Heat Pump Repair in New Orleans, LA
Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from April through October. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Orleans Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Your heat pump runs almost all year here
In Orleans Parish your heat pump works nearly twelve months out of the year, cooling from April through October and switching over to heat from November through March. Summer afternoons averaging 90°F push the outdoor unit hard for seven straight months, and it barely gets a rest before winter nights averaging 46°F put it back into heating mode. That much runtime wears on the compressor and the outdoor fan motor faster than in places where the system gets real time off.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so when the heat pump struggles, there is no backup furnace quietly picking up the slack. And with storms knocking out power to about half of Louisiana households at some point in 2024, a heat pump that was already struggling before an outage often will not restart cleanly once power comes back. You may notice the system running longer than it used to, blowing air that is not quite warm or cool enough, or not coming back on at all after the lights flicker.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 46°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Louisiana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors tests and records the contractor, not the individual job. That license stays with the business, so it is worth knowing the contractor in front of you is the one the state actually vetted, not just a crew sent out under someone else's name.
A heat pump repair almost always means opening the refrigerant side, whether that's checking charge or fixing a leak. Federal law requires whoever does that to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what state they work in. Louisiana's license covers the business. The EPA card covers the person handling the refrigerant in your system.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- In winter this usually means the system is stuck in defrost or has switched over to backup heat that hasn't kicked in yet. A heat pump also puts out air that feels cooler than a furnace would, closer to body temperature, so what feels cold may actually be working fine. If the air stays cold for more than a few minutes or never warms up at all, the reversing valve may be stuck, and that calls for a contractor licensed through the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors to look at it.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Some frost during a winter defrost cycle is normal, especially on those 46°F nights common here from December through February. The unit should clear it on its own within about ten minutes. If ice builds up thick, covers the coil, or never melts off, that points to low refrigerant or a fan that isn't moving enough air, and only a technician with EPA Section 608 certification can open the refrigerant side to check.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- If the outdoor unit is running but the air inside isn't cooling, check the filter first since a clogged one chokes off airflow across the coil. Next check the outdoor coil for dirt or debris, since summer afternoons here run near 90°F and the system depends on that coil to shed heat. If both look clear and it's still not cooling, the refrigerant charge is likely off, and that repair needs a licensed contractor to diagnose.