Why Does My Heat Pump Blow Hot Air in Cooling Mode in Leland, NC?

Though your heat pump has the power to both heat and cool your Leland, NC home, during the summer, it works hard to keep it cool. If it expels hot air into your home at this time, something has clearly gone wrong with it. Here are a few reasons why your heat pump may have started blowing out hot air while in cooling mode.

Dirty or Malfunctioning Coils

As air passes over your heat pump’s coils, the refrigerant sitting in them should absorb the heat from the air. If debris covers the coils and prevents them from making contact with the air, however, this process will not begin, possibly leading your system to produce hot air. During a regular round of maintenance, HVAC technicians can clean dust and dirt off the coils.

A Faulty Compressor

The purpose of your heat pump’s compressor is to heat and pressurize refrigerant into a condensable state. If the compressor malfunctions, your system will not be able to perform heat transfer and may fail to generate sufficient quantities of cool air. It may end up producing hot air instead.

Broken Reversing Valve

To switch between heating and cooling modes, your heat pump uses a special reversing valve to alter the direction in which refrigerant flows through your system. When your heat pump is in heating mode, the refrigerant should evaporate indoors and condense outdoors. When it’s in cooling mode, the opposite should happen.

However, if the valve should get stuck in the wrong position for any reason, refrigerant will not move in the direction appropriate to your needs, possibly causing your heat pump to expel hot air while ostensibly in cooling mode. To resolve this problem, HVAC technicians will need to either remove whatever obstruction is preventing the valve from switching positions or replace the part altogether.

Your heat pump should only generate hot air while in heating mode. If it starts to do so after entering cooling mode, the situation in your Leland, NC home can swiftly become unbearable. To resolve this problem, call Airmax Heating & Cooling and ask for our heat pump services today.

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