Serving the Wasatch Front, Utah · Davis & Salt Lake County
Heat Pump Repair & Maintenance
Because a heat pump works in both seasons, a fault may involve refrigeration, airflow, defrost, controls, auxiliary heat, or the indoor/outdoor equipment. CMB HVAC tests the operating mode and identifies the cause before proposing work.
A heat pump fault hides in twice as many places as an AC fault, because the machine runs in two modes: refrigeration, airflow, defrost controls, the reversing valve, sensors, auxiliary heat, and the duct system are all suspects. The first thing we do is reproduce the problem in the mode it happens — heating or cooling — then work the sequence with meters until the cause is named.
One honest note before you call: air from a heat pump in heating mode typically feels cooler at the registers than furnace air — warm, not hot — while still heating the home normally. 'Feels weak' is not a diagnosis, and we'll test delivered temperature before selling you a repair you don't need.
Heating complaints get diagnosed in heat, cooling complaints in cool — because the fault may only exist in one direction.
We'll show you the difference between normal frost cycles and the abnormal icing that actually needs a repair.
Options in writing before work starts, priced per job — same discipline as every other CMB visit.
All refrigerant work performed by EPA Section 608 certified technicians.
Symptoms split by mode — the same machine misbehaving in two different seasons.
Registers blowing cool-ish in winter can be normal heat-pump output — or a reversing valve, low charge, or aux that never engages. We measure instead of guessing.
Frost melting away on a timer is defrost working; a solid block that never clears is a fault in defrost, charge, or airflow.
Backup heat that never shuts off is expensive — and usually a control, sensor, or balance-point problem rather than a broken machine.
Long run times and rooms that lag point at airflow, charge, or capacity — measured, not assumed.
Twice the modes, twice the suspects — the sequence keeps it honest.
We confirm the call, the mode, and the changeover logic at the thermostat before touching the equipment.
Capacitors, contactors, and motors tested under load in the failing mode — weak starts look different in heat than in cool.
The valve that switches seasons and the thermistors that steer it get verified — stuck valves and drifting sensors mimic bigger failures.
Frost is normal; a unit that can't clear it isn't. We watch the board, sensors, and timer behavior through an actual cycle.
Pressures and temperature split in the active mode tell us about charge and the compressor's real output.
Backup strips or furnace staged correctly, and airflow measured — restricted ducts starve heat pumps faster than they starve furnaces.
Not sure which of these you're describing? Call (385) 865-6749 and we'll help you put it into words.
Heat pump repairs range from a control-board sensor to sealed-system work — the diagnosis, not the symptom, sets the price.
Controls, sensors, and motors are routine repairs; reversing valves and compressors are significant ones. The meter decides which you have.
A fault only present in heating mode may require a cold-morning visit to verify — worth it to fix the real problem once.
Two-stage and variable systems have smarter boards and more settings; reprogramming after a repair is part of doing it right.
Older refrigerant and discontinued parts change the repair-versus-replace conversation, and we'll have it with numbers.
Repairs are quoted flat-rate in writing before work begins, and the service call is free when we do the work. We don't publish a price list because the same symptom can end at a $part that costs ten dollars or a sealed-system job — and we'd rather show you the itemized quote than a range that fits neither.
Your complaint, replicated in the failing mode, then tested down the full sequence until the cause is named.
Flat-rate repair — and replacement comparison when the math is close — explained line by line before work starts.
Failed component replaced or repaired; controls and changeover settings restored to where they belong.
Delivered temperatures, pressures, and amp draws re-measured in heating AND cooling before we pack up.
Utah winters are made for a specific heat-pump misunderstanding: on cold, humid-enough mornings the outdoor coil collects frost, the unit pauses heating to melt it, and a plume of steam rises off the unit while aux heat covers the gap. To a homeowner that's an alarming noise-and-smoke moment; to a technician it's the defrost cycle working exactly as designed. Abnormal icing — ice that never clears, or builds on one side — is the version that needs a visit.
The vocabulary from your quote or invoice, explained — and the anchors for the symptoms above.
The component that decides whether the system heats or cools by redirecting refrigerant flow. A valve stuck in one position turns your heat pump into a very committed air conditioner (or vice versa); one that won't shift reliably causes mode-switching failures. Diagnosis is by measured pressure differential, not by tapping the unit — the old 'give it a whack' trick masks the problem for a week.
Sensors, timer, and board logic that periodically reverse the system to melt frost off the outdoor coil. Normal defrost runs a few minutes, a few times a day in frosty weather, with steam rising off the unit. When sensors drift or the board logic fails, defrost runs too often (cold air at the registers, high bills) or never (a coil that ices into a block). We watch a full cycle before condemning any of the three.
Electric strips — or your furnace in a dual-fuel setup — that supplement the heat pump in deep cold or recovery periods. It's supposed to run in bursts; running all day usually means a control or balance-point problem, a failed sensor, or a thermostat mode nobody chose on purpose. We test the staging end-to-end and reset the changeover logic, because aux heat running unchecked is the most expensive way to heat a Utah home.
The sealed loop that actually moves heat — in both directions. Low charge from a leak shows up as weak performance and abnormal icing in heating mode, not just weak cooling. Repairs start with finding the leak; topping off without repairing it is money spent twice, same as on any refrigerant system.
Book online or call. We'll reproduce the fault in the mode it happens, explain it in plain English, and quote the fix flat-rate.
