Heat Pump Repair in Newport News, VA
Homes here need heat from November through April and cooling from May through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Newport News will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Newport News asks a heat pump to work almost year round
Your heat pump runs eleven months out of the year here, heating from November through April and cooling from May through September. That kind of run time adds up on the parts that cycle every time it starts, the contactor and the compressor especially.
Winter nights average 33°F, mild enough that the heat pump can carry the house without leaning on backup heat as often as it would somewhere colder. Summer afternoons average 87°F, which keeps the compressor working hard for five straight months. The outdoor unit also sits through wind, 31 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, and a bent fin or loose panel from one of those storms can turn into a refrigerant leak or a vibration that wears out a part months later.
- 6 months
- November through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 33°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Virginia's license is issued to the contractor's business, not to each job it does, so the same license covers this repair and every other job that company takes on. Work under $1,000 falls outside that requirement, so a small heat pump repair can legally be done without a licensed contractor if the bill stays under that line.
A heat pump repair usually means opening the refrigerant side of the system, and that work needs EPA Section 608 certification no matter what state you're in. That certification is federal, separate from Virginia's license, and it's what confirms a technician is trained to handle refrigerant safely. Between the two, a licensed Virginia contractor whose technicians hold that federal certification covers both what the state checks and what the job itself requires.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- In winter, a heat pump moves heat from the outside air, so the air coming out of your vents is warm compared to outside but still cooler than your skin. That can feel like cold air even when the system is working right. If the air is actually cold, not just cool, check that the thermostat is set to heat and not fan only. A dirty filter or a unit stuck in defrost mode can also leave you with cold air blowing, and a contractor can tell which one you're dealing with.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Some frost on the outdoor unit in winter is normal. Heat pumps run a defrost cycle to melt it off on their own every so often. Thick ice that does not go away, or ice building up on the coil during summer cooling, points to a real problem. That can mean low refrigerant, a fan that is not moving air across the coil, or a dirty coil, and any of those needs a licensed contractor to check the refrigerant side.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- This usually means air is not moving through the system the way it should, or the refrigerant charge is off. Start with the filter. A clogged filter chokes off airflow across the coil and the system will run without cooling the house. If the filter is clean, the outdoor unit could be blocked by leaves or debris, or the system could be low on refrigerant, and diagnosing that means opening the refrigerant side, which by federal law takes a technician with EPA Section 608 certification.