GENERAL AIRSTAGE ALTAIR 500 KPAS R-32 Wall-Mounted Heat Pump | 18,000 BTU | Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, South Shore & North Shore

GENERAL AIRSTAGE ALTAIR 500 18,000 BTU: the suburban living room heated affordably, with LogisVert, by the Fujitsu AIRSTAGE Wall-Mounted Heat Pump under its new name

Heating a living room affordably is decided before the first Hydro-Québec bill: when choosing the machine, checking the grant and not paying for performance the room does not need. That is the role of the GENERAL AIRSTAGE ALTAIR 500 18,000 BTU in the lineup, and it is exactly the same wall-mounted heat pump as the Fujitsu AIRSTAGE ALTAIR 500: indoor unit ASUH18KPAS, outdoor unit AOUH18KPAS1, AHRI certificate 215441046, identical certified values and an identical warranty of 12 years on the compressor, 12 years on parts and 6 years on labour. The manufacturer, Fujitsu General Limited, has been called GENERAL Inc. since January 1, 2026.

The case we have in mind is the living room of a suburban home in Duvernay or Auteuil, in Laval: a living space heated by baseboards, where the family spends its evenings and where the winter bill weighs the most. The goal is not to build a house without baseboards, but to hand the heat pump the largest share of the season, where it returns twice and more the heat of the electricity it consumes, and leave the few coldest nights to what is already in place. Three levers make the math work: the $1,356 LogisVert grant, the ENERGY STAR cold-climate certification and modulation that goes down to 2,300 BTU/h.

GENERAL or Fujitsu AIRSTAGE: the same machine

To be clear about what you are buying: in August 2025, Paloma Rheem Holdings, owner of Rheem since 1988, acquired Fujitsu General. On January 1, 2026, Fujitsu General Limited became GENERAL Inc., without changing its head office or its research centre in Kawasaki, Japan, without changing factories, AIRSTAGE products, model numbers or warranty program. GENERAL is not a name invented for the occasion; it has been in use as a trademark since 1946, and the company, founded in 1936, marks the 90th anniversary of its founding in 2026. In Canada, sales go through Rheem Canada since February 2026, and we continue to source from Groupe Master.

If we keep a page under each name, it is for a simple reason: the Fujitsu brand is being phased out, and in the meantime, the same unit is sold under both names. The customer who shopped for a Fujitsu ALTAIR 500 and the one who read GENERAL on the neighbour's box must find the same page of values, because it is the same machine. Here they are side by side.

The page for the model under its original name is here: Fujitsu AIRSTAGE ALTAIR 500 KPAS R-32 18,000 BTU, with the same certificates.

The grant first. This model is ENERGY STAR certified for cold climates, under ID 3627258, and appears on the list of heat pumps eligible for Hydro-Québec's LogisVert program: $1,356 according to the list of October 27, 2026. That list is revised regularly, so we confirm the amount in force on the day of the quote, and our invoice names the indoor unit, the outdoor unit and the AHRI certificate, the three elements that identify the unit in your application. The "affordable" part starts there: the amount reduces the installation cost before the unit has consumed its first kilowatt-hour.

What the certified figures say about your bill. The values come from NEEP, the cold-climate heat pump database, under AHRI certificate 215441046. At −8 °C, the unit delivers 11,300 BTU/h at its certified point with a COP of 2.63. COP is the ratio between heat returned and electricity consumed: at 2.63, every kilowatt-hour paid for comes back as 2.63 kilowatt-hours of heat in the living room, whereas a baseboard returns exactly one. At −15 °C, certified capacity reaches 18,500 BTU/h, 103% of the nominal size, with a COP of 2.24: the unit holds its full size at a temperature Laval sees several times each winter. Over the whole season, the HSPF2 of 10.5 sums up the average heating efficiency; in summer, the SEER2 of 22 and the EER2 of 12.5 do the same for air conditioning.

How far down it heats, and where the baseboards take over. Heating guaranteed by the manufacturer goes down to −15 °C. Below that threshold, the unit keeps running, but the existing heating completes the job, and we would rather say so plainly than let you believe a Duvernay living room will get through a deep-cold night well below that threshold on this machine alone. The arithmetic still holds: the vast majority of heating hours in a Laval winter fall between the freezing point and −15 °C, precisely the range where this model works at a COP above two. In mild weather, its certified maximum capacity rises to 24,000 BTU/h at 8 °C, 33% more than its nominal size, enough to quickly warm up a living room that was allowed to cool during the day. And at the other end, it modulates down to 2,300 BTU/h at −15 °C and 4,150 BTU/h at 8 °C: once the setpoint is reached, it slows down instead of stopping and restarting, which avoids temperature swings and the start-ups that cost money.

Comfort in a living room. The indoor unit runs between 26 and 44 dB(A) depending on speed; at reduced speed, it fades behind a conversation or the television. The outdoor unit runs at 50 dB(A), which guides where it goes in relation to the house's windows and the neighbour's. The 536 CFM airflow covers a good-sized living room; the vertical louvers are motorized and sweep up and down, while the left-right direction is set by hand, which we do on installation day according to the furniture layout. Wi-Fi is available as an option: if you want to control the unit from your phone, say so at quote time and we add the module.

Installation in a Duvernay or Auteuil living room. A wall-mounted heat pump needs neither ductwork nor heavy work: a hole in the wall, a refrigerant line, a cable, a drain. The detail that makes the difference is placement:

• The wall unit: high on a wall, preferably perpendicular to the sofa so the air sweeps the room without blowing on heads, and away from the television and the curtains.
• The outdoor unit: on the side of the house or at the back, on a wall bracket or a ground pad, above the usual snow height, with the clearance needed for air and defrost water.
• The refrigerant line: insulated 1/4 and 1/2 in copper, the shortest route possible, a line cover outside to protect the insulation from the sun and garden tools.
• Drainage: summer condensate flows by gravity to the outside; if the layout prevents it, a condensate pump is planned and written into the quote.
• Electrical: a dedicated 208/230 V circuit with 15 A protection (MCA 12, MOP 15), installed by a licensed electrician; our estimator looks at the panel before promising anything.
• Start-up: nitrogen leak test, vacuum, start-up, temperature checks and louver adjustment with you.

Maintenance and filters. The indoor filters slide out from the front, go under warm water and go back once dry; in a living room, where dust from fabrics and rugs circulates, this comes around more often than in a bedroom, and it directly protects the certified efficiency. Outside, keep the unit clear of snow. An annual visit by our refrigeration technician covers the R-32 charge, the coil, the pan and the drain. The parts are those of the Fujitsu version, the procedure too, and service does not depend on the logo; an extended warranty can be added, ask for it.

Who this model suits. The Laval bungalow or two-storey home heated by baseboards, whose living room is the most occupied and the most expensive room to heat, and whose owners want a measurable drop in the bill and a grant, without paying for the deepest certification in the lineup. If your goal is instead to heat the room with no backup at all through the worst January nights, we will steer you toward a series certified lower, and we will tell you on site rather than leave you disappointed in February.

A living room heated affordably in Duvernay, Auteuil and everywhere in Laval: request your free quote

Dial 514 316-2973 or request your free quote online. Our estimator comes to see the living room, the wall, the electrical panel and the line route, confirms the LogisVert amount in force and hands you a written quote. AirGreen installs the GENERAL AIRSTAGE ALTAIR 500 18,000 BTU in Laval, in Montreal, in Longueuil, on the North Shore and on the South Shore, and services it afterwards.

An RBQ-licensed HVAC contractor and AIRSTAGE Elite Plus installer, we deliver the same machine, the same warranty and the same service, whether the box says Fujitsu or GENERAL.