellingham’s gas utility, but we will not print dollar amounts we could not verify. Confirm current figures with Cascade directly.
- Paperwork:
- You file it
- Deadline:
- Apply within 90 days of installation
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
-
Low-Income Weatherization
Opportunity Council (Whatcom, Island, San Juan)
No cost to qualifying households
Income-qualified- Paperwork:
- You file it
- Deadline:
- Ongoing
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
-
Washington State HEAR — Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates
WA Dept. of Commerce via local administrators
Varies by administrator
Income-qualifiedCommerce awarded $39.3M across 40 local administrators with no statewide schedule. Whatcom-relevant awards: Sustainable Connections $731,250, Opportunity Council $500,000, Lummi Nation $950,500. Per-household amounts are not published.
- Paperwork:
- The program files it
- Deadline:
- While administrator funds last
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
-
Heat Pump Water Heater Rebate
Puget Sound Energy
$1,000
Available now$1,100 with Efficiency Boost. Requires a NEEA Tier 3 or Tier 4 model.
- Paperwork:
- You file it
- Deadline:
- No published end date — apply within 30 days of installation
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
-
Federal §25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit
Internal Revenue Service
$0 — terminated
EndedHistorically 30% of cost, up to $2,000/year for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. Gone. The One Big Beautiful Bill (P.L. 119-21, enacted July 4, 2025) accelerated its termination.
- Paperwork:
- You file it
- Deadline:
- Terminated — property placed in service after December 31, 2025 does not qualify
- Verified:
- 2026-09-04 · source
Everything we do
Ductless Mini Split Installation
Heat and cool the rooms you actually use, without tearing your house apart to add ductwork.
$3,000–$ 10,000 Details →
Heat Pump Installation
One system that heats through a Bellingham winter and cools through a smoke-season August, sized to your house rather than to a chart.
$4,000–$ 8,000 Details →
Heat Pump Replacement
Replace a tired system once, correctly, instead of paying for a third repair on equipment that will not see another winter.
$2,793–$ 10,058 Details →
Furnace to Heat Pump Conversion
Use the ductwork you already have to get efficient heating plus air conditioning, and keep the furnace only if it is genuinely earning its place.
$4,000–$ 8,000 Details →
Heat Pump Repair
Find out what is actually wrong, in plain language, with the repair price and the replacement price side by side.
Details →
Heat Pump Maintenance
An hour of attention each year keeps the capacity you paid for and finds the cheap failures before they become the expensive ones.
Details →
DIY Mini Split Kit Commissioning
Do the labour you are capable of doing, and pay a professional only for the part that needs gauges, a vacuum pump and a licence.
Details →
Get a Burlington estimate
We are about 30 minutes away. Tell us what is heating the house today and we will tell you what fits.
Also serving near Burlington
Ready for a straight answer on your house?
Tell us what you have now and what you want it to do. We will tell you what fits, what it costs, and which rebates you actually qualify for — before anyone comes out.
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