Heat Pump Installation in Florence, 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 Florence County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of work a year in Florence County
Your heat pump runs from November through March to keep the house warm, then May through September to keep it cool. That is ten months a year with almost no rest in between. Winter nights average 36°F here, mild enough that a heat pump can carry the heating load on its own most days. Summer afternoons average 90°F, and that is where the unit earns its keep.
Most homes in the area heat with electricity, so the heat pump is doing that job directly rather than backing up a furnace. A new split-system unit has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. Storms are part of the picture too. Damaging wind is common here, and close to half of South Carolina households lost power for a day or more in 2024. Whatever gets installed should come back on by itself once power returns.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 36°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 90°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 heating with now. A heat pump moves heat instead of burning fuel to make it, so it can also cool your home in summer, which a furnace can't do. Florence winter nights average 36°F, not deep cold, so a heat pump can handle the heating load here without much strain. If you're already on electric heat, which most homes in Florence are, a heat pump gets you the same fuel source with better efficiency.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only cools. A heat pump cools the same way in summer, but it can also run in reverse and pull heat from outside air to warm your home in winter. That means one outdoor unit covers both jobs instead of pairing an AC with a furnace. Florence needs cooling from May through September and heat from November through March, so a heat pump stays in use most of the year.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump pulls heat from outside air even when that air feels cold to you. Winter nights in Florence average 36°F, and a heat pump keeps drawing usable heat at that temperature. Heat pumps do lose some capacity as it gets colder, which is why many include backup electric heat strips for harder freezes. Florence winters rarely push into that range, but the backup is there if a cold snap does.