A heat pump is a unique device for your heating and cooling needs because it is capable of performing both duties equally well. It uses the same principles as air conditioning – circulating refrigerant through a closed loop to first heat and then cool the air – but with a twist. The cycle can be reversed, allowing you to heat your home as well as cooling it and allowing you to combine both functions into a single unit. Heat pumps tend to experience the most issues during transition periods like now, when they switch over from heating to cooling modes (or from cooling to heating in the fall). If you can keep an eye out for some of them, you may be able to get a jump on a given issue before it gets out of hand.
Faulty Reversing Valve
If you’ve been running the heat just fine all winter, only to switch to cooling mode and find out that no cool air is coming out, the issue may be with the reversing valve, which switches the flow of refrigerant and allows the heat pump to go from heater to air conditioner. In some cases, the reversing valve may simply be stuck or have a faulty component that needs repairing. In other cases, you’re going to have to replace the entire valve before it will work.
Low Refrigerant
Refrigerant isn’t supposed to leak out of your system, but it can, and when it does, it makes it much harder to heat or cool your home: adding to the stress on the system and raising your monthly bills to boot. This can be harder to spot in the winter thanks to our comparatively mild Hondo, TX winters, but you’ll likely notice it more when you switch to cooling mode.
Call D’Spain Sales and Service, Inc. to correct problems with your heat pump.
