Our mascot, Moose, loves heat pumps. We agree with his reasons! You see, heat pumps not only offer a home both heating and cooling from a single unit, they also work at high efficiency in heating mode. Compared to using an electric furnace to heat a home, a heat pump uses far less energy and can save hundreds of dollars over a year. Plus, heat pumps are ideal for our climate because our milder winters make it easier for heat pumps to draw heat from outdoors to transport indoors.
But heat pumps aren’t perfect, and that’s why sometimes we have to set the Moose loose in your neighborhood to have them repaired. We handle services for heat pumps in Greenville, SC and we can get to the bottom of a problem such as a heat pump that won’t heat.
We’re always glad to share information with our clients, so let’s look at why your heat pump isn’t doing the “heating” half of its job.
The Thermostat
Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. We recommend you check your thermostat settings to make sure you’ve set the system to “heat.” If this is your first winter using a heat pump, you might not know exactly how to handle the thermostat controls. Or somebody else may have mistakenly adjusted the settings. It’s also possible the thermostat is miscalibrated so that it doesn’t even register that it needs to turn the heat pump on. In this case, you’ll need professional repairs.
Broken Reversing Valve
If you’ve got a heat pump that not only isn’t heating, but it’s blowing out cold air because it’s still in cooling mode, then we’d wager the problem is with the reversing valve. Moose knows this is the most important component that makes a heat pump different from an air conditioner.
The valve controls which way refrigerant circulates through the system, and this is what changes the heat pump from heating to cooling mode and back again. If the valve becomes stuck, the heat pump will stay in one mode. The good news is that it’s a basic fix for our team. We only have to replace the reversing valve with a new one.
Lost Thermostat Connection
It’s possible that the heat pump’s reversing valve is working fine, but the thermostat has lost the direct connection to it. The thermostat has a wire that connects to the reversing valve and sends an electrical signal that energizes it to change mode. A frayed or loose wire can cut off the thermostat from the reversing valve, leaving the heat pump trapped in one mode.
Clogged Air Filter
This is a topic that Moose likes to remind us to bring up often: a clogged air filter can really ruin your heat pump’s day, as well as your own. When you leave the air filter for the heat pump in place month after month, it will become so clogged that the heat pump won’t be able to draw enough air to warm up, leaving you with lukewarm air from the vents. Change the filter to a clean one and this may solve the problem. Keep up with those filter changes every 1–3 months and you’ll avoid this problem in the future.
Set the Moose Loose in Your Neighborhood! Carolina Climate Control has proudly served Greenville and the surrounding areas since 2014.