Heat Pump Installation in Daphne, AL
A new system here will heat from November through March and cool from May through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Baldwin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year in Daphne
Your heat pump works most of the year here. Nights average 43°F through the winter, and homes need heat from November through March. Summer afternoons average 90°F, with cooling needed May through October. Between the two, the system is heating or cooling the house eleven months out of the year.
A new split-system heat pump has to meet 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, the federal minimum since January 2023. With six months of cooling against five of heat here, the SEER2 side of that rating carries more of the load. Storms are common on this part of the coast, with 109 damaging wind events recorded over the last ten years, and 18% of Alabama households lost power for at least a day in 2024. Worth knowing how a heat pump behaves when the power drops and comes back.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 6 months
- May through October, it cools
- 43°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The board tests and licenses the contractor, not each job, so the same license that covers a furnace install or an AC swap covers this heat pump too. There is no separate state sign-off for a heat pump. What the license tells you is that the contractor met the board's standard and is on record with them.
Beyond that, this job goes through the local building office. Most cities and counties require a permit before a heat pump goes in and an inspection once it's done. That inspection is a separate check from the license, done at the address, after the work is finished.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what you're weighing. A heat pump handles both heating and cooling from one system, where a furnace only heats, so you'd still need a separate air conditioner. Since Daphne homes need cooling six months a year and heat for five, one system that does both is worth considering. A furnace paired with an AC can still make sense depending on the house, so a contractor should look at your setup before you decide.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only cools. A heat pump cools the same way in summer, but it can also reverse and pull heat from the outside air to warm your house in winter. Mechanically they share most of the same parts, the compressor, the coils, the refrigerant. The heat pump just has the added valve that lets it run in both directions.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump keeps working in cold weather, it just has to work harder as the temperature drops. Winter nights in Daphne average 43°F, which is well within the range a heat pump handles without trouble. Any heat pump installed new has to meet a federal minimum of 7.5 HSPF2, so it's built to perform through a winter like this one.