What Michigan homes are up against.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, bulk CSV export, events 2015-01-01 through 2024-12-31. · U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
A contractor quoting a heat pump in Michigan has to think about what the equipment will be asked to do repeatedly, not just occasionally. 5,922 severe weather events were recorded in Michigan between 2015 and 2024. At that rate, a system installed today will be pushed to hold capacity and recover, again and again, over its working life. What that adds up to depends heavily on the specific conditions at one address, which a statewide total cannot resolve. The local assessment is where the sizing decision actually gets made.
A quote for heat pump work starts with what the house already has: duct sizing, electrical service capacity, and how the existing air handler is configured. None of those can be read from the outside. Half the homes in Michigan were built in 1972 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year). Housing built to serve a furnace and central air setup often has supply and return runs that move air in patterns a heat pump does not favor, and a contractor measures actual airflow before specifying anything. The electrical service gets the same treatment, because the panel that fed the old system may not carry the load the new one draws.
Does your county put extra stress on HVAC equipment?
2015–2024 · Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database.
A condenser sitting outside in Michigan faces wind, driven rain, ice load, and summer heat pulling against it season after season. How a system is sized, where the outdoor unit is positioned, and how the refrigerant charge is set all depend on what that equipment will actually face at that address. The contractor you are matched with works that out before anything goes in the ground.
Michigan HVAC Contractor License Requirements for Installation and Repair
Michigan sets its own licensing rules for HVAC installation and repair work, and the provisions below are quoted from the state's own code rather than paraphrased.
Michigan issues the mechanical contractor’s licence by classification: HVAC equipment, ductwork, refrigeration, hydronic heating and cooling, and limited or unlimited heating and refrigeration service are each a separate classification a contractor has to hold.
A state license for this trade is what separates contractors who are legally permitted to do HVAC work on your home from those who are not. Sending a request through this site routes you only to contractors who hold the license Michigan requires for this work.
View the source provisions2 provisions
Michigan issues the mechanical contractor’s licence by classification: HVAC equipment, ductwork, refrigeration, hydronic heating and cooling, and limited or unlimited heating and refrigeration service are each a separate classification a contractor has to hold.
Michigan requires a mechanical contractor’s licence: nobody may install, alter or service the regulated mechanical work unless they, or an employee, hold a licence from the department that has not been revoked or suspended.