Your heat pump is reliable, saves you money on your utility bills, and that green in your pocket helps you with the other systems in your home. Life’s pretty sweet with a heat pump… until it stops switching modes when you tell it to.
We’ve seen this issue time and time again during heat pump repair in Morton Grove, IL, but don’t worry; there’s a fix for it. In this post, we’ll outline what you can do right now that might fix the problem, and if not, you can give us a call to help you out instead.
Start by Switching Out the Air Filter
One of the main reasons this happens is due to bad airflow. When your heat pump isn’t getting enough air in, it can’t do its job properly. It needs that air to help the condenser coil change refrigerant from liquid to gas and back again, so if it’s not receiving enough air, it shuts down as a failsafe.
Take a look at your air filter and see how much dust there is compared to a brand-new filter. If it looks more gray than it does white, that means you need to switch it out more often. As a rule of thumb, we recommend doing that every 30-90 days based on use.
The Thermostat Could Be Messing With You
Your thermostat controls the “ON” and “OFF” signals that go to your heat pump. Since your thermostat is responsible for detecting the temperature, we have to assume that it might be detecting it incorrectly.
If that’s the case, you can recalibrate your thermostat with the provided manual that came in the box, or by looking up a manufacturer’s PDF online. If your thermostat thought it was cooler in the room than it actually was, it would explain why your heat pump doesn’t switch from hot to cold, and vice versa.
If It’s Not Those, it Might be a Faulty Solenoid
Solenoids are little mechanisms that have switches, which actually control whether or not your heat pump changes modes. Your heat pump may be receiving both proper airflow and the correct signal from the thermostat, but that’s all for naught if the solenoid is malfunctioning.
Unfortunately, a solenoid is where the DIY journey ends. This needs to be handled by professional HVAC technicians because the solenoid will have to be replaced entirely, and that’s a bit of involved work.
Thankfully, this isn’t a major repair like replacing a compressor or anything along those lines. This is just one of the nuances of owning a heat pump, but don’t worry about it: we’ll take care of you.
Your Heat Pump Needs a Rescue
It’s time to dig your heat pump out of the hole it’s in (figuratively speaking, of course) and restore its’ two-mode functionality. From diagnosing the problem to repairing it, and scheduling annual maintenance to help prevent this from happening again, we’ve got your back.
Contact us today to schedule your heat pump repair as soon as possible so you aren’t left with only one side working.