Heat Pump Repair in Florence, SC
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 Florence County will get in touch.
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Ten months of work a year in Florence County
Your heat pump runs November through March to keep the house warm, then switches over and runs May through September to keep it cool. That is ten months where the system does not get to rest. Winter nights averaging 36°F do not push it as hard as a true cold snap would, but it still cycles on night after night, and summer afternoons near 90°F push it just as hard the other way.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so the heat pump is not backup equipment, it is the main source of heat. When it goes down in December, there is no furnace to fall back on. Florence County has logged 97 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and outages follow storms like that. Almost half of South Carolina households lost power for a day or more in 2024. A heat pump that was already struggling can fail to restart cleanly once the power comes back on.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 36°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- In heating mode, a heat pump warms air by a smaller amount than a furnace does, so the air from the vents feels mild rather than hot even when the system is working right. If the air feels cold instead of just mild, check that the thermostat is set to heat and not fan only, since fan only just moves air without running the system. If it's already set to heat and the air still feels cold, the reversing valve may be stuck in cooling position, or the refrigerant charge may be low. A contractor needs gauges to check refrigerant level, since that's not something you can tell by feel.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Some frost on the outdoor unit during cold weather is normal. Your heat pump runs a defrost cycle on its own, reversing briefly to melt that frost off the coil before switching back to heating. Heavy ice that doesn't clear, or ice building up around the base or fan, means the defrost cycle isn't doing its job. That points to a defrost control board that isn't triggering the cycle, a failed sensor, or a fan motor that's slowed down and not pulling enough air across the coil. A contractor needs to test the board and sensors to find which one is failing.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- If the outdoor unit and indoor fan are both running but the air coming out isn't cool, the most common cause is low refrigerant from a leak in the line or coil. A dirty outdoor coil covered in dirt or grass clippings can also block heat transfer enough that the system can't cool properly, especially on afternoons here that reach 90°F. Check first that the outdoor unit isn't buried in debris or blocked by plants, since that's something you can see yourself. If it's clear and the air still isn't cooling, a contractor needs to check the refrigerant charge and pressures to find the actual cause.