What size is right for my house?

Heat pump sizing guide: a rough band, not a final size

Turns your floor area and envelope condition into a plausible heating-load band at the Greater Victoria design temperature, lists the nominal capacity classes that commonly cover it, and, if you paste in a quoted size, tells you whether it looks plausible, possibly undersized or possibly oversized and which questions to ask. Every rebate program requires a CSA F280-12 load calculation by the contractor; that calculation decides the size, not this guide.

What you enter

Heated floor area in square feet (required)
Envelope condition (well insulated, average, drafty) and storeys
System and number of indoor heads for a per-head hint (optional)
A quoted capacity in BTU/h to sanity-check (optional)

How it is calculated

Load band = floor area × a BTU-per-square-foot band for a marine climate (rule of thumb, labelled as an illustration)
Capacity classes listed are the nominal sizes from 0.9× the low end to 1.25× the high end of the band
A quoted size is judged against the band with fixed thresholds (under 85% of the low end, over 140% of the high end) and turned into questions, never a verdict on the contractor

What it is not

Never a size recommendation: the F280 calculation and the rated capacity at −5 °C decide
Nominal capacity is not rated capacity at −5 °C, which is what the whole-home rebate rule counts
Very tall ceilings, large glazing, additions and unheated spaces move the real load outside the band

Local facts this tool reads

Every figure below is quoted from the source shown or is our labelled estimate. Verified dates are the day we last checked the source.

CleanBC Home Renovation Rebate — heat pump for electrically heated homes: Level 1 / any-income examples — ductless-single: $1,500; ductless-multi: $4,000; central-ducted: $4,000; Home primarily heated by electricity (baseboards, radiant, electric furnace or boiler) · Whole-home rebate ($4,000): sized to 100% of load at −5 °C with no resistance backup, NEEP cold-climate listed, CSA F280-12 heat-load calculation; Better Homes BC (Province of B.C.) · quoted · verified 2026-09-18
Installed cost, Central ducted heat pump: $12,000–$22,000; Typical detached home · Existing electrical adequate unless stated; Heat Savers (installer) · our estimate · verified 2026-09-18
Installed cost, Ductless multi-split (two to five zones): $7,000–$18,000; Typical detached home · Existing electrical adequate unless stated; Heat Savers (installer) · our estimate · verified 2026-09-18
Installed cost, ductless with 3 indoor heads: $9,000–$14,000; Bridgeman Plumbing & Heating (installer) · our estimate · verified 2026-09-18

Questions this tool answers

what size heat pump do i need
heat pump sizing
heat pump btu per square foot
what size heat pump for 2000 sq ft

Your next step

With a plausible size range, check that your quotes match it and compare them line by line.

Compare your quotes line by line

Related tools: Cost calculator · Quote compare

Guides that use this tool

Last updated 2026-09-18. Estimates are our labelled calculations from published local evidence; official figures are quoted from the sources shown. Programs decide eligibility; installers quote. Methodology · Sources · Report a correction.