Heat Pump Installation in Aiken, SC
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 Aiken County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of work, most of it mild
A heat pump in Aiken runs nearly the whole year. Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from May through September, which leaves only a couple of months where it isn't doing one job or the other. Winter nights average 36°F, mild enough that a heat pump can cover the heating load itself most nights without leaning on backup heat. Summer afternoons average 91°F, so the compressor is doing real work on the cooling side too.
Any split-system heat pump installed new has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. Aiken County has seen 185 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024 nearly half of South Carolina households lost power for at least 24 hours. A heat pump that comes back on by itself once power returns is one less thing to deal with after a storm.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 36°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- A heat pump heats and cools, where a furnace only heats, so it replaces two systems with one. Aiken winters average 36°F at night, which is well within the range a heat pump handles without trouble. Since homes here need cooling from May through September too, a heat pump earns its keep most of the year instead of sitting idle half the time like a furnace does.
- 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 that same job in summer, then runs in reverse during winter to move heat into your home instead. The parts inside look almost identical, the difference is a valve that lets the heat pump switch direction.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat from outside air even when it feels cold to you, since there is still usable heat in air down to well below freezing. Aiken winter nights average 36°F, which is mild enough that a heat pump covers the heating load here without needing backup heat most nights.