A heat pump that won’t stay on and complete its cycle can be a source of endless frustration to homeowners in Palm Bay, FL. If you’re unfortunate enough to see this kind of bizarre behavior from your system, you’re bound to wonder about its causes. Let’s shed some light on this and explain why your heat pump may be short-cycling.
Improper Size for Your Home
If your heat pump is the wrong size for your home — particularly if it’s too large — it may begin cycling quite frequently. It’ll do this because its size makes it far too powerful to need for the duration of an ordinary heating cycle to warm your home. The solution to this problem is to replace your old system with a new heat pump installation.
Dirty Air Filters
If you haven’t changed your air filters in a while, you can be sure that they will have accumulated a significant amount of debris. This debris can prevent your heat pump from properly circulating air and distributing it around your home. This can hamper the system’s ability to perform heat transfer.
Dirty air filters can lead to short-cycling if the lack of airflow forces warm air to stay in the system, overheats it and shuts it off. Conversely, it can also prevent the system from turning off altogether. That’s because the lack of airflow may prevent it from changing indoor temperatures and force your thermostat to send it into overdrive. In any case, always be sure to change your filters once every three months.
Lack of Refrigerant
Refrigerant is indispensable for heat transfer. If any of it leaks out, your system won’t be able to perform this process well. This may cause it to keep turning on and off.
Short-cycling always points to trouble in a heat pump. Call Merritt Island Air & Heat to schedule heat pump services. By doing so, you’ll take a significant step toward protecting your comfort and preserving your system.
Image provided by iStock
