Mini Split Installation in Phenix City, 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 Russell County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work for a mini-split here
Phenix City only gets a break from heating or cooling about one month a year. Winter nights average 38°F from December through February, then summer afternoons climb to 91°F for six months, May through October. A new mini-split has to switch between the two and hold up under both, not just cover a short season.
Any mini-split installed now has to meet the federal minimum for split-system heat pumps, 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. That applies to ductless systems too. It is the floor a new unit has to clear, not an upgrade you are paying extra for.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 6 months
- May through October, it cools
- 38°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°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 issues that license, and it is tied to the contractor, not to any single job. The state tested that contractor and keeps a record of them, but the license itself does not follow your mini-split installation once work starts on it.
In most cities and counties in Alabama, an installation like this needs a permit from the local building office, and an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is what checks the mini-split itself, the lines run and the unit mounted, rather than the person who did the work.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For a lot of homes here, yes. A mini split gives you heat when temperatures drop into the 30s at night in winter and cooling when afternoons hit around 91°F in summer, and it does both from one outdoor unit without ductwork. It works well for additions, garages, or older homes with no ducts, and it lets you condition just the rooms you use instead of the whole house at once. Whether it makes sense for your home depends on the layout and what you're heating or cooling now, so a contractor should look at the space before you decide.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- A single outdoor unit can run one indoor head or several, depending on the system. Single-zone systems cover one room or open area. Multi-zone systems run several indoor heads off one outdoor unit, each with its own thermostat, so you can heat or cool different rooms to different temperatures at the same time. How many zones your house needs comes down to the rooms, the walls between them, and how they're used, which is something a contractor sizes for your home.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if there are enough indoor heads placed to reach every room. A mini split heat pump works the same way in heating as it does in cooling, just moving heat in the other direction, and it can keep a home warm through winter nights that average 38°F here. Whole-house coverage takes either a multi-zone system with a head in each main area or several systems working together, and getting that right depends on the size and layout of the house. A contractor can size a system for your home and tell you what it would take to heat all of it.