Why Your Heat Pump Can’t Maintain the Right Temperature

February 26, 2019

When you set your thermostat for a certain temperature, you expect your heat pump to heat or cool the home to that temperature, right?

When you want 74 degrees, you don’t expect the indoor temperature to stay stuck at 70 degrees while your heat pump struggles in the background.

Sometimes heat pumps have trouble maintaining the right temperature, especially in winter heating mode. It’s not uncommon, and there are a number of potential causes.

Why Is My Heat Pump Not Reaching the Set Temperature?

The outdoor unit is iced over

If your condenser unit is frosted or iced over, running a defrost cycle will usually fix it. However, if the entire unit is covered in ice, and is not melting, contact a professional right away.

The outdoor unit is not running at all.

Make sure all of your vents and registers are open. Check the power supply and change the filters. When in defrost mode, you may experience cold air blowing from the vents if you don’t have a supplemental heating system. This is completely normal, but if the unit doesn’t come back on, contact a professional.

Too much cold air is entering the house for the heat pump to keep up

Make sure your doors and windows are closed to keep that valuable heat inside. When was the last time you inspected your insulation levels? In addition to sealing air leaks around the home, make sure you have enough insulation in your attic, basement, and other key places around your home.

Your vents are closed

It may seem obvious, but problems like this can sometimes be attributed to user error. Make sure all of your supply and return vents are open to allow heat in.

Learn how to troubleshoot common winter heat pump problems.

This is by no means an all-inclusive list, and it covers just those causes that you could potentially fix yourself. There are many other possible culprits out there that could be more sinister and require professional service to be properly repaired.

Common Heat Pump Problems That Require Professional Assistance

Some of these include:

• The compressor is not running.
• A compressor valve or reversing valve is faulty.
• The thermostat is malfunctioning or needs to be recalibrated.
• The thermostat is installed in the wrong place and is receiving “ghost readings”
• The refrigerant level is low or there is a problem with the flow of the refrigerant.
• The heat pump needs routine maintenance.

If your heat pump is not working properly for several days, especially after you have tried some of the DIY solutions above, call the experts at Service Champions. The sooner you schedule professional heat pump repair, the sooner we prevent a bigger, more expensive problem. Questions? Ask a Champion!