Heat Pump Installation in Anaheim, CA
A new system here will heat from December through March and cool from June through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Orange County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of work either way
Anaheim doesn't ask a heat pump to fight extreme cold. Winter nights average 47°F from December through March, four months of heating. The same unit then runs cooling from June through October, five months, with summer afternoons averaging 82°F. Nine months a year it's doing one job or the other, with barely a break between.
Most homes here still heat with gas, so a new heat pump is often replacing that setup, not just an old heat pump. Any split-system model installed new has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, so that's the baseline before you start comparing units.
- 4 months
- December through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- June through October, it cools
- 47°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
California requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Contractors State License Board, and it covers the contractor, not the individual job. That means the state has issued this contractor a license to hold, but the inspection of any single job, including this one, does not come from the board.
For a heat pump installation, the license is what stands behind the person or company doing the work. The installation itself still goes through the local building office. In most cities and counties here, installing a heat pump needs a permit and an inspection once the work is done, and that inspection is what checks the installation, not the contractor's license.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what you're weighing. A heat pump moves heat instead of burning fuel to make it, so it handles both your winter heat and summer cooling with one system. A gas furnace only heats, and you'd still need a separate air conditioner for the 5 months a year homes here need cooling. Winter lows here average 47°F, which is mild enough that a heat pump doesn't have to work as hard as it would somewhere colder.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only moves heat out of your home. A heat pump does that same job in summer, then reverses and moves heat into your home in winter. The outdoor unit on a heat pump looks like an AC condenser and works the same way in cooling mode. The difference shows up in December, when the heat pump keeps working for you and a plain AC would sit idle.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump pulls heat from outdoor air even when it's cold, though it works harder as the temperature drops. Winter nights here average 47°F, which is well within the range a heat pump handles without trouble. Split-system heat pumps sold new have to meet a federal minimum of 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, a rating that reflects performance across a range of outdoor temperatures, not just mild ones.