Heat Pump Installation in Florence, AL
A new system here will heat from October through April and cool from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Lauderdale County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Your heat pump works almost every month here
Lauderdale County asks for heat from October through April and cooling from May through September. That leaves almost no month where the system just sits idle.
Winter nights average 32°F, mild enough that a heat pump can carry most of the heating load on its own. Summer afternoons average 89°F, so the same unit is doing long stretches of cooling work a few months later. A new split-system heat pump sold here has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, and in a climate that uses both sides of that rating, neither number is the one to ignore.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 32°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 89°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state license comes from the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors. It covers the contractor as a whole, not the specific job at your house. The board tested the person or business behind the license and keeps a record of who holds one.
A heat pump install also needs a permit from the local building office in most cities and counties in Alabama, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is what checks the actual installation, the wiring, the refrigerant lines, the way the unit is set on its pad. The license tells you the contractor met the state's standard to do this work at all. The permit and inspection are what confirms this particular job was done right.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- A heat pump does both jobs a furnace can't, it heats in winter and cools in summer from one system. A furnace only heats, so you'd still need a separate air conditioner for the 5 months a year homes here need cooling. Winter nights here average 32°F, which is well within the range a heat pump handles without trouble. The trade-off is worth asking a contractor about directly, since the right choice depends on the home's ductwork and current setup.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only moves heat out of your home. A heat pump does that same job in summer, then runs in reverse come winter and moves heat into your home instead. Mechanically they're built the same way, with a compressor, a coil outside, and a coil inside. That reversing valve is the whole difference, and it's why a heat pump can replace both a furnace and an air conditioner.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat out of outdoor air even when that air feels cold, and it keeps working well below freezing. Winter nights here average 32°F from December through February, which is mild enough that a properly sized heat pump handles the season on its own. Newer heat pumps sold since January 2023 have to meet a federal minimum of 7.5 HSPF2, a baseline for how efficiently they produce heat over a winter.