Heat pump replacement, sized and installed for South Florida

A heat pump is an air conditioner that can also run in reverse. In cooling mode, which is most of the year in Broward County, it does exactly what a central AC does. Refrigerant picks up heat at the indoor coil, carries it outside, and the outdoor unit releases it. A reversing valve lets the same equipment move heat the other way on the nights you want warmth.

That makes the decision simpler than it sounds. You're not choosing between two different kinds of cooling. You're choosing whether the outdoor unit should also be able to warm the house efficiently, and paying for the extra parts that make that possible.

What matters most here is still cooling performance. Two ratings tell you about it. SEER2 reflects efficiency across a cooling season, and EER2 reflects efficiency at a single hot test condition, closer to a July afternoon in Broward. Both replaced the older SEER and EER numbers in 2023, when the federal test procedure changed, so compare SEER2 to SEER2 and not to the rating on a ten-year-old unit.

Sizing comes before any of that. A heat pump picked by square footage alone is often oversized, and an oversized system cools the air quickly and shuts off before it has removed much moisture. That's the clammy-but-cold house many people know, and a system that cycles on and off constantly is one symptom of it.

A heat pump usually makes sense when:

• You already have one. Replacing like for like keeps the controls, the air handler setup and the wiring straightforward.
• You use heat on the cool nights and would rather not rely on electric heat strips, which turn electricity into heat one for one. A heat pump moves heat instead of making it, which typically takes less electricity for the same warmth.
• The price difference is small for the size you need. Ask to see both options side by side.

It may not be worth it when you almost never turn the heat on, or when the existing air handler and controls were built for a cooling-only system and the change would add work without much benefit. In that case a well-sized central air conditioner does the same cooling job.

Either way, a new split system uses one of the newer refrigerants, such as R-454B or R-32, and the indoor coil has to be a certified match for the outdoor unit. Mixing a new outdoor unit with an old indoor coil is how efficiency ratings, and reliability, get lost.