Heat Pump Repair in Phoenix, AZ
Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from April through October. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Maricopa County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Your heat pump runs almost every day of the year in Phoenix
Summer afternoons here average 103°F, and the compressor runs long hours to keep up. That kind of runtime wears on the compressor and the fan motor, and it puts real strain on the capacitor that gets both of them started. When a capacitor weakens, the outdoor unit hums but the fan won't spin, or the system short cycles and never quite cools the house.
Winter nights average 41°F here from December through February, cold enough that the heat pump has to reverse itself and pull heat from that outside air instead of shedding it. That switch depends on a reversing valve, and a valve that sticks will leave you with a house that won't warm up even though the unit is running.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 41°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 103°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Arizona requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Registrar of Contractors tests and licenses the contractor, not the crew that shows up or the job itself. That license attaches to the business, so the same license is behind every job it takes on, not just this one.
Heat pump repair almost always means opening the refrigerant side of the system, and federal law requires the technician doing that to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what state they work in. In Arizona, that certification sits alongside the state license rather than replacing it. The license is what the state stands behind. The certification is what the refrigerant work itself requires.
Sources: Arizona State Legislature · Arizona Registrar of Contractors
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- In heating mode, a heat pump moves warm air through the house at a lower temperature than a furnace would, so it can feel cool against your skin even when it's working right. If the air feels truly cold, not just mild, check the thermostat is set to heat and not fan only. A dirty filter or low refrigerant can also leave the air feeling cold, and if the outdoor unit is caked in ice, that points to the same problem as a unit that won't defrost on its own.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Heat pumps grow a thin layer of frost on the outdoor coil during cold weather, then run a defrost cycle to melt it off every so often. That's normal. What's not normal is thick ice building up and staying there, or ice that covers the whole coil or the fan. That usually means the defrost cycle isn't kicking in, the reversing valve isn't switching, or the coil isn't getting airflow because something is blocking it. A contractor can check the defrost control and the sensors that tell the system when to start that cycle.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- If the outdoor unit is running but the house isn't cooling down, start with the filter and the outdoor coil. A clogged filter or a coil packed with dirt and debris blocks the airflow the system needs to move heat out of the house. If both look clean, the reversing valve may be stuck in heating mode, or the refrigerant charge may be low. With summer afternoons here reaching 103°F, a system that's low on refrigerant will struggle hardest right when you need it most, so it's worth having it checked before the next heat wave rather than after.