Heat Pump Installation in College Station, TX
A new system here will heat from November through March and cool from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Brazos County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A heat pump here works almost year round
Winter lows in College Station average 41°F, mild enough that a heat pump runs efficiently without much help from backup heat. Summer afternoons average 94°F, and that side of the job runs longer. Homes here need cooling from April through October, seven months, against five months of heat from November through March. There's barely a break between seasons, which means the system is doing one job or the other nearly all year.
Any new split-system heat pump has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. In Brazos County, the cooling side of that rating matters more than the heating side, since the unit spends more months keeping the house cool than warm.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 41°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 94°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Texas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
TDLR tests the contractor and keeps a record of who holds a license, but that license applies to the business, not to any one job. It tells you the state has checked this contractor's qualifications at some point, not that this particular installation was reviewed.
For a heat pump installation in Brazos County, the license is what stands behind the contractor's name, but the local building office is what checks the work itself. Most cities and counties here require a permit for a heat pump installation and an inspection once it's done, and that inspection is what confirms the wiring, the refrigerant lines, and the unit itself were installed to code.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- A heat pump does something a furnace can't. It cools your home in summer and heats it in winter with one system. A furnace only burns fuel or uses electric resistance to make heat, so you still need a separate air conditioner alongside it. Which one fits your house better depends on your ductwork and your current setup, 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 moves heat out of your home. A heat pump does the same thing in summer, but it can also run in reverse and move heat into your home in winter. Mechanically they share most of the same parts, the compressor, the coils, the refrigerant lines, which is why a heat pump can replace both your furnace and your air conditioner. Homes here need cooling from April through October and heat from November through March, so a heat pump covers the whole year with one outdoor unit.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump keeps working in cold weather, though it has to work harder as the temperature drops. It heats by pulling warmth from the outside air, so it loses some capacity as that air gets colder. Winter nights here average 41°F from December through February, which is not the kind of cold that pushes a heat pump past its limits.