HVAC costs in Alabama

Alabama is heat-pump country. Climate zone 3A — hot and humid, with 1,980 cooling degree days against 2,597 heating degree days — means summers dominate the load, and all-electric heat pumps keep displacing gas furnaces across the state. Alabama Power is literally paying customers $1,000 to make the switch before its offer ends permanently on December 1, 2026.

Which rebates you can claim depends entirely on where you live. North Alabama is served by TVA local power companies such as Huntsville Utilities, whose customers claim TVA EnergyRight rebates — up to $800 on a qualifying heat pump — through TVA’s Quality Contractor Network. Central and south Alabama fall under Alabama Power’s own residential programs.

Permitting is where Alabama gets unusual. The Alabama Energy and Residential Codes Board at ADECA adopts a state residential code (the 2015 IRC with Alabama amendments, under Code of Ala. 1975 sections 41-23-80 through 85), but there is no statewide permitting agency for private homes. Cities such as Huntsville, Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery require mechanical permits pulled by licensed HVAC contractors. Many rural and unincorporated county areas maintain no building department at all — no local permit is issued for an HVAC changeout there. Statewide licensing by the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors applies regardless.

On price, Alabama is the cheapest state we cover: a 0.90 cost index against the national baseline. A 3-ton code-minimum replacement that runs $5,000-$11,000 nationally lands around $4,500-$9,900 here. Residential electricity averages $0.1677 per kWh — worth factoring into any heat-pump-versus-gas math.