Heat Pump Installation in Parker, AZ
A new system here will heat from November through February and cool from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers La Paz County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Parker asks a heat pump to work almost all year
Cooling season runs April through October here, seven months, with summer afternoons averaging 105°F. That's the bulk of the work. Winter is shorter, November through February, and nights average 42°F, mild enough that a heat pump can carry the heating load without much strain.
A new split-system heat pump installed here has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating. With summer doing most of the work in Parker, the cooling rating matters more to how the unit performs through those long, hot stretches.
- 4 months
- November through February, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 42°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 105°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Arizona requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Arizona licenses HVAC contractors through the Registrar of Contractors, and that license belongs to the contractor, not to this one job. It covers the person or company doing the work, not each installation they take on.
For a heat pump installation, most cities and counties in Arizona also require a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is finished. The license tells you the contractor is the one the state has on record. The permit and inspection are what check this particular job, the wiring, the refrigerant lines, the way the unit is installed.
Sources: Arizona State Legislature · Arizona Registrar of Contractors
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- For most homes in Parker, yes. Winters here are short, four months of needing heat, and mild, with nights averaging around 42°F. A heat pump handles that easily and also covers your cooling for the other seven months, so you get one system instead of two. Where a furnace still wins is on the coldest nights in places with real hard freezes, and that is not the pattern here.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only moves heat out of your house. A heat pump does that too, but it can also run in reverse and move heat into your house, so it heats in winter and cools in summer. Mechanically they are close cousins, both use a compressor and refrigerant, but the heat pump has a reversing valve that lets it switch directions.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes, a heat pump keeps working as the temperature drops, though it has to work harder and puts out less heat per hour the colder it gets outside. In Parker that is not much of a concern since winter nights average around 42°F, well within the range a heat pump handles without strain. In places with long stretches well below freezing, a heat pump needs backup heat, but that is not the situation homes here deal with.