Heat Pump Repair in Leland, NC
Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from May through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Brunswick County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months a year, your heat pump is the only thing running
Leland asks a lot out of a heat pump. Winters are mild, with nights averaging 37°F, but the unit still runs from November through March. Then summer afternoons climb to 88°F and it switches over and runs again from May through September. That leaves your system idle only a couple months out of the year, and most homes here run it on electric heat with no furnace backing it up.
That much runtime wears on the reversing valve, the part that switches the unit between heat and cooling. When it sticks, the system blows cold air when you set it to heat, or it won't shut off. Brunswick County also sees its share of damaging wind, and any outage that cuts power mid-cycle can trip the system out. Most heat pumps come back on their own once power returns, but if yours doesn't, that's worth a call.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 37°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
North Carolina requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors tests HVAC contractors before it licenses them, and it keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor. It is not issued job by job, so it is already on file before anyone shows up to work on your heat pump.
Repairing a heat pump means opening the refrigerant side of the system. Federal law requires EPA Section 608 certification for that work, in every state. The contractor working on your heat pump should hold the state license and the federal certification. One puts them on record with North Carolina. The other is what lets them handle refrigerant at all.
Sources: North Carolina General Assembly · North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- In winter, a heat pump puts out air that feels cool compared to a furnace even when it is working right, because the air coming out is only a bit warmer than the room, not hot like a gas furnace. If the air feels cold rather than just cool, check that the filter is not clogged and that the outdoor unit is not iced over or buried in leaves. If it is still blowing truly cold air after that, it may be low on refrigerant or stuck in defrost mode, and that needs a licensed contractor to check, since opening the refrigerant side requires EPA certification.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- A heat pump normally builds a light coat of frost in cold weather and clears it on its own by running a defrost cycle. With winter nights here averaging 37°F, that defrost cycle runs often. If ice is thick, covers the coil heavily, or never seems to melt off, something is keeping the defrost cycle from working, such as a bad sensor, a failed reversing valve, or low refrigerant. That level of icing means the unit needs a contractor to look at it, not just time to thaw.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- If the outdoor unit and indoor blower are both running but the air is not getting cold, start with the filter. A dirty filter chokes off airflow across the indoor coil and can drop cooling output fast, especially on the 88°F afternoons common here in summer. If the filter is clean and the air still is not cooling, the coil may be frozen, or the system may be low on refrigerant, and both of those call for a licensed contractor since diagnosing refrigerant issues requires EPA certification.