Heat Pump Installation in Huntsville, 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 Madison County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A Madison County heat pump works almost every month of the year
Your heat pump has two jobs here, not one. Winter nights average 33°F from December through February, mild enough that a heat pump can handle the heating on its own most days. Summer afternoons average 88°F, and that side of the system runs from May through September. Between the two, the unit is doing something 12 months a year, with barely a break in spring or fall.
Most homes in this area heat with electricity, so the heat pump is not a supplement to something else, it's the system. Any split-system heat pump installed new has to meet 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, the federal minimum since 2023. Madison County also sees winter storms and damaging wind come through, and with so many homes depending on electric heat, a unit that comes back on reliably after the power drops matters as much as one that runs efficiently while it's on.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 33°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Alabama's license covers the contractor, not each job, so the same license has to be in place whether this is a full install or a smaller repair. The Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors is who issues it and who has the contractor on record.
In most cities and counties, an install like this also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That permit and inspection come from the city or county, separate from the state license.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- A heat pump does both jobs, heating and cooling, so it replaces the furnace and the air conditioner with one system. Winter nights here average 33°F, which is well within the range a modern heat pump handles on its own. It runs on electricity, so it matters that 74.4% of homes here already heat with electricity. Whether it's the right call for a given house depends on the ductwork and the electrical setup already there, which is something a contractor needs to look at directly.
- 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, then reverses the cycle to pull heat from the outside air and move it indoors in winter. Homes here need cooling May through September and heat October through April, so a heat pump is working in some form across all 12 months, where an air conditioner sits unused once the weather turns cold.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat from outside air even when that air feels cold, and winter nights here only average 33°F, which is comfortably within what a modern heat pump is built to handle. Federal rules now require any split-system heat pump made since January 1, 2023 to hit at least 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, so newer units are held to a real efficiency floor. Performance does drop off in extreme cold, but that's not the typical winter night here.