Seattle may be the big city, but homeowners here want the same things everyone else does: reliable service, honest recommendations, and craftsmanship that holds up. Whether you’re in a craftsman in Wallingford, a condo on Capitol Hill, a bungalow in Ballard, or a modern build in West Seattle, we keep your space comfortable and efficient.
Seattle is also the closest major market to our Tacoma base, so it’s one of our fastest response areas.
Call or text 253-370-8641 for a free estimate in Seattle.
Heating & Cooling Challenges in Seattle
Dense lots and noise ordinances. In Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, and Capitol Hill you often have five feet between your house and the neighbor’s. Condenser placement becomes a design problem: it has to meet setback rules, stay within noise limits, drain properly, and not sit under a bedroom window. Inverter-driven equipment running in the mid-50 dB range is what makes these installs work.
Homes built without ducts. Seattle’s pre-1940 stock frequently runs on radiators, converted oil, or electric wall heat. Ductless is the practical retrofit, and it’s the majority of our residential work in the city.
Townhomes, ADUs, and DADUs. Seattle’s density push produced thousands of narrow townhomes and backyard cottages. These need small-capacity, quiet, independently controlled systems — not a scaled-down version of a single-family design.
Smoke and urban air. Wildfire smoke events and urban particulates make filtration and mechanical ventilation more valuable here than almost anywhere else we work. Homes that can’t open windows in August need a filtration strategy.
Heat that the housing stock was never designed for. Very few Seattle homes were built with cooling. Top-floor units and finished attics are the worst offenders during a heat dome.
Our Seattle HVAC Services
Heating. Heat pump and furnace installation, replacement, and repair, with equipment sized to your house through a Manual J load calculation.
Cooling. Central air conditioning and ductless mini-split systems, including retrofits into homes that were never built with cooling in mind.
Repair and emergency service. 24/7 response on furnaces, heat pumps, air handlers, and AC — including brands we don’t sell.
Air quality. Filtration, ventilation, purification, and humidity control tailored to the moisture and smoke conditions we get in this part of Washington.
Business and multi-family. Light commercial service for Seattle offices, shops, restaurants, and rental properties.
Maintenance. Precision Comfort memberships with 29-point inspections and priority scheduling, plus pre-purchase inspections for buyers and realtors.
Typical Seattle Projects
- Ductless retrofits in Wallingford, Ballard, Green Lake, and Capitol Hill homes with no ducts
- Cooling for top-floor condos and finished attic spaces
- Oil-to-heat-pump conversions
- Small, quiet systems for ADUs, DADUs, and narrow townhomes
- Condenser siting problems on tight lots with setback and noise constraints
- Wildfire smoke filtration and mechanical ventilation upgrades
- Light commercial work for storefronts and small offices
Permits, Utilities & Rebates in Seattle
Mechanical and electrical permits in Seattle are issued through the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections (SDCI). Seattle’s process is more involved than most Pierce County jurisdictions — setback requirements and noise limits for outdoor equipment are enforced, and some neighborhoods carry design review or historic overlays. We handle the filing and design the install to pass the first time.
Electricity comes from Seattle City Light, which runs its own efficiency programs separate from PSE’s, and natural gas comes from PSE. We check both when we quote. Federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credits of up to $3,200 apply on qualifying upgrades — see our rebates page.
Response Times in Seattle
Seattle is our closest major service area — roughly 20 to 35 minutes from our Tacoma base depending on bridge traffic. That makes it one of the areas where we can most reliably offer same-day service on urgent calls. Call or text 253-370-8641; emergency support is 24/7.
Why Seattle Neighbors Call Us Back
Certified technicians (NATE and EPA, plus Mitsubishi Diamond Dealer training). Honest recommendations, including the ones where we tell you not to buy anything yet. Clean job sites and protected floors. Permits pulled and inspections passed the first time. A lifetime guarantee on our workmanship, a 100% satisfaction promise, and a 5% discount for EMTs, firefighters, police officers, and military members and veterans. We’re small on purpose — it’s how the quality stays consistent.
Seattle HVAC FAQs
Can you install air conditioning in a Seattle house with no ductwork? Yes, with a ductless mini-split system. It’s the standard solution for the city’s older housing stock. A single-zone install is typically one day; a three-to-four zone whole-house system runs two to three days with no interior demolition.
Where can the outdoor unit go on a narrow lot? Side yards, rear yards, flat roofs, and wall brackets are all options, subject to SDCI setback rules and noise limits. We evaluate placement for sound, drainage, service access, and code compliance before we quote — getting this wrong is the most common reason a Seattle install fails inspection or annoys a neighbor.
Do I need a permit for a heat pump in Seattle? Yes. SDCI requires mechanical permits for equipment installation and electrical permits for the new circuit and disconnect. Some neighborhoods add design or historic review for visible exterior equipment. We manage the process.
How loud is a modern heat pump? Quiet enough for a five-foot side yard. Premium inverter condensers run in the mid-50 dB range at low stage, and they spend most of their time at low stage. That’s roughly the sound level of a refrigerator across a room.
What’s the best defense against wildfire smoke? A four-inch MERV 13 media filter cabinet, run in continuous fan mode during smoke events, and mechanical ventilation with filtration if your home is tight. Portable HEPA units in bedrooms are a reasonable supplement. See our indoor air quality page.
Do you serve ADUs and backyard cottages? Yes, frequently. A single-zone ductless heat pump is usually the right system: small capacity, independent control, no ductwork, and it satisfies both heating and cooling in one piece of equipment.
Are you actually local to Seattle? We’re based in Tacoma and Seattle is our nearest market, so yes — and our roots and most of our crew’s history are in the South Sound. You get city response times with small-shop accountability.
Financing, Rebates & Tax Credits
A new system is a real expense, and we’d rather help you plan for it than push you into it.
- Pre-qualify in minutes through Acorn Finance with no hard credit check to view your options
- Flexible monthly payment plans for repairs or full system replacements
- Puget Sound Energy rebates up to $2,400 on qualifying heat pump conversions and $750 on high-efficiency gas furnaces
- Federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit of up to $3,200 on qualifying upgrades (we are not tax advisors — confirm eligibility with yours)
- 5% discount for EMTs, firefighters, police officers, and active-duty military and veterans
See the full breakdown on our financing page and our rebates & IRA tax credit page.
Nearby Service Areas
We also work in Auburn, Tacoma, Ruston, Gig Harbor. See the full service area.
What Our Customers Say
> “Nathan and GreenFlow are the GOAT. We were renovating our home and I met with countless HVAC installers. Only Nathan was genuinely excited to creatively problem solve for the challenges our house presented. We didn’t get some cookie-cutter system… Our inspector said it was one of the nicest residential installs he had seen.” > — David Sosnow
> “Nathan was incredibly thorough in helping us choose the right HVAC system for our home… We ended up with a whole-house heat pump that’s been working perfectly. Nathan also walked us through how to use it efficiently and followed up afterward. The warranty he provided was excellent too.” > — Lois Eiler
Read more on our reviews page.
Ready When You Are
Call or text 253-370-8641, or email njoslin@greenflowhvac.com to schedule an estimate. We answer emergency calls 24/7 for no heat, no cooling, gas odors, and electrical burning smells.
—
GreenFlow Heating & Cooling — serving Tacoma & Pierce County, WA Phone: 253-370-8641 · Email: njoslin@greenflowhvac.com Owner-operated by Nathan Joslin. NATE and EPA certified. 2-year workmanship guarantee.