Heat Pump Installation in Columbus, GA
A new system here will heat from November through March and cool from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Muscogee County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months a year of work in Muscogee County
Your heat pump carries the house from November through March, then turns around and does it again from May through September. Ten months of the year, one machine. Winter nights average 37°F here, not the deep cold that cracks a system, but enough that the heat pump is running steadily most nights of the season. Summer afternoons average 90°F, and the same unit has to keep up on the hottest stretch of the day.
A new split-system heat pump has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. In Muscogee County that rating matters both ways, since the unit spends real months on the heating side and real months on the cooling side, not just one or the other.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 37°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Georgia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The State Construction Industry Licensing Board is the body that issues the license, and it covers the contractor, not this specific job. So what you're checking is the contractor's standing with the board, not any paperwork tied to your installation.
For a heat pump install, that license is what stands behind the work, the wiring and refrigerant connections and whether the unit is sized and set up right. Separately, most cities and counties in Georgia require a permit for this kind of replacement and send someone from the local building office to inspect it once the work is done.
Source: Georgia Secretary of State
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- A heat pump does something a furnace can't, it cools your home in summer as well as heating it in winter, so you get both from one system. A furnace only heats, and it burns gas to do it, while a heat pump moves heat instead of creating it, which is why it can run on electricity alone. Columbus homes need heat November through March and cooling May through September, so a heat pump covers both seasons without a separate air conditioner. Whether it's the right call for your house still comes down to your ductwork and how your home is set up, and a contractor can walk through that with you.
- 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 run in reverse and pull heat from the outside air to warm your home in winter. Mechanically they share most of the same parts, the compressor, the coils, the refrigerant loop, which is why a heat pump can often go in where a central air conditioner would. The difference shows up in winter, when a heat pump keeps working instead of sitting idle for the season.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat out of the outdoor air even when that air feels cold, because there's still heat in it down to well below freezing. Columbus winter nights average 37°F from December through February, and a heat pump is built to keep drawing heat from air that cold. Every heat pump sold new also has to meet a federal minimum of 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, a rating that accounts for cold-weather performance.