Heat Pump Installation in Hillsboro, OR
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Hillsboro asks a heat pump to run nine months a year
Winter nights here average 34°F from December through February, and homes need heat from October through June. That is nine months of the year leaning on the system, with almost no season off. A heat pump has to hold up to that kind of use without a break to recover.
Summer afternoons average 76°F, so the cooling side of the job is light by comparison. A new split-system heat pump installed now has to meet federal minimums of 14.3 SEER2 for cooling and 7.5 HSPF2 for heating, and in a climate like this the heating side is the one doing most of the work.
- 9 months
- October through June, your system heats
- 34°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 76°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
Oregon requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license belongs to the contractor, not the job. The Construction Contractors Board tests that contractor and keeps a record of them before they can hold the license. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor at all, but a heat pump installation costs far more than that, so the contractor doing this job needs to hold the license.
For this job, that license is what stands behind the work. A permit and inspection from the local building office are a separate check, on the finished installation itself, and most cities and counties require both when a heat pump goes in.
Source: Oregon Legislative Assembly
- Is a heat pump better than a furnace?
- It depends on what the furnace alone can't do. A furnace only makes heat by burning fuel. A heat pump moves heat instead, so it heats your home in winter and cools it in summer from the same system. Homes here need heat nine months of the year, so the heating side is what matters most in that comparison. A contractor can look at the furnace you have now and tell you whether replacing it with a heat pump makes sense for your house.
- What's the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner?
- An air conditioner only cools your home. A heat pump cools the same way an air conditioner does, but it can also reverse and pull heat from the outside air to heat your home. Outside, the two units look almost alike. What sets the heat pump apart is a reversing valve and the controls that switch it between cooling and heating as the seasons change.
- Does a heat pump work in cold weather?
- Yes. There is still heat in outside air even when it's cold, and a heat pump pulls that heat inside to warm your home. Winter nights here average 34°F, which a heat pump handles on its own. As the air gets colder the heat pump has to work harder to pull out the same amount of heat, which is why some systems pair with backup heat for the coldest nights. A contractor sizing a system for your house can tell you whether backup heat makes sense here.