Heat Pump Installation in Shreveport, LA
A new system here will heat from November through March and cool from May through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Caddo Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A heat pump here works almost all year
In Caddo Parish, a heat pump is doing something eleven months of the year. Cooling runs May through October, six months of summer afternoons that average 93°F. Heating runs November through March, five months of winter nights that average a mild 38°F.
That split, more months cooling than heating, is worth knowing when you look at the numbers on a new unit. Any split-system heat pump built now has to meet 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. Here, the SEER2 rating is the one doing more of the work most of the year.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 6 months
- May through October, it cools
- 38°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 93°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 is the one that issues this license, and it covers the contractor, not each job. It tells you the person or company taking on your heat pump has gone through the board's process and is on record with them. That license stays with the contractor across every job they do, not just this one.
For the installation itself, most cities and counties in Louisiana require a permit from the local building office, along with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is where someone checks the heat pump was installed correctly, separate from whatever the contractor's license already covers.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- 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, so you're not running separate equipment for your five months of heat and six months of cooling here. A furnace only heats, and it burns gas or runs on electric resistance, which costs more to operate than a heat pump moving heat instead of generating it. Where a furnace has the edge is in a hard freeze, since it doesn't lose capacity as the outdoor temperature drops the way a heat pump can. With winter lows here averaging 38°F, most nights stay well within what a heat pump handles on its own.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only cools your home. A heat pump does the same job in summer, moving heat out of your house, but it can also run in reverse and move heat into your house in winter. Mechanically they're close cousins, both using a compressor and refrigerant to move heat rather than create it. The difference is the reversing valve, which is what lets a heat pump switch directions and heat your home when it's cold outside.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat from the outside air even when it's cold, because there's still heat in air well below freezing. It loses some capacity as the temperature drops, so it works hardest on the coldest nights of the year. Winter lows here average 38°F, which is mild enough that a properly sized heat pump can carry the heating load through the season without much trouble.