Heat Pump Installation in Starkville, MS
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 Oktibbeha County will get in touch.
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Ten months of work a year for a Starkville heat pump
Your heat pump runs from November through March for heat and May through September for cooling. That's ten months a year with only a few weeks off in between. Winter nights average 35°F here, mild enough that a heat pump handles it without much strain. Summer afternoons average 91°F, and that side of the job asks more of the compressor.
A new split-system heat pump has to meet 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating if it was built after January 1, 2023. Most homes here heat with electricity, and storms are common enough in this area that a large share of Mississippi households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. The unit going in should be sized and installed to run this much without trouble, and to come back on by itself once the power does.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 35°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
That license is issued to the contractor, not to this particular job. It means the state has tested the person or company taking on your heat pump installation and keeps a record of who they are, so there is a name on file if something goes wrong.
For this job, the license is what stands behind the contractor's work, but it is not the only check. Installing a heat pump in most cities and counties in Mississippi also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is what confirms the installation itself was done right, separate from whatever the state license already tells you about who did it.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what you're comparing it to. A heat pump does both heating and cooling, so it can replace a furnace and an air conditioner with one system. Here, homes need heat from November through March and cooling from May through September, so a system that handles both is doing work most of the year. A furnace only heats, and burns gas or uses electric resistance to do it, which usually costs more to run than a heat pump moving heat instead of generating it.
- 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 to heat the house in winter. Mechanically they share most of the same parts, a compressor, a coil outside, a coil inside. The heat pump just has a valve that lets it switch direction.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. A heat pump pulls heat from the outside air even when that air is cold, down to well below freezing. Winter nights here average 35°F, which is well within the range a heat pump handles without trouble. In colder climates, heat pumps sometimes pair with a backup heat source for the coldest nights, but that's less of a concern with winters this mild.