Buying a Home With a Heat Pump: Warranties, Permits and Performance Records

A heat pump is a useful feature only if you understand what you are buying. An outdoor unit beside the house does not tell you which rooms it serves, whether the installation was completed properly, how much backup heat the owners used, or whether any warranty will protect you after the sale.

Before you put a dollar value on that feature, ask for a small equipment file: model and serial numbers, installation and commissioning records, permit completion, the actual warranty certificate, and a full year's energy bills. The important comparison is not “heat pump versus no heat pump.” It is a documented system suited to your household versus a system whose performance and future costs remain uncertain.

This guide concerns an existing system in a home you are considering buying. It does not estimate a new installation rebate or certify the equipment's condition.

Start with the rooms, not the brand badge

Walk through the house with the heating arrangement in mind. Is there one indoor head in the living room, several heads in separate rooms, or a central air handler using ducts? Which bedrooms receive conditioned air directly? What heats the basement? Does the seller still use baseboards, a furnace or a fireplace?

The phrase “whole-home heat pump” needs an explanation that matches the floor plan. A comfortable open living area during a mild-weather showing is not evidence that closed bedrooms will be comfortable during a cold spell. Conversely, a deliberately partial system is not necessarily a bad installation; you need to understand the remaining heating arrangement and its cost.

Request the design or sizing information, the equipment combination specified by the installer, and a description of supplemental heat. BC Hydro identifies a home's heating load as a key consideration when choosing equipment and describes a heat-load analysis as part of that selection process. That is a better starting point than assuming a bigger model must be better. BC Hydro: Heat pumps.

If the house has changed since installation—an addition, enclosed garage, newly occupied basement or major insulation work—ask an HVAC contractor whether the original design still fits the current home. Do not turn a floor-area calculation into a technical sizing decision yourself.

There are several different dates to establish

Record the manufacturing date, installation date, registration date and most recent service date separately. A model sold for several years is not necessarily the same age as the installation. A replacement outdoor unit may also be newer than the indoor equipment or ducts.

Photograph the accessible identification labels with permission. Match the outdoor and indoor model and serial numbers to the invoice and warranty record. If one number differs, ask whether a component was replaced and obtain that service record. An invoice saying “supply heat pump” without identifying the equipment leaves a gap that a current warranty lookup may help resolve.

Ask for the commissioning or start-up record, not just the paid receipt. The receipt establishes the commercial transaction; the start-up record describes the installer’s checks at completion. A later maintenance visit is useful but serves a different purpose. Have a qualified contractor explain any missing commissioning information or recurring repair entries rather than treating an unfamiliar technical notation as a defect.

“Ten-year warranty” is not enough information

The warranty needs to answer three separate questions: who is covered, what is covered, and which conditions were satisfied. The seller's statement may accurately describe their coverage without describing yours.

For a concrete example, Mitsubishi Electric Sales Canada's January 25, 2023 M-Series/P-Series warranty has conditions involving an authorized installer and registration within 90 days for specified extended coverage. Its final page says the warranty is not transferable. It also excludes labour and various service costs. This is a dated, product-specific certificate, not a statement about every Mitsubishi system or today's warranty offers. Manufacturer's Canadian warranty, clauses 4, 11 and 19.

Those conditions create two distinct checks. First, was the extension actually obtained for the equipment when installed? Second, would any coverage survive your purchase? An affirmative answer to the first does not answer the second. Ask the manufacturer or administering dealer to confirm the applicable certificate and buyer eligibility using the serial numbers. Keep the written response.

A separate installer labour warranty or purchased service plan requires its own review. Who owes the obligation? Is ownership transfer allowed, and does it require notice or a fee? Does a replacement part leave you paying diagnosis, refrigerant, labour and travel? Do not assume the manufacturer's parts promise absorbs those costs.

If the seller cannot produce a certificate, describe the warranty as unconfirmed in your buying budget. Do not assign the same value to “seller recalls ten years” and “provider confirms these items are covered for the buyer through this date.” You can still buy the house, but the repair reserve should not rely on an unverified promise.

Check the permit trail for the installation that actually occurred

In Vancouver, the current mechanical-permit guidance requires permits for specified heating-system installations, including heat pumps, and says an electrical permit is also needed. It distinguishes installation from minor repairs and certain same-fuel, same-type, same-capacity replacements. For existing buildings, its process includes a final mechanical inspection. Read the rules for the work and installation date instead of assuming today's requirements apply unchanged to an older job. City of Vancouver: Mechanical permits.

Ask for both the relevant permit numbers and completion records. “Permit obtained” is not the same claim as “the work passed its required final inspection.” Match the address, equipment scope and any revised location to what is present. A relocated outdoor unit or later electrical alteration deserves a separate question.

The permitting authority also matters. Technical Safety BC lists municipalities, including Vancouver, that issue their own electrical permits. An empty search in the wrong system proves little. Ask the responsible authority what records exist and what an unresolved file would require. Technical Safety BC: Electrical installation permits.

For a strata property, obtain the relevant alteration approval as well. Municipal records do not answer the private question of what the strata approved or which maintenance and restoration responsibilities the owner accepted. This is particularly important where the equipment or its pipe route uses common property.

Read the bills as a household history, not a savings guarantee

Ask for consecutive bills covering a full heating and cooling cycle, with account identifiers redacted if appropriate. Record consumption and billing days as well as dollars. Request the other fuel bills if a furnace or fireplace remains in use. Otherwise, a low electricity figure may simply omit part of the heating cost.

For a deliberately simple example, suppose a seller supplies an electricity bill showing 1,800 kWh over 60 days. That is 30 kWh per day for the whole property—not 30 kWh per day for the heat pump. A second bill showing 1,350 kWh over 45 days has the same daily consumption. Comparing the two totals alone would make the shorter period appear more efficient even though the daily figures match.

That correction still does not isolate heating. Appliances, hot water, EV charging, cooling and occupancy may be included in the meter total. Weather and household habits differ too. Ask whether the home was fully occupied, whether some rooms were kept cooler, and when backup heat operated. Do not subtract a summer bill from a winter bill and label the result a measured heat-pump cost without a defensible method.

BC Hydro's own calculator labels its results approximate and identifies assumptions about the home, thermostat settings and supplemental heating. Use such a calculator to understand sensitivity, not to convert the seller's bill into a guaranteed future budget. BC Hydro: Heat-pump cost calculator and assumptions.

Copy this equipment handover card

Complete the card before your purchase becomes unconditional where the system materially affects your decision. “Not supplied” is an acceptable entry; it identifies a question instead of hiding it.

The card is most useful when it changes a decision. Missing model numbers may be easy to resolve. An unconfirmed warranty may call for a repair allowance. Repeated comfort complaints or an incomplete permit file may justify specialist assessment before you commit. These are different problems and should not receive the same automatic price deduction.

At handover, obtain the user manuals and arrange an explanation of the controls, filter care and backup settings. Transfer app access through the provider's proper process; do not ask the seller to hand over a personal account password. Keep the final equipment file with the house records so the next repair starts with facts.

If other older systems also need review, use our guide to older-home insurance and building-system risks alongside this equipment card. JQ-Properties can help organize the property questions while the HVAC contractor, permit authority and warranty provider answer their respective technical and coverage questions.

Information checked September 8, 2026. This is general buying information, not an equipment assessment, warranty opinion or promise of future energy costs.

By Justin Qiao, Personal Real Estate Corporation, Justin Qiao Group | RE/MAX Crest Realty.