What to do When Your Heat Pump Won’t Change Modes
Your heat pump has done a phenomenal job throughout the summer by providing cool air and keeping your home comfortable. Now that it’s winter, you try to flip on the heat mode, but there’s a problem: it won’t budge. It’s stuck in cooling mode, and the house is getting colder. What do you do?
Before you call for heat pump repair in Maryville, it’s important to know what’s going on with your system in the first place. Let’s talk you through what could be wrong with your heat pump.
Your Solenoid May be Malfunctioning
In between different points of your heat pump, there are mechanisms activated by solenoids. There’s one mechanism for heat, and one for cooling. When you switch to a different mode, the solenoid helps push the mechanism so your heat pump can do what you want it to do.
Solenoids aren’t perfect. Sometimes they will fail on you, and there’s not normally a specific reason; they just wear down over time. Replacing the solenoid should allow you to transfer between modes freely and without worry. Right now, your heat pump doesn’t actually understand that it’s supposed to switch modes. Not without those solenoids.
Those Air Filters May be Clogged
Is your filter being swapped out every 30 days? This seems trivial to some, but you’d be surprised just how much airflow directly impacts the efficiency of your heat pump. Without enough air coming through to your heat pump, it has to work harder to achieve the output you want. This can lead to faster wear and tear of other components; make sure the air filter is being swapped out religiously.
Your Thermostat Might Be Miscalibrated
Your thermostat reads the temperature of the room, reads what you set your desired temperature to, then communicates with your heat pump to raise or lower the temperature accordingly. If your thermostat isn’t reading the air temperature correctly, your heat pump isn’t getting the signal it needs to begin. This creates the illusion that something is wrong with your heat pump, but in reality, it just doesn’t know when to start.
There’s a Stuck Valve
The valve is the mechanism that the solenoid moves like we talked about earlier. There’s a chance that the solenoid could be functioning properly, but the valve is simply stuck. This could be from a lack of lubrication or simple wear and tear. A technician can replace the valve to fix this problem.
The Refrigerant is Leaking From Somewhere
Refrigerant is supposed to stay in the loop that runs through your heat pump: it’s not supposed to leak outside of that for any reason. If there’s a refrigerant leak, that’s a problem that a technician needs to solve.
Restore Your Heat Pump
It’s time to find out exactly which one of these problems is causing your heat pump to not switch modes, and then hire the right professionals to fix it for you. Heat pumps may have fewer working parts than traditional HVAC systems, but that doesn’t mean they’re less intricate. We know how to find the problem and provide a timely solution.
Contact Fannon & Sons Heating Cooling today to schedule heat pump repair and restore your home’s comfort. Welcome to the family!
