Heat Pump Repair in Little Rock, AR
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 Pulaski County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of work a year on your heat pump
Your heat pump runs from November through March to keep the house warm, then switches over and runs May through September to keep it cool. That is ten months out of the year with only a short break in spring and fall. Winter nights average 33°F here, cold enough that the heat pump leans on its reversing valve and defrost cycle to keep from icing up outside. Summer afternoons average 91°F, and that heat keeps the compressor working hard for months at a stretch.
All that switching between heating and cooling wears on the reversing valve first, and a valve that sticks can leave you with cool air when you need heat, or warm air when you need cooling. Pulaski County also sees its share of wind and winter storms, and the outdoor unit sits outside through all of it. A power interruption during a storm can trip the system's safety controls, and if it does not come back on and start conditioning air like it should, that is usually why.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 33°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Arkansas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is issued to the contractor, not to each job, and it is the state that tests for it and keeps the record. Because Arkansas licenses at the state level, no county or city here, including Pulaski County, can add its own license requirement on top of it.
For a heat pump repair, that state license is what stands behind the person doing the work. Heat pumps move refrigerant, so if the repair opens that side of the system, the technician also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement that applies in every state. The license covers the contractor. The federal certification covers the refrigerant handling.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- A heat pump moving cool air on a cold day usually means it's stuck in defrost or the outdoor unit isn't running. During defrost, the system pauses heating for a few minutes to melt frost off the outdoor coil, and air from the vents will feel cool until it switches back. If that cool air keeps blowing well past a few minutes, or the outdoor unit is frozen and not cycling on, the reversing valve or the outdoor fan motor may have failed. A licensed contractor can test which one it is.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Some frost on the outdoor coil during winter is normal, and the system clears it on its own through regular defrost cycles. Thick ice that builds up and stays, especially covering the coil or the base of the unit, points to a problem. Low refrigerant, a failing defrost control, or an outdoor fan that isn't turning all stop the unit from melting that frost off. With winter lows here averaging 33°F, the outdoor unit runs its defrost cycle often, so a control or sensor that's failed will show up fast as ice that never clears.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- If the outdoor and indoor units are both running but the air coming out isn't cold, the system likely can't move heat out of the house the way it should. A dirty air filter or blocked return can restrict airflow enough that the coil freezes and stops cooling. Low refrigerant from a leak has the same effect, and so does a failing compressor, which won't show up just by listening to it run. On a 91°F afternoon here, any of these will mean the house stops keeping up fast, so it's worth having a contractor check refrigerant charge and airflow rather than waiting it out.