Heat Pump Installation in Waco, 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 McLennan County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A heat pump here works nearly all year, both ways
Your heat pump runs 11 months out of the year in McLennan County. Summer afternoons average 94°F from May through October, six months of the compressor carrying real load. Then it switches over and pulls heat from air that averages 38°F on winter nights, December through February.
A new split-system heat pump has to meet 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. That is the federal floor now. Worth planning for too, a third of Texas households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and this area has seen both wind events and winter storms over the past ten years. A heat pump that holds up through outages matters as much here as one that heats and cools well.
- 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.
TDLR tests contractors before they get a license and keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so it does not expire when your installation is finished and it does not need to be renewed for this specific project.
For your heat pump installation, the license tells you the contractor doing the work has met the state's standard. Separate from that, most cities and counties in Texas require a permit for a heat pump installation and an inspection once the work is done, which checks that the finished job meets local building rules.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what you value. A heat pump handles both heating and cooling from one system, and it moves heat instead of burning fuel to make it, so it costs less to run than electric resistance heat. A furnace burns gas and can put out hotter air at the vent, which some people prefer on the coldest nights. Waco winters are mild enough, averaging 38°F on winter nights, that a heat pump can carry the heating load here without much strain.
- 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 house and sending it outside, but it can also run in reverse and pull heat from the outside air into your house in winter. The outdoor unit looks similar on both, but the heat pump has a reversing valve that lets it switch directions. That's what lets one system cover your cooling from May through October and your heating from November through March.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump keeps working in cold weather, though it pulls less heat from the air as the temperature drops. Waco winters average 38°F at night, which is well within the range a heat pump handles without help. Heat pumps sold now have to meet a federal minimum of 7.5 HSPF2 for heating efficiency, so even entry-level units are built for real heating duty, not just mild days.