The decision table
| Choose a heat pump when | Choose a standard change-out (furnace and AC) when |
|---|---|
| You want cooling and heating from one outdoor unit; the County's own permit type is "Electric Heat Pump/AC R&R" | You have a working gas furnace and ducts and want a like-for-like swap |
| You live in the desert: in Borrego Springs, 72 of 89 replacements were heat pumps, the only community in the file where they are the majority | You want the permit closed: 59.4% of change-out permits a year or more old had closed, against 47.9% for heat pumps |
| Your panel has room, or you are ready to file a separate service upgrade (the County's online type 8070, "Existing Main Svc Upgrade (Max 400A)": 2,249 filed in the window) | The panel is full and you do not want a second permit and inspection |
| The installer has done this before: 64 firms filed heat-pump replacements, and the busiest filed 70 | You want the widest choice of firms: 184 filed change-outs |
All counts in the table are from the County PDS permit file, October 2023 to September 2026, residential permits with a named firm, computed by us on the 20 October 2026 snapshot.
What the permits show
| Heat pump (type 8025) | HVAC change-out (type 8023) | |
|---|---|---|
| Permits filed | 435 | 4,246 |
| Distinct firms | 64 | 184 |
| Closed, of permits a year or more old | 47.9% | 59.4% |
| Usual days, issue to final | not reached: fewer than half have closed | 147 |
| Filed job value | none recorded | none recorded |
For comparison, the County's whole HVAC trade, which also includes "Mechanical Only" permits, closed 59.3% and took a usual 163 days. Days to final are measured with open permits counted as still open, not dropped, so "not reached" means that at the snapshot date more than half of heat-pump permits had no final at all.
That is the clearest difference in the file, and it is not about the equipment. A heat-pump permit open for months is common in the county; one with no inspection booked is the thing to chase. Ask the installer, in writing, who books the final and when.
Where heat pumps are filed
Heat pumps are a minority almost everywhere in the county's file: about 7% of replacements in El Cajon (44 of 630) and Escondido (29 of 405), 10% in Ramona (43 of 416), 12% in Fallbrook (38 of 321). Borrego Springs is the exception at 72 of 89. The file does not say why. The usual reading is that a desert home needs cooling far more than heat, and one heat pump does both; that is our inference, not a field in the data.
Who does the work
The same companies do both jobs: 53 of the 64 heat-pump firms also filed standard change-outs. The busiest heat-pump filer was Richard Lohman DBA HVAC with 70 permits, then PGMA LLC DBA Action Air Conditioning Heating and Solar with 33 and Walter Anderson Plumbing LLC with 30 (County PDS file, firm names as written on the permits). Volume is one signal; on the compare page you can weight finished share and speed as well.
87.2% of the County's 218 HVAC firms matched an active CSLB license by business name; the busiest firm over the last twelve months was The White Glove Guys, Plumbing Drains Heating Air Conditioning with 203 permits. An HVAC contractor in California needs the C-20 classification (CSLB). Check it in two minutes: open Check a License, enter the license number from the quote, and confirm the status is Active and C-20 is listed.
See every San Diego County HVAC firm by finished share →
Cost: what we can't tell you
County HVAC permits in our file carry no job value, so this page gives no installed price for either choice, and we found no official San Diego source that does. What the permits do show is scope: a heat pump that needs more electrical capacity usually means a second permit. The County filed 2,249 online service upgrades in the same window, and 2,855 electrical and service permits in total, which closed at 80.2%. If a heat-pump quote includes a panel upgrade, ask whether that permit is in the price and in whose name it will be pulled.
Incentives in 2026
The federal energy efficient home improvement credit (25C) no longer applies: the IRS instructions for Form 5695 say it cannot be claimed for property placed in service after 31 December 2025 (IRS, last updated 30 April 2026). Utility and state rebates change during the year; ask SDG&E and the installer which ones apply on the day you sign, and get the rebate named on the contract. We did not verify current rebate amounts, so we give none.
What this does not tell you
The file does not record equipment size, efficiency rating, fuel, whether ducts were replaced, or what you paid. "Heat pump" here means the County's permit type 8025; a heat pump filed under another type (for example "Mechanical Only") is counted with the rest of the trade, not in the heat-pump column. The file covers the unincorporated county only; the City of San Diego and the other cities run their own permit offices. License status is matched by business name, and an unmatched firm is not necessarily unlicensed.
How we know this
Source: County of San Diego Planning & Development Services building permits, unincorporated area, residential permits with a named contractor, issued October 2023 to September 2026, snapshot 20 October 2026. Heat pump and change-out are the County's own primary scope codes 8025 ("(Online) Mechanical - HRA Electric Heat Pump/AC R&R") and 8023 ("(Online) Mechanical - HVAC Change Out"); counts, closed share (permits 365+ days old with a recorded final), days to final (open permits counted as still open), firm counts and community splits were computed by us from those codes. Trade-level figures are the published HVAC and electrical rows. Tax credit status is from the IRS Form 5695 instructions and the license classification from CSLB, read 20 October 2026.
Numbers come from San Diego County Planning & Development Services building permits on homes in the unincorporated county (the County's open-data permit, contractor and status-history files), data through October 20, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Does the County's permit file show what a heat pump costs?
No. San Diego County HVAC permits in our file carry no job value, so we cannot put a filed price on either choice. Ask for two written quotes that name the equipment, and compare the firms' permit records instead.
- How many San Diego County homeowners chose a heat pump?
Of the HVAC replacements filed on the County's two online replace-and-remove permit types between October 2023 and September 2026, 435 were heat pumps (type 8025, "Electric Heat Pump/AC R&R") and 4,246 were standard change-outs (type 8023, "HVAC Change Out"), roughly one in eleven (County PDS permit file, snapshot 20 October 2026, computed by us).
- Why do fewer heat-pump permits reach final?
The file records dates, not reasons. 47.9% of heat-pump permits a year or more old had closed, against 59.4% of change-outs. A heat pump often adds an electrical permit or a panel upgrade, which can leave the mechanical permit waiting; that is our reading, not something the file states.
- Is there a federal tax credit for a heat pump in 2026?
No. The IRS instructions for Form 5695 say the energy efficient home improvement credit cannot be claimed for property placed in service after 31 December 2025. Ask SDG&E and the installer which utility or state rebates apply on the day you sign; we did not verify current amounts.
- Which license should a heat-pump installer hold in California?
A CSLB license with the C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning classification. Check it on CSLB's Check a License page and confirm C-20 is listed; if the job includes a panel upgrade, the electrical part needs a C-10 or a separate electrician.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
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