Heat Pump Repair in Tucson, 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 Pima County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Tucson runs its heat pump almost year round
Your heat pump works twelve months a year here. It switches to cooling in April and stays there through October, with afternoons averaging 99°F. Come November it has to reverse itself and start pulling heat from outside air, right as winter nights settle in around 38°F. That reversing valve gets used constantly, and it's one of the first parts to stick or fail when a heat pump has been running this hard this long.
The compressor takes the worst of it. Seven months of cooling in heat like this means long run times all summer, and a compressor that never really gets a break wears faster than one that only runs part of the year. When it starts to fail, you'll notice the air coming out warmer than it should, or the system running longer to get the house to temperature.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 38°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 99°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Arizona requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
That license is on file with the Registrar of Contractors, and it covers the contractor as a business, not this one repair. It means the state tested and tracks who is doing the work, not that this particular job was inspected or approved.
A heat pump repair almost always means opening the refrigerant side of the system, and federal law requires EPA Section 608 certification for that no matter what state you're in. The Arizona license backs the contractor doing the work. The 608 certification is what covers the refrigerant handling itself.
Sources: Arizona State Legislature · Arizona Registrar of Contractors
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- In winter, this usually means the heat pump is stuck in defrost mode or the reversing valve has failed. A heat pump normally runs a defrost cycle to clear ice off the outdoor coil, and during that cycle it can feel like cold air is coming through the vents for a few minutes. If the air stays cold and never warms back up, the reversing valve that switches the system between heating and cooling may be stuck. That's a repair for a licensed contractor, since it involves refrigerant components.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Some frost on the outdoor unit during winter is normal, since the coil gets cold enough to pull moisture from the air. The system should melt that off on its own a few times a day during a defrost cycle. If the coil is coated in thick ice that does not clear, airflow is likely blocked, either by a dirty filter, a failing fan motor, or low refrigerant. Running the system with heavy ice on the coil can damage the compressor, so it needs a contractor to look at it before the next cold night.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- If the outdoor unit is running but the house isn't cooling, the most common causes are a dirty air filter, a refrigerant leak, or a failing compressor. A clogged filter starves the system of airflow, which can ice up the indoor coil and stop cooling even though the unit sounds like it's working. Low refrigerant means the system can't absorb enough heat from the house, and that's a leak a contractor has to find and repair. With Tucson summer afternoons averaging 99°F, a system that's running without cooling needs attention quickly.