Heat Pump Installation in Muscle Shoals, 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 Colbert County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A heat pump here works every month of the year
Muscle Shoals needs heat from October through April and cooling from May through September. That covers all twelve months, and a heat pump is built to do both jobs with one system. Winter nights average 32°F here, and summer afternoons average 89°F, so the same unit has to handle a mild cold and a real heat.
A new split-system heat pump has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. With the unit running most months of the year, both ratings matter here, not just one.
- 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 Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors tests contractors before granting this license, and the license is tied to the contractor, not to any single job. That means the same license that qualifies someone to do this work in Colbert County qualifies them anywhere else in the state, so what you're checking is the contractor's standing with the board, not paperwork specific to this install.
For a heat pump installation, most cities and counties in Alabama also require a permit from the local building office, along with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is separate from the state license. It means someone from the local building office looks at the completed installation itself, not just the contractor's credentials.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what you're comparing it to and what you want it to do. A heat pump handles both heating and cooling from one system, so you're not running a separate furnace and air conditioner. Around here homes need cooling for five months and heat for seven, so a system that does both without switching equipment has real appeal. A furnace only heats, and it burns gas or uses resistance heat to do it, which works differently than a heat pump moving heat from outside air. Neither is simply better. It comes down to your fuel source, your home, and what a contractor finds when they look at your setup.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only cools. A heat pump does the same job in summer, pulling heat out of your home and sending it outside, but it can also run in reverse. In winter it pulls heat from the outside air and moves it inside, which means one unit handles both your summer and winter needs. An air conditioner paired with a furnace splits that work between two systems. Mechanically the cooling side works the same way in both.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump still pulls heat from outside air even when it's cold, because there's usable heat in the air down to well below freezing. Winter nights here average 32°F, which is well within the range a modern heat pump is built to handle. As the outdoor temperature drops, the system has to work harder to extract that heat, so efficiency does fall off some on the coldest nights. A contractor can size the system and back it up so it keeps up on the coldest stretches your home sees.