Ductless Heat Pumps: Real Heat for Homes Without Ducts

What is a ductless heat pump?

A ductless heat pump — often called a mini-split — does the same job as a ducted heat pump: it moves heat from the outdoor air into your home instead of creating it, delivering roughly two to three units of heat per unit of electricity. The difference is delivery. Instead of a furnace pushing air through ducts, an outdoor unit connects by small refrigerant lines to wall-mounted indoor units that heat (and cool) the rooms they're in, directly. No ductwork to build, no furnace to feed — the system goes where the people are.

What is a "head"? Pricing, in plain language

Each indoor wall unit is called a head, and each head serves one room or zone, with its own temperature setting. A single-zone system is one outdoor unit and one head — the classic setup for a main living space. A multi-zone system runs two or more heads off one outdoor unit. The pricing follows the hardware: the first head carries most of the cost, because it comes with the outdoor unit and the installation itself. Each additional head typically adds roughly $3,500–$4,500 — the unit, its lines and its labour, but no second outdoor unit. So a one-head system and a four-head system are very different projects, and any honest quote prices them head by head.

Which homes does ductless fit best?

• Homes with no ducts — heated by electric baseboards, a boiler and radiators, or wood. Adding ductwork to these homes is often the most expensive option on the table; ductless skips it entirely.
• Additions and converted spaces — a sunroom, a finished basement, a garage workshop, a granny flat: rooms the existing heating system was never sized to reach.
• Specific problem rooms — the bedroom that's always cold, the living room that never warms up. One head can fix the room without replacing the whole system.
• Smaller and open-plan homes — where one or two heads genuinely cover the living space, instead of pretending a whole duct network is needed.

What does a ductless system work out to per month?

Priced the same honest way as everything on this site: a single-zone ductless system typically installs for about $6,500–$7,500 including HST. Spread over 240 months — the example basis used across this site — that's roughly $27–$31 a month, call it from about $30/month. Example only: it's the installed range divided by 240, not a quote and not a financing offer. Add a second head (roughly $3,500–$4,500 more) and the same example math lands around $42–$50/month. And that monthly is before your rebate — the questionnaire nets the rebate out of its monthly figure, which is why your real number is worth checking.

Does ductless qualify for the rebates?

Yes — the Ontario Home Renovation Savings rebate is paid per ton of heat pump capacity, and it applies to ductless the same as ducted. In an oil, propane, electric or wood home, that's $1,250 per ton — so a typical 1-ton single-zone ductless earns $1,250 back from Ontario, and bigger multi-head systems carry more tonnage and more rebate. Natural gas homes get $500 per ton. The new federal rebate stacks on top for eligible installations on or after November 1, 2026. As with any heat pump here, the Ontario pre-approval must be filed before the install — see how it works.

What about deep cold — and summer?

Cold-climate ductless models are rated to keep heating at −25°C or colder — the same equipment class as ducted systems, covered on the winter page. Baseboard homes usually keep their baseboards in place as the deep-cold backup, so nothing about the coldest nights changes. And every head is also an air conditioner: for baseboard and oil homes that have never had cooling, July is often the surprise favourite.