home / Heat Pumps in Houston
A heat pump is an air conditioner that can run in reverse. In summer it pumps heat out of your house. In winter it pumps heat in.
This page covers how that works, whether it makes sense in a Houston home, what the install actually involves, and the rebates that apply to heat pumps but not to a straight AC swap.
The name confuses almost everyone, so here is the plain version. In the summer, a heat pump pumps the heat out of your house. In the winter, it pumps heat into it. Same machine, running in reverse.
That is the whole trick. Instead of burning gas to make heat, it moves heat that already exists, even on a cold day. Moving heat costs far less energy than creating it, and that is where the savings on your bill come from.
The short version: one system that cools all summer and heats through the winter, with no gas furnace to maintain, no combustion, and no carbon monoxide risk.
Houston is close to the ideal climate for one. Our winters are mild and short, which is exactly where heat pumps are most efficient.
The cold snaps that give heat pumps trouble further north barely register here, and modern units handle them anyway with a backup heat strip.
This is the part a price you find online will not tell you. A heat pump replacement is not a matter of swapping a box.
Often have to be replaced, not reused. Wrong size for the new equipment, or carrying a refrigerant that is no longer compatible.
The circuit has to be correctly sized and protected. An undersized circuit under load is how electrical fires start.
Condensate needs the right slope, trap and secondary protection. Done wrong, you find out through a ceiling stain.
Thermostat, filtration level and humidity control. These decide how the system feels day to day, and they never appear in an online price.
Two houses with the same square footage regularly end up with different systems for these reasons. It is why we quote after seeing the house, not before.
Worth reading before you collect quotes: what your HVAC quote does not tell you.
Before replacing anything, it is worth checking that the equipment is the actual problem.
Heat pumps qualify for utility company rebates that straight AC replacements often do not. Depending on the equipment and your provider, that can reach up to $2,105 in utility rebates, with federal incentives layered on top at qualifying efficiency levels.
We check what you qualify for as part of the estimate, because the answer changes what the right equipment is. See our efficiency upgrade page for the current programs.
Yes. Modern units are rated well below the temperatures we see, and they are installed with supplemental heat for the handful of nights that go further.
No. It is the same outdoor unit design, and current models are quieter than the system most people are replacing.
Twelve to fifteen years is typical in our climate, and closer to the top of that range when it gets maintained. Because it runs year round rather than seasonally, maintenance matters more than on a cooling only system.
Often yes, but it has to be checked. Ductwork sized for an older, less efficient system is not always right for a new one, and undersized ducts will undo the efficiency you paid for.
In most Houston homes, yes. That is the main appeal: one system, one piece of equipment to maintain, and no gas appliance in the house.
Every job is different and every house is different. Two identical machines in two identical houses can still call for different work once you look at the ducts, the electrical and the drain.
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