Burnt Mountain is the highest terrain in Pickens County, and above 2,000 feet design temperature falls roughly 5-8°F against the metro baseline once wind exposure is included. Rime ice, roof shed and outage-prone distribution lines all affect equipment placement. Dual-fuel is often preferred here because a combustion backup stage does not depend on grid power.
What changes above 2,000 feet
- Design temperature
- Falls materially against the metro baseline — commonly 5–8°F once elevation and exposure are combined. This shifts equipment selection, not just sizing.
- Wind loading
- Exposed upper-slope and ridge sites carry infiltration loads that a sheltered house of identical construction simply does not have. Wind-driven infiltration is frequently the largest single line in the load calculation up here.
- Icing and rime
- Freezing fog and rime accumulation occur at elevations where the valley below stays clear. This affects outdoor unit placement, defrost behavior and clearance requirements.
- Outage exposure
- Distribution lines through mature tree canopy on steep terrain are the most outage-prone configuration on the cooperative's system, and restoration takes longer because access is harder.
- Access
- The constraint on installation, on service calls, and on propane delivery alike. In genuinely bad conditions a property may be unreachable by any commercial vehicle for days.
Why we often recommend dual-fuel here specifically
Across most of the county we treat dual-fuel as one option among several. On the upper slopes of Burnt Mountain we lean toward it, for reasons that are about resilience rather than arithmetic:
- A combustion backup stage that does not depend on grid power provides genuine redundancy on the most outage-prone terrain in the county.
- Retaining the furnace means no strip-heat circuits, which frequently avoids a service upgrade on properties where the service lateral run from the pole is long and expensive to enlarge.
- You still eliminate the large majority of propane consumption, so the delivery-frequency problem shrinks dramatically even though the tank stays.
- It is reversible. Completing the conversion later, when the furnace reaches end of life, remains available.
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Call (470) 208-3151Outdoor unit placement at elevation
- Mount high. Snow and rime accumulation, plus meltwater that refreezes, argue for substantially more ground clearance than a standard pad provides.
- Get out of the prevailing wind. Direct wind loading on the coil degrades performance and increases frost formation. Where the site allows, place the unit on a sheltered elevation.
- Clear the roof shed line. An ice sheet releasing from a metal roof onto a condensing unit destroys it. This is the most common physical damage we see at elevation.
- Preserve service access in winter. A unit that cannot be reached in February is a unit that cannot be repaired in February.
- Drain positively away from the base. Defrost meltwater on a shaded upper-slope site does not evaporate — it accumulates and freezes.
Specification summary for upper-slope properties
Everything on this page converges on a short list. On the upper slopes we specify:
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Cold-climate inverter with published capacity at 5°F and rated operation below 0°F |
| Load calculation | Site-specific design temperature with wind exposure explicitly included |
| Defrost | Demand-initiated, not timed |
| Mounting | Elevated bracket or stand, clear of roof shed, positively drained |
| Backup | Dual-fuel preferred; otherwise standby generator, not optional |
| Surge protection | Layered Type 1 and Type 2, per surge protection |
| Controls | Manufacturer-matched controller preserving full modulation |
Run your own numbers
Delivered-BTU math, not a marketing estimate. Change any input and the result updates.
Example only: a house burning 850 gallons at $3.20/gal through an 80% furnace, against electricity at $0.13/kWh. Backup strip heat in a hard cold snap is not modeled. Enter your own numbers above.
- Delivered heat needed
- 62.2 million BTU
- Propane cost per delivered MMBTU
- $43.71
- Heat pump cost per delivered MMBTU
- $15.29
- Electricity used
- 7,320 kWh
- This winter on propane
- $2,720
- This winter on a heat pump
- $952
Worked example at typical North Georgia prices. Change any input above and this recalculates for your house. Estimate only, not a guarantee.
Free and no obligation. You are connected to one independent, licensed, insured Georgia contractor serving your area — never a call center, never a list.
Common questions about Burnt Mountain
Is a heat pump really viable at 2,500 feet in Georgia?
Should I keep my propane furnace as backup up here?
What happens if I lose power for three days in an ice storm?
Where these numbers come from
- NOAA U.S. Climate Normals — station data behind the 13-18°F design temperature range
- NEEP Cold Climate Air Source Heat Pump Product List — capacity actually retained at 5°F, by model
Every contractor in this network holds a current Georgia Conditioned Air or Electrical Contractor license. You can confirm any license yourself before you sign anything — Georgia Secretary of State license lookup.
Get a conversion figure for your address
At this elevation dual-fuel is often the better engineering answer than a full conversion.
Free and no obligation. You are connected to one independent, licensed, insured Georgia contractor serving your area — never a call center, never a list.
More in Mountain Enclaves We Serve
Gate logistics, architectural review, slope staging, and microclimate load differences by community.
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