HVAC and refrigeration in Vancouver
Heat pumps and mini-splits for condos, character homes and laneway houses. Walk-in coolers and freezers for the kitchens behind them. Heating and refrigeration failures are covered on the 24/7 line.
What Vancouver buildings actually need
Vancouver is not one housing market and it does not have one HVAC answer.
Apartments and condos. A huge share of the city, and a huge share of it heated by electric baseboards with no cooling at all. Those are exactly the homes where a heat pump changes the most — the running cost falls sharply and you get air conditioning you did not have. The complication is never the equipment, it is the building: where the outdoor unit can go, what the strata will approve, and whether the electrical can carry it. There is also a BC Hydro and CleanBC rebate programme aimed specifically at individual condo and apartment units, at any income level.
Character homes. The pre-1940 stock across the east side, Kitsilano and Mount Pleasant generally has no ductwork worth using and heat loss to match its age. Ductless multi-zone is usually the realistic route, and the zoning conversation matters more than the brand on the box.
Laneway houses and suites. Small, well-insulated, and often best served by a single well-chosen head rather than anything more elaborate.
Things that come up here more than elsewhere
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Strata approval
Anything mounted on an exterior wall or balcony is usually a strata decision before it is a mechanical one. Worth starting that conversation early — it is the most common reason a condo install stalls.
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Nowhere obvious for the outdoor unit
Tight side yards, shared walls, balconies with rules attached. Placement drives noise, performance and whether the job is approvable at all.
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Noise and neighbours
Lots are narrow and windows face each other. Where the condenser goes, and how it is mounted, is worth deciding deliberately rather than by convenience.
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Basement kitchens
A lot of Vancouver restaurant refrigeration lives down a tight stair with a condensing unit squeezed somewhere awkward. Access shapes both the repair and the replacement.
Restaurants, cafés and grocery
Vancouver has one of the densest restaurant scenes in the country, and most of it runs on refrigeration that nobody thinks about until the morning it is warm.
We cover walk-in coolers and freezers, condensing units and compressors, evaporators, defrost faults, door and gasket repairs, controls and temperature monitoring — plus the the mechanical plant that heats and cools the room out front.
Refrigeration failures are on the 24/7 line because a warm box is a deadline, not an inconvenience.
Before you get a quote
Four free calculators, no email required — heat pump sizing, running cost at current BC rates, ductless zone planning and walk-in load.
The running-cost tool publishes the BC Hydro and FortisBC rates it uses, so you can check it rather than trust it.
Questions Vancouver callers ask
Can I put a heat pump in a condo?
Often yes, and there is a rebate programme aimed at exactly that. The deciding factors are where the outdoor unit can be mounted, what your strata will approve and what the suite's electrical can carry. Tell us the building and we will tell you what is realistic.
My place has baseboards and no ducts. What are my options?
A ductless system, single or multi-zone depending on how many areas you want controlled. It is the standard answer for most of Vancouver's older housing stock, and the saving against baseboards is the largest in home energy. See the comparison.
Do you charge extra to come into Vancouver?
We cover Metro Vancouver — Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Delta, Langley, the North Shore and Squamish. Call and tell us the address.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. InFlow Mechanical is licensed and insured, WorkSafeBC registered and carries commercial general liability insurance. Certificates are available on request for commercial and strata clients.
Tell us about the property.
Call and describe the building and what is wrong, or what you are planning. We will tell you what it takes.