Heat Pump Installation in Opelousas, LA
A new system here will heat from November through March and cool from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers St. Landry Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A heat pump in Opelousas works almost every month of the year
Winter nights here average 43°F, and homes need heat from November through March. Summer afternoons average 91°F, with cooling running April through October. That is 12 months of the year your heat pump is either warming the house or cooling it, with barely a break between seasons.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so the heat pump carries that load directly. Any split-system heat pump installed new has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, and in a climate that leans on cooling for seven months, that cooling rating matters as much as the heating side does. St. Landry Parish has also seen 52 damaging wind events over the past ten years, so where the outdoor unit sits and how it is secured is worth asking about.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 43°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Louisiana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors tests and licenses the contractor, not the individual job. That means the license tells you the person or company doing the work has met the state's standard, but it does not follow them to your driveway to check this particular installation.
For a heat pump installation, the license is the credential that stands behind the person doing the work, but the permit is what checks the work itself. In most cities and parishes here, installing a heat pump needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once it is done. The inspection is what confirms the wiring, the refrigerant lines, and the unit itself were put in correctly, separate from whatever the license already says about the contractor.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what you need it to do. A furnace only heats. A heat pump heats in winter and cools in summer, so one system covers both jobs instead of two. Whether that fits your house depends on your ductwork and what you already have installed, which a contractor can go over with you.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only removes heat from your house and sends it outside. A heat pump does that same job in summer, but in winter it runs in reverse and pulls heat from the outside air into your house. That reversing valve is the whole difference between the two. Both use a compressor, and both are direct-drive with no belts.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump pulls heat from the outside air even in winter, though it works harder as the temperature drops. Winter nights here average 43°F, which is mild enough that a heat pump can keep a home warm without the strain it would face somewhere colder. Homes here only need heat from November through March, five months a year, so the rest of the year it runs as an air conditioner.