Mini Split Installation in New Orleans, 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 Orleans Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
New Orleans asks a mini-split to run almost year round
Cooling season here runs April through October, seven months of afternoons near 90°F. Heat is needed November through March, and on winter nights that average 46°F a heat pump still has to work. Add those up and there are only a handful of weeks a new system gets to rest.
A mini-split installed here has to meet the federal minimum for split-system heat pumps, 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. With storms knocking out power to about half of Louisiana households at some point last year, it's also worth knowing that once power comes back, the unit switches back on by itself. No one has to be home to reset it.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 46°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Louisiana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is held by the contractor, not issued per job. It covers the business doing your install, not a check on this particular mini-split.
In most cities and parishes, an installation like this needs a permit from the local building office, along with an inspection once the work is finished. That permit and inspection check the installation itself, separate from the contractor's state license.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- Is a mini split worth it?
- For most homes here, yes. You're running cooling seven months a year and heat the other five, so a system that handles both well earns its place. A mini split also keeps working room by room if another part of the house loses conditioning, and with storms knocking out power to about half the households in this state at some point last year, that kind of flexibility matters. The honest answer still depends on your house, so a contractor should look at your rooms and your existing setup before you commit.
- How many rooms can a mini split cover?
- That depends on the outdoor unit. Some outdoor units run a single indoor head, others run several, and each indoor head covers one room or open area. The outdoor unit has to be sized to carry all of those heads running at once, so a contractor sizes the system to your rooms rather than fitting your rooms to a standard system.
- Can a mini split heat a whole house?
- It can, if it's designed to from the start. That means an indoor head in every room that needs heat, an outdoor unit sized to cover all of them on the coldest night, and a layout that accounts for how heat moves through your particular house. Winter nights here average 46°F, cold enough that undersizing shows up fast. A contractor can tell you whether your home's layout works for whole-house coverage or whether some rooms are better served another way.