Can an HOA restrict a heat pump or mini-split?

What the rule means for you

Washington protects qualifying heat pumps. RCW 64.90.580 bars effective prohibitions and unreasonable restrictions on compliant heat pumps for an owner's personal use within the unit boundaries. Reasonable restrictions must not significantly increase cost or reduce efficiency or specified performance. A mini-split that meets the statutory heat-pump definition is not excluded simply because it is ductless.

Colorado also protects heat-pump systems. C.R.S. § 38-30-168 includes them among protected renewable-energy devices; §§ 38-33.3-106.5(1.5) and 38-33.3-106.7 limit association prohibitions. These laws preserve safety rules and do not grant installation rights on another person's property or common elements.

Michigan protects air- and ground-source heat pumps. MCL 559.303(c), 559.305, and 559.313 invalidate HOA-agreement provisions that prohibit or require association approval for covered energy-saving improvements. The act excludes work in common areas or on shared roofs. Local requirements remain, but a local government cannot require HOA approval for covered work.

Florida has a narrower HVAC approval exemption. Under F.S. 720.3035(1)(b)2, a Chapter 720 HOA cannot require review and approval of plans for a central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, or ventilating system if it is both substantially similar to a system the association approves or recommends and not visible from the parcel’s frontage, an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course. A qualifying central heat pump can meet this rule; it does not excuse every mini-split installation from review. Chapter 718 condominiums, local permits, and shared-property rights require separate treatment.

What the association can still require

In Washington, the association may require an architectural application. If installation is reasonably possible, approval is required when the owner agrees in writing to reasonable architectural standards, uses an HVAC contractor to assess the infrastructure and install the system, and complies with the statute. The decision must be written. A request not denied within 60 days of receipt is deemed approved unless the delay results from a reasonable request for additional information. Installation fees are prohibited; a reasonable application-processing fee is allowed only if it applies to all architectural applications. See RCW 64.90.580(2)-(4).

In Colorado, § 38-30-168(2) limits aesthetic restrictions on covered devices: they must not increase cost or reduce performance or efficiency by more than 10 percent, or require review beyond 60 days. An application not denied or returned for modifications within that period is deemed approved. The amended aesthetic-rule provision excludes associations with time-share units. Section 38-33.3-106.7 separately requires consideration of cost, performance, and governing-document criteria for energy-efficiency measures.

Important exceptions

Common areas need separate attention. Washington requires board approval for equipment on or in common elements, and that approval must not be unreasonably withheld. Owners remain responsible for installation, maintenance, damage, removal, and restoration costs described in RCW 64.90.580(1)(c), (6)-(7). Colorado's statutes do not themselves authorize equipment on general or limited common elements, another person's property, leased property without the lessor's permission, or commercial-loan collateral without the secured party's permission.

Older Washington communities have applicability rules. RCW 64.90.365 extends the heat-pump section to specified pre-July 2018 communities, with exceptions and limits involving community type and existing documents. Establish the community's creation date, governing chapter, and any election into the newer law before applying a deadline to an older HOA or condominium.

Permits remain separate. Association approval does not replace local mechanical, electrical, zoning, noise, or safety requirements. In Washington these duties are explicit in RCW 64.90.580(5).

What to do next

1. Locate the proposed unit and lines on a plan showing ownership boundaries, shared walls, and common areas.
2. Ask the installer for equipment specifications, sound data, permit requirements, and the cost or performance effect of alternative locations.
3. Determine whether association approval can lawfully be required. Michigan removes that requirement for covered work. Where an application is required, submit it, identify the applicable statutory protection, and keep proof of receipt.
4. If the association denies the request, ask for the exact rule and factual reason in writing. Compare them with the statute's restrictions and exceptions.
5. Before relying on deemed approval or disputing a common-area denial, check the deadline, information requests, and community's legal classification.

For a project outside these state examples, identify the applicable heat-pump, energy-efficiency, and association provisions before treating a ban as enforceable. The absence of heat pumps from one solar statute does not answer that question.