# Mini Split Installation in Battle Ground, WA

> Mini split installation in Battle Ground, WA: ductless heads that take the load off an electric furnace, city and L&I permits, and the $900 utility rebate.

URL: https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/service-areas/battle-ground-wa/

Service area, Washington

Mini split installation in Battle Ground, WA: ductless heads that take the load off an electric furnace, city and L&I permits, and the $900 utility rebate.

(971) 458-4515

Last Updated: November 12, 2026

57%

of Battle Ground homes were built in 2000 or later (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year)

53.7%

heat with electricity (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year)

Permits

City of Battle Ground (mechanical); Washington L&I (electrical)

Electric utility

Clark Public Utilities

## Rooms that need help in Battle Ground

### Electric furnaces in newer houses

Most Battle Ground houses are less than 25 years old, and many heat with an electric furnace that runs on resistance coils.

### Furnace stays, heads lead

Two heads in the rooms you use most can carry the heating while the furnace backs them up.

### A city business license too

Battle Ground asks each trade on the job for a city business license endorsement, on top of state licensing.

## An electric furnace and a winter bill to match

Many Battle Ground houses were built in the last 25 years with an electric forced-air furnace, and every January the bill shows what resistance heat costs.

The furnace works. It’s just resistance heat: its coils make heat one for one from the power they draw, while a heat pump gathers two or three times as much from outside air on a mild day.

### What we do about it

[Firlands Portland Mini Splits](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/) sizes heads for the rooms you use most, leaves the furnace as backup, and handles the city and state paperwork. The furnace’s fan, ducts and thermostat stay exactly as they are, so nothing you rely on today goes away; it just runs far fewer hours.

Project

## A typical Battle Ground electric-furnace house

### The problem

The electric furnace heats the whole house with resistance coils, so January bills are high, and there's no cooling for the primary bedroom upstairs in a hot spell.

### The house

A great room with a two-story ceiling opens to the kitchen; the primary bedroom is upstairs on the south side. The furnace and ducts are only 20 years old and work. The side yard is a five-foot strip along a fence, typical of a subdivision lot from that decade.

### What we decide, and why

Keep the furnace and ducts as backup and for the secondary bedrooms, and put the heat pump where the hours are: a 15,000 BTU head high on the great room's back wall and a 9,000 in the primary bedroom. The outdoor unit is sized at 24,000 BTU, leaving room for a third head later.

### The work

Two three-inch holes; the bedroom line set runs through the attic and down an outside corner in one cover. The outdoor unit sits on a pad in the side yard with 12 inches of clearance behind it. A 25-amp, 240-volt circuit runs from the garage panel. Both line sets are pressure-tested and pulled below 500 microns; both drains fall by gravity and are tested with water.

The City of Battle Ground issues the mechanical permit and requires a city business license endorsement for the trade doing the work; L&I issues the electrical permit. The furnace thermostat gets a lower setpoint so the heads lead and the furnace only backs them up.

### What it changes

The furnace runs far less, the primary bedroom finally has cooling, and the electric-furnace house qualifies for Clark Public Utilities' $900 ductless rebate.

Location

Battle Ground, east of SR-503

House

2006 two-story, about 2,100 square feet, electric forced-air furnace, no cooling

Equipment

Two heads (15,000 and 9,000 BTU) on one 24,000 BTU cold-climate outdoor unit

Price

$11,200, city permit fees included

Time on site

2 days, then the final inspections

## Keep the furnace, or replace it?

If the furnace is young, keep it and add heads; if it’s near the end of its life, a whole-house heat pump becomes the better question.

| Your situation | What usually makes sense |
| --- | --- |
| Furnace under 15 years, comfort problems in one or two rooms | Heads in those rooms, furnace as backup |
| Furnace under 15 years, bill is the problem | Heads in the main living space and primary bedroom |
| Furnace failing, ducts in good shape | A ducted heat pump or a [ducted mini split](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/ducted-mini-split-installation/) on the same ducts |
| Furnace failing, rooms used separately | A [whole-house mini split](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/whole-house-mini-split/) with a head per room |

[Mini split vs central heat pump](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/mini-split-vs-central-heat-pump/) goes through the trade-off in detail.

## Heads in a newer subdivision house

Most Battle Ground houses built since 2000 have a great room, an open kitchen and bedrooms upstairs, and that layout decides where the heads go.

### The great room

A two-story ceiling holds warm air up high, so a head mounted high on the back wall, blowing along the room, works better than one aimed at the seating. We size it to the room’s real load, including the tall windows.

### Upstairs

The primary bedroom usually gets the second head. Line sets run through the attic and down one outside corner in a single cover, so the front of the house stays clean. Two heads on a slightly larger outdoor unit leave room to add a third later. Our guide to [counting heads](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/how-many-mini-splits-do-i-need/) walks through the rooms.

## Battle Ground’s permit counter

Battle Ground issues its own mechanical permits, and like Camas and Ridgefield it leaves electrical permits to Washington L&I.

- **City mechanical permit.** Covers the heat pump, line sets and drains.
- **L&I electrical permit.** Covers the new 240-volt circuit and the disconnect at the outdoor unit.
- **City business license endorsement.** Battle Ground asks each mechanical and electrical trade working in the city for one, through the state Department of Revenue, along with its state specialty license.

City fees are in our price. We apply, schedule both inspections and close the permits with the finals. Addresses outside city limits, in Meadow Glade for instance, go to Clark County for the mechanical permit.

## The rebate on an electric-furnace house

Clark Public Utilities pays $900 toward a ductless heat pump that replaces permanently installed electric heat, and an electric furnace counts.

### What the utility asks for

- a home you own and live in, heated by an electric furnace, baseboards, wall heaters or ceiling cable
- new equipment with an HSPF2 rating of at least 7.5, one head or several
- an installer from the utility’s own contractor network, which is how we schedule Clark County installs

Gas-heated houses don’t qualify for this one. We confirm the program’s current terms before your estimate is final.

## Sizing for winter north of Vancouver

The heads are sized for a 28°F night, the design low for Clark County, and we read each outdoor unit’s spec sheet for what it still delivers in the teens.

Pearson Field in Vancouver, the county’s design station, freezes on roughly 45 nights a year and drops to 20°F or below on two or three. Cold-climate equipment keeps working on those nights.

### Why backup changes the sizing

With the furnace staying in place, we don’t oversize the heads for the single coldest night of the decade; an oversized head short-cycles through the mild months. [Cold-weather performance](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/do-mini-splits-work-in-cold-weather/) is explained in our guide.

## Side yards and where the unit goes

Subdivision lots here often have narrow side yards, so we check clearance before we pick the wall.

- at least a foot behind the unit and a clear path in front for airflow
- away from a bedroom window, ours or the neighbor’s
- on a pad or stand that keeps the coil above ice, out of the roof’s drip line

If the side yard is too tight, the unit goes on the back wall, and the line set runs a little further.

### Running the system day to day

Once it’s in, set the heads a degree or two above the furnace thermostat, so the heat pump does the work and the furnace only steps in on the coldest mornings. Leave doors open to rooms without heads.

- rinse the head filters every month or two in the heating season
- keep leaves and snow off the outdoor unit
- book a yearly [maintenance visit](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/mini-split-cleaning-maintenance/) for the coils and drains

We go through running both systems together at the walk-through, with the remote in your hand.

## Prices for Battle Ground jobs

Firlands’ typical range for one head is $4,000 to $8,500; two heads on one outdoor unit run $6,500 to $12,000.

Three or four heads run $9,000 to $18,000 and up, and whole-house systems with five or more heads $15,000 to $30,000 and up.

### Reading the estimate

Each head appears with its capacity and room, followed by the outdoor unit and stand, how the lines run and how each head drains, the circuit, the permits, the price and what’s excluded. For a number before the visit, use the [cost estimator](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/tools/mini-split-cost-estimator/). To see how the furnace’s hours fall, read [the electric bill guide](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/mini-split-electric-bill/).

## Services in Battle Ground

- [Service**Multi-zone installation** Multi zone mini split installation: two to five rooms on one outdoor unit, each head sized to its own room and set to its own temperature.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/multi-zone-mini-split-installation/)
- [Service**Single-zone installation** Single zone mini split installation: one indoor head and one outdoor unit for the room the furnace never reaches, sized to that room.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/single-zone-mini-split-installation/)
- [Service**Concealed ducted** Ducted mini split installation: a slim air handler hidden in the attic or knee wall, feeding two or three rooms through small grilles.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/ducted-mini-split-installation/)
- [Service**Whole-house systems** Whole house mini split installation: every room heated and cooled by ductless heads, planned as one system with a winter backup plan.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/whole-house-mini-split/)
- [Service**Baseboard to mini split** Replace baseboard heat with a mini split: ductless heads take over in the rooms that use the most heat, and add cooling.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/baseboard-heat-to-mini-split/)

## How a job usually runs in Battle Ground

### The call

You tell us the rooms and send a few photos; we give a rough range.

### The visit

We measure each room, look at the walls, the panel and where the outdoor unit can go.

### The estimate

A written estimate: each head, the line-set route, drains, circuit, permits and price.

### Install and handover

Pressure test, vacuum, startup, a walk-through, and the permits closed out.

## Neighborhoods, landmarks and routes

- Downtown Battle Ground
- Main Street
- Meadow Glade
- Kiwa Trail area
- North Battle Ground

### Landmarks

- Battle Ground Lake State Park
- Kiwa Trail
- Lewisville Regional Park
- Downtown Main Street

### Getting around

- SR-503 north-south
- SR-502 to I-5
- Main Street through downtown
- NE 10th Avenue

[Open Battle Ground, Washington in Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Battle%20Ground%2C%20Washington)

## Battle Ground: questions

### What do two mini split heads cost in Battle Ground?

Firlands' typical range for two heads on one outdoor unit is $6,500 to $12,000. One head runs $4,000 to $8,500, and three or four heads $9,000 to $18,000 and up. City permit fees are included, and the written estimate after the visit sets your price.

### Does an electric forced-air furnace qualify for Clark Public Utilities' ductless rebate?

Yes. The utility lists electric furnaces among the permanently installed electric heat a ductless heat pump can replace. In an owner-occupied home, a new system rated HSPF2 7.5 or higher, installed by a contractor in its network, qualifies for $900.

### Should I replace my electric furnace with a ducted heat pump instead?

If the furnace is old or the ducts reach every room well, a ducted heat pump can make sense. If the furnace is young, heads in the two or three rooms you use most cut most of the resistance-heat hours for less money.

### Which Battle Ground permits does a mini split need?

A mechanical permit from the City of Battle Ground and an electrical permit from Washington L&I, since the city doesn't run its own electrical inspections. The city also asks each trade for a Battle Ground business license endorsement.

### How long does a two-head job take in Battle Ground?

Usually two days on site once the permits are issued: heads, holes, line sets, the outdoor unit, the circuit, then the pressure test, vacuum and startup. The city and L&I final inspections follow.

## Nearby service areas

- [Washington**Mount Vista** Mini split installation in Mount Vista, WA for townhouses and newer homes on baseboards: shared walls, small patios, HOA review, Clark County and L&I permits.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/service-areas/mount-vista-wa/)
- [Washington**Orchards** Mini split installation in Orchards, WA: whole-house systems that retire a failing electric furnace, one outdoor unit per floor, Clark County and L&I permits.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/service-areas/orchards-wa/)
- [Washington**Five Corners** Mini split installation in Five Corners, WA: wall heads or a ducted air handler for 1970s ranches on old electric furnaces, with Clark County and L&I permits.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/service-areas/five-corners-wa/)

## Guides for houses in Battle Ground

- [Decision Guide**Mini split vs central heat pump: which fits a Portland house?** It comes down to your ducts: whether they exist, where they reach, and what shape they're in.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/mini-split-vs-central-heat-pump/)
- [Learn**How many mini splits do I need?** Count the rooms you close a door on, not the square feet. Then group the heads onto outdoor units.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/how-many-mini-splits-do-i-need/)
- [Learn**How much will a mini split add to my electric bill?** Running costs worked out from PGE, Pacific Power and NW Natural rates, against baseboards and a gas furnace.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/mini-split-electric-bill/)
- [Decision Guide**Single zone vs multi zone mini split: which should you choose?** One outdoor unit per room, or one outdoor unit for several rooms, and why the answer isn't always the cheaper one.](https://firlandsportlandminisplits.com/guide/single-zone-vs-multi-zone-mini-split/)

## Get an estimate in Battle Ground

Tell us which rooms aren't working and where the house is in Battle Ground.

(971) 458-4515