Heat Pump Repair in Lacey, WA
If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Thurston County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months a year of work, on a system with no backup
Your heat pump runs ten months out of the year here, September through June. Winter nights average 34°F, so most of that time it is pulling heat into the house rather than cooling it. That is a long stretch of hours on the compressor and a long stretch of cycles through the reversing valve, the part that switches the unit between heating and cooling.
Most homes in this area heat with electricity, so when the heat pump falters, there is nothing else warming the house. Washington households lose power often enough that a heat pump sitting idle after an outage is a real scenario. It should come back on by itself once power returns. If it does not, or if it is running but the air coming out does not feel warm, that is worth a look before the next cold night.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 34°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 75°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration means the contractor's business is on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. There is no trade exam behind it and no state license. What you get from it is a business you can trace by name, not a tested credential.
For a heat pump repair, the part that actually protects you comes from federal law, not the state. Anyone opening the refrigerant side of your heat pump has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, and that holds in every state, Washington included. That certification is what says a technician has been tested on handling refrigerant safely, which the state registration does not touch.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- A heat pump moves heat from outside air into your home, and in cold weather that air feels cooler than a furnace flame would, so some of what you're feeling is normal. But if the air feels cold rather than just cool, the system may have dropped into backup heat mode without kicking on, or it could be low on refrigerant. A contractor can check the refrigerant charge and confirm the backup heat strip or element is working.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Some frost on the outdoor unit during cold weather is normal, and the system defrosts itself on a timer. A heavy coat of ice that doesn't clear means the defrost cycle isn't running, the outdoor fan has stopped, or airflow across the coil is blocked. With winter nights here averaging 34°F, the unit is cycling through defrost often, so a stuck defrost control or a failed fan motor shows up as ice fast. Have a contractor check the defrost board and the outdoor fan.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- If the unit runs but the air isn't cooling, the most common cause is low refrigerant from a leak, since the system can't move heat without enough of it. A dirty outdoor coil covered in debris or a failing compressor can cause the same thing. Only a technician certified under EPA Section 608 can open the refrigerant side to check the charge and find a leak, so this isn't a repair to attempt without one.