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Mack Morris Heating & Air Conditioning Blog

Why Your Heat Pump Isn’t Changing Modes

Fall is almost here, and temperatures are beginning to cool down. When you are ready to switch over to heating, there’s a chance that your heat pump may not change modes as it should. This can be alarming, but the good news is that it’s usually an easy fix

If you need to schedule heat pump service in Charlottesville, VA, give our team a call. We can assess your heat pump to figure out what’s wrong and get it repaired. Keep reading to learn more about why your heat pump may be stuck in one mode and what we can do about it.

Reversing Valve

A heat pump offers both heating and cooling all in one. Other types of HVAC systems are separate air conditioners and heaters that connect to the same thermostat. But with a heat pump, when you change the setting over to heat on your thermostat, it triggers for the reversing valve on your heat pump to switch over too. 

If you’ve tried to switch your heat pump over to heating mode without success, the heat pump’s reversing valve is most likely the problem. It may be stuck or dirty and in need cleaning or adjusting. However, there are also times when the reversing valve has simply reached the end of its life and needs to be replaced. This is usually an easy and inexpensive fix. Our team can replace the valve so your heat pump will work great again, effortlessly switching between modes.

Thermostat

Other times, it’s actually your thermostat that’s the problem and not your heat pump at all. Sometimes, your thermostat can get miscalibrated so that it misreads the temperature and communicates incorrect instructions to the heat pump. When this happens, it may seem like your heat pump is stuck in one mode. But really, the thermostat just isn’t communicating accurately. 

The thermostat may be completely disconnected from the heat pump, but it’s equally possible that the signal just isn’t what it used to be. For example, your thermostat may read the indoor temperature incorrectly and think that it’s cooler inside than it really is. As a result, your heat pump doesn’t turn on for a cooling cycle until temperatures are much warmer than you would like. 

System Problems

There is also a chance that something else inside of your heat pump is malfunctioning and contributing to a heat pump reversing valve problem. There could be defective coils or a leaking valve. Anything that is close to the reversing valve could easily contribute to a problem. If the reversing valve isn’t old or worn and your thermostat is correctly calibrated, we will test your heat pump until we come up with a solution.

We can’t control the weather outside of your home, but we can control the weather inside your home. The team at Mack Morris Heating & A/C is here to help with heat pump service, so schedule your appointment today.

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