A heat pump is an air conditioner that can run backwards. In a climate like ours, where the cooling season does the heavy lifting and winter is mild, that makes it one system to buy, one to maintain, and one to service.
Sizing a heat pump off the square footage alone is how people end up with a system that short-cycles all summer. We calculate the actual load — insulation, glass, orientation, ceiling height, ductwork — and size the equipment to that.
We also look hard at the existing ductwork before quoting. Putting a new system on ducts that leak means paying for cooling that ends up in the attic.
Our winters are mild enough that a heat pump handles them comfortably. The cooling season is the harder job here, and a heat pump is the same equipment doing that job.
Mechanically it's very close — a heat pump adds a reversing valve so it can move heat into the house as well as out of it. That's why it replaces both your AC and your heater with one unit.
Usually, but we check rather than assume. Ducts that leak or are undersized will hold back any system you put on them, and we'd rather find that before you pay for equipment.
10 years on parts, 1 year on labor. Your technician can tell you exactly what that covers on the system you're getting.
Call or text and we'll run the numbers on your actual house, not a rule of thumb.
