Heat Pump Installation in Columbia, 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 Richland County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months a year, your heat pump is working
Columbia asks a heat pump to run almost year round. Winter nights average 36°F from December through February, and homes here need heat from November through March. Summer afternoons average 91°F, and homes here need cooling from May through September. Between the two seasons, that is ten months of the year the system is carrying the house.
Most Richland County homes heat with electricity, so the heat pump is doing the full job, not backing up a furnace. A split-system heat pump built on or after January 1, 2023 has to meet 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. That is the federal floor, and with this much of the year riding on the system, it is worth knowing where a unit stands above it.
- 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?
- It depends on what you're weighing. A heat pump handles both heating and cooling from one system, and here winters stay mild enough, with lows averaging 36°F, that a heat pump can carry the house through the season without much strain. A furnace only heats, so you'd still need a separate air conditioner for the five months a year homes here need cooling. A heat pump also runs on electricity, which matters since most homes in the area already heat that way.
- 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 does that too, but it can also run in reverse and move heat into your house, which is what heats it in winter. Mechanically they're built the same way, with a compressor and a refrigerant cycle, but the heat pump has a valve that lets it switch directions.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat from outside air even when it's cold, and winter nights here only average 36°F, which is well within what a heat pump is built to handle. Its output does drop as the temperature falls, so on the coldest nights it may run longer to keep up. Newer heat pumps are required to meet a minimum efficiency rating for heating, so look for that rating when comparing units.