A 3-bedroom Craftsman home rebuild in Altadena (post-Eaton Fire), all-electric standard spec. We bid the HVAC scope alongside the GC’s framing and electrical packages: Carrier Infinity 25VNA8 3-ton heat pump (ducted), Rheem ProTerra Plus 65-gallon HPWH, total $24,800 installed. LADWP territory: $1,250/ton heat pump rebate × 3 tons = $3,750 + $2,500 HPWH rebate = $6,250 total LADWP rebates. Net out-of-pocket: $18,550. Federal IRA 25C terminated December 31, 2025 under OBBBA — not in this math. TECH Clean California single-family heat pump HVAC funds fully reserved November 14, 2025 — on the waitlist if funding reopens during the project window.
That’s the standard rebuild scope right now. Multiply it by the number of Altadena lots in active reconstruction and you have a sense of why our SGV crew has been running heavy in 91001 and 91003 since mid-2025.
Altadena is in active post-Eaton-Fire rebuild phase
Altadena is in active post-Eaton-Fire rebuild phase similar to Pacific Palisades. Standard rebuild spec is all-electric: heat pump HVAC, heat pump water heater, 10kW+ solar with battery backup. We coordinate directly with general contractors on rebuild projects. For older non-rebuild Craftsman homes with confined attic space, ductless mini-split systems often work better than retrofit ductwork.
Working with the GC, not after the GC
Most HVAC contractors show up for a rebuild project two weeks before the inspection and try to install equipment around drywall that’s already up. We don’t do that here. The Altadena rebuilds we’re working bid the HVAC and HPWH scopes at the same time the framing package goes out, which means:
- Refrigerant line routing gets coordinated with the framer before walls close.
- Panel size and circuit count for heat pump + HPWH + EV charging gets specified to the electrician up front, not retrofitted later when the panel runs out of slots.
- Equipment is ordered against the GC’s drywall date so we’re not waiting on a 6-week lead time at a critical schedule point.
- The HPWH location gets called out on the plumbing layout so the rough-in is correct the first time.
If you’re a homeowner whose insurance has just signed off and you’re hiring a GC, ask the GC who they’re using for HVAC and bring us in for a coordination meeting before the framing package finalizes. The 30 minutes saves a real amount of rework.
Equipment we install in Altadena rebuilds and retrofits
Three equipment lines dominate our Altadena scopes:
- Carrier Infinity 25VNA8 heat pump — modulating compressor, 24 SEER2, the workhorse for 3- to 4-ton ducted rebuild scopes. Cold-climate performance is fine for Altadena’s foothill winter mornings (38–42°F).
- Rheem ProTerra Plus 65-gallon HPWH — the standard HPWH for 3-bedroom families. Quieter than older Rheem hybrids, proper integrated heat pump cycle, qualifies for the $2,500 LADWP rebate.
- Mitsubishi M-Series ductless — for pre-1950 Craftsman retrofits where running rebuild-grade ductwork through a knee-wall attic isn’t feasible without destroying the period interior.
- Trane XV19 heat pump — for larger homes (4+ bedrooms, 2,800+ sq ft) where 4–5 ton capacity is the right call.
2026 rebate stack for Altadena (LADWP territory)
Altadena is in LADWP territory, not SCE. This matters because LADWP runs one of the few residential heat pump rebate programs still active in SoCal in 2026:
- LADWP heat pump rebate: $1,250 per ton.
- LADWP HPWH rebate: $2,500.
- SoCalGas furnace-removal incentive: applies when capping the gas line during heat pump conversion (not relevant for full-rebuild scopes that are already all-electric, but applies to retrofits keeping the rest of the house gas).
- TECH Clean California: $3,000 standard / $4,000 moderate-income / up to $8,000 low-income — when funded. Single-family heat pump HVAC fully reserved November 14, 2025; HEEHRA fully reserved February 24, 2026. New applications go on a waitlist with no guaranteed redemption date. We submit reservations regardless in case funding reopens.
- Federal IRA Section 25C: terminated December 31, 2025 under OBBBA. The $2,000 heat pump credit and $600 furnace credit are no longer available for 2026 installs. Any quote citing the $2,000 federal credit is wrong.
Typical Altadena rebate stack: $5,000–$8,000 total, depending on system tonnage and whether HPWH is included. We file LADWP paperwork on every qualifying install — the homeowner doesn’t chase the utility for the rebate. Verified 2026 rebate guide.
Pre-1950 Craftsman: when ductless beats ducted retrofit
Not every Altadena home is a rebuild. The pre-1950 Craftsman bungalow stock that didn’t burn still needs HVAC, and the same architectural reality applies here as in Pasadena: 8-foot ceilings, knee-wall attics, no central chase, and tongue-and-groove ceilings that can’t be cut. Forcing ducted central into these homes typically means soffit drops in the dining room, framed chases up the back wall, and a system that still doesn’t cool the back bedroom adequately because the trunk line had nowhere to grow.
Ductless mini-split avoids all of that. A 2-zone or 3-zone Mitsubishi install in a 1,400–1,800 sq ft Craftsman runs $10,500–$15,500 with single-day install, period-appropriate indoor head placement, and no architectural damage. The math against a $24,000 ducted retrofit (with the plaster repair and the soffit framing) isn’t close.
Santa Ana winds, post-fire ash, and filtration
Altadena is in the primary Santa Ana wind corridor with peaks October through December. After the Eaton Fire, post-event ash deposition added a layer of fine particulate to soils across the burn footprint and adjacent neighborhoods — that ash gets airborne during red-flag wind events and ends up in HVAC return air. Standard MERV 8 filters don’t catch it well. We spec MERV 13 filtration on every Altadena install regardless of whether the home itself burned, because the ambient air quality picture is different from where it was pre-2025. Background: wildfire smoke and HVAC pillar.
Permits, inspections, and the rebuild approval flow
Unincorporated Altadena falls under LA County Department of Public Works for permitting (not City of Pasadena, despite the shared SGV identity), and rebuild projects are running through the County’s expedited Eaton Fire rebuild track. HVAC scopes on rebuilds need a mechanical permit, Title 24 / HERS verification on the duct system, and an electrical permit for the panel work that supports heat pump + HPWH + EV charging loads. Standalone retrofits on existing homes need the same mechanical permit plus HERS for full replacements. We pull permits in your name, file the HERS rater, and submit LADWP rebate paperwork as a single coordinated package — one document set, one project timeline, one inspection sequence.
One thing that’s caught Altadena rebuild homeowners: the post-fire panel sizing for an all-electric home (200-amp minimum, often 225 or 320 for solar + battery + heat pump + HPWH + EV) is a real upgrade from what the original 1940s service was. That panel and meter spec needs to be filed with LADWP early in the rebuild because LADWP’s service-upgrade queue runs longer than ideal. We coordinate the spec with the GC’s electrician at the bid stage so this isn’t a discovery six weeks before drywall.
Service area and dispatch
All of Altadena — 91001 and 91003 ZIPs, from Lake Avenue east to Eaton Canyon, north to the foothills, south to the Pasadena city line. SGV dispatch from our Pasadena base, typical arrival 30–50 minutes during business hours. Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, and Sierra Madre on the same routing.
Service expectations: $85 diagnostic with fixed-price written quote upfront, permits pulled in your name, HERS verification scheduled by us, LADWP paperwork filed for you, GC coordination meeting included on rebuild scopes. CSLB #1138898 (C-20).
Call (626) 499-5530 or email [email protected].