Heat Pump Installation in Dallas, TX
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 Dallas County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work for one system
A heat pump in Dallas County works almost year round. Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from May through October, which leaves only a few weeks when the system just sits. Winter nights average 38°F, mild enough that a heat pump can carry the heating load on its own most of the season. Summer afternoons average 94°F, and that heat runs the compressor hard for six straight months.
More than 6 in 10 homes here heat with electricity, so the heat pump is often the only thing standing between the house and the cold on a January night. A new split-system unit has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, and sizing it to the swing between a 38°F night and a 94°F afternoon matters more here than in places with a shorter season.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 6 months
- May through October, it cools
- 38°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.
That license comes from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. It covers the contractor, not the individual job, so the person or company doing the work has been tested and has a record with the state, but no state inspector signs off on your installation itself.
For a heat pump going into your home, the local building office is what covers the job itself. Most cities and counties in Texas require a permit before the installation starts and an inspection once it's done, separate from anything the state license covers. That inspection is where the actual work gets checked, not just the contractor's record.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what you need it to do. A furnace only heats. A heat pump heats and cools, which matters here since Dallas homes need cooling six months a year and heat the other five. Winter nights average 38°F, mild enough that a heat pump can carry the heating load on its own without much backup.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only moves heat out of your house. A heat pump can run in reverse too, pulling heat from the outside air and moving it inside, so it heats in winter as well as cools in summer. The parts that do the cooling work the same way in both, but only the heat pump has the valve that lets it switch directions.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat out of outside air even when that air feels cold, and Dallas winters are mild enough for one to carry the heating load, with nights averaging 38°F from December through February. Any new split-system heat pump sold now also has to meet a federal minimum of 7.5 HSPF2 for heating efficiency, so the ones on the market are built for exactly this kind of winter.