FAQ
If the heat pump is on but the air feels cold, run these five checks before you request a visit. Some of it is normal heat pump behavior — some of it isn't.
Smell gas? Leave the house right away without touching switches or the thermostat, and call your gas utility from outside. Once it's safe, request a visit for repairs.
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 AM–5 PM · Emergency available
1
Make sure the thermostat is on Heat, not Cool or Auto, and the fan is on Auto, not On. With the fan on On, the blower keeps running between heating cycles and pushes room-temperature air that feels cold.
2
In cold, damp weather the outdoor coil frosts up, and the heat pump switches into defrost for a few minutes to melt it. You may see steam coming off the outdoor unit and feel cooler air inside. That is normal. If it goes back to warm air on its own, nothing is wrong.
3
Heat pump air is warm, not furnace-hot. Held against your hand at the register, it can feel cool even while it is heating the house. If the house is holding temperature, it's working. If the house keeps losing ground, request a visit.
4
Keep snow, ice, and leaves off and around the outdoor unit. A unit buried in a drift or encased in ice can't pull heat from the air. Brush snow away gently. Do not chip ice off the coil or pour hot water on it.
5
A clogged filter cuts airflow. Swap it if you have a spare. Then check the breakers for the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, and the outdoor disconnect. Reset a tripped breaker once. If it trips again, shut it down and request a visit.
Heat pumps, cold-climate systems, and dual-fuel setups are all on the services page. Filters are in the DIY shop.
The most common reasons are the thermostat set to Cool, Auto, or fan On; a normal defrost cycle; or air that is warm but cooler than a furnace would make. Real problems include an outdoor unit blocked by snow or ice, a clogged filter, a tripped breaker, low refrigerant, or a stuck reversing valve. The first ones you can check yourself. Refrigerant and valves are a service call.
Yes. During defrost the heat pump briefly reverses to melt frost off the outdoor coil. You may see steam outside and feel cooler air for a few minutes. If the unit stays in defrost, ices over solid, or never goes back to warm air, request a visit.
Cold-climate heat pumps are built to keep heating well below freezing, and dual-fuel systems hand off to a gas furnace on the coldest nights. Older standard heat pumps lose capacity as it gets colder and lean on backup heat. We service both.
Aux heat is backup heat — electric strips or a gas furnace — that helps the heat pump when it can't keep up or is defrosting. If your thermostat has an Emergency Heat setting, it can keep the house warm while you wait for a visit. It costs more to run, so it's a stopgap, not a fix.
Smell gas? Leave the house right away without touching switches or the thermostat, and call your gas utility from outside. Once it's safe, request a visit for repairs.
We diagnose first, then give a plain-language finding. Repair happens only with the homeowner's OK.
Only if the one you have is actually done. We repair first. If replacement is the honest path, you'll get numbers and time to think.
HVAC System Repair serves Thornton, Aurora, Arvada, Westminster, Broomfield, Superior, Firestone, Brighton, Lakewood, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Parker, Littleton, Englewood, Commerce City, and the North Denver metro north of 136th Avenue and I-25 — plus the wider Denver metro and Front Range. If your zip isn't listed, send it anyway.
Monday–Friday, 8 AM–5 PM. Emergency service is available — call for service.
