A heat pump provides an effective way to cool your home during our hot, humid summer months as well as ensure that it’s comfortable during our less common chilly winter evenings. However, it doesn’t always work as well as it should.
How Does a Heat Pump Work?
First, it’s important to understand some heat pump basics. Simply put, a heat pump transfers heat, whether from inside to outside (summer) or from outside to inside (winter). It does this through refrigerant-filled coils, using a reversing valve when necessary to change the direction that the hot air is traveling.
Signs That Your Heat Pump Needs Attention
There are a few common symptoms of heat pump problems to watch out for. These include your home getting too hot or cold, your energy bills being higher than expected, unexpected noises coming from your heat pump, it cycling more often than it used to and ice forming on its outdoor unit.
15 Common Heat Pump Problems and DIY Fixes
1. Heat Pump Won’t Turn On
If your heat pump simply won’t turn on, ensure that it has an electrical connection, a process that may include checking your circuit breakers. Also make sure that your thermostat is set at the desired temperature. If it is, it may need to be calibrated.
2. Not Heating Properly
If cold winter nights are too cold inside your home, see if your reversing valve is malfunctioning. Also check your refrigerant levels as them being low could cause this issue as well. That said, simply cleaning dirty air filters could be an easy fix of this.
3. Not Cooling Properly
If your house’s interior is too hot in the summer, check your refrigerant as there may be a leak. Another potential cause is dirty coils that have grime or dust on them. It’s also possible that airflow is being blocked, perhaps by furniture.
4. Short Cycling
Is your heat pump turning on and off too often? Make sure that your filter isn’t clogged and that your thermostat is working as intended – i.e. it doesn’t need to be calibrated. If those aren’t the causes, you may need to downsize your system as short cycling is also a sign of a unit that’s too extensive for a home’s smaller size.
5. Running Constantly
Heat pumps shouldn’t be running constantly. If yours is, your system may be undersized for your home, meaning that a larger one would be more appropriate and effective. That said, improving your insulation could be a much simpler solution to this problem. Another potential cause of this, which you can’t fix, is extreme weather, but that’s temporary.
6. Frozen Outdoor Unit
If a rare winter storm has caused your outdoor unit to freeze, that can cause issues with your refrigerant and airflow. More significantly, your heat pump’s attempts to go into defrost mode will be hampered. To fix this issue, gradually melt it with water from a hose.
7. Heat Pump Blowing Cold Air in Heat Mode
The last thing that you want to experience on a chilly winter day is cold air coming from your heat pump. Fixing your thermostat settings might be an easy fix of this problem. That said, note that this isn’t an issue – i.e. it’s to be expected – if your unit’s temporarily in defrost mode.
8. Blowing Warm Air in Cool Mode
Feeling warm air coming from your heat pump when you want to cool down on a summer day isn’t ideal. This can occur if you’re experiencing issues with your refrigerant. Also make sure that your reversing valve hasn’t gotten stuck.
9. Unusual Noises
What’s that noise? If it’s clicking, you may have a faulty starter capacitor. Meanwhile, a grinding sound could indicate malfunctioning motor bearings. Hissing may be the result of your refrigerant leaking.
10. Water Leaks Around Your Indoor Unit
If water’s leaking in the vicinity of your indoor unit, your drain line may be clogged, potentially by mold, algae or dust. If this is the issue, cleaning out your drain line will fix it.
11. Unresponsive Thermostat
If your thermostat isn’t responding, it could be suffering from its battery having a low charge and simply replacing it will rectify things while flipping your circuit breaker may also solve this issue. However, a wiring issue is possible as well, and that isn’t nearly as easy to fix.
12. Outdoor Fan Not Spinning
The outdoor fan not spinning could be caused by a dead capacitor or malfunctioning motor. However, it may also be the result of an issue that’s much easier to fix, such as a lack of electrical supply that’s solved by flipping your circuit breaker or leaves blocking it being removed.
13. Heat Pump Smells Bad
If your heat pump smells bad, there may be mold growing in or near it or an electrical issue, the latter possibility being especially likely if what you’re smelling is a burning or fishy odor.
14. Higher Energy Bills
Are your energy bills higher than they were a year ago despite the outdoor weather conditions being similar to then? That could be the result of a variety of causes, but one of the most likely is a lack of heat pump maintenance. This should be done in a general sense at least once a year while cleaning your coils, fans and filters should occur every 1-3 months.
15. Heat Pump Freezes in the Summer
A couple of likely causes of your heat pump freezing despite it very much being summer conditions outside include your refrigerant being too low and dirty air filters.
Stay Comfortable Year-Round With One Hour Tampa
If you’d like the services of a HVAC technician near you that specializes in heat pump services, reach out to One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating. We’ll help you with refrigerant leaks, electrical issues, motor problems, compressor complications and anything else that’s affecting your heat pump.
Our specialists are also glad to provide regular maintenance in order to greatly reduce the chances of these issues occurring at all, providing you with peace of mind. Or if you don’t have a heat pump yet and want one installed, we can do that for you as well. We work throughout the Tampa, FL, area and are looking forward to speaking with you, and remember that we’re always on time or you don’t pay a dime!