Heat pump repair and replacement in Kyle, TX

How common heat pumps are here

About 51% of Kyle households heat with electricity (Census ACS 2020–2024). In a Central Texas house that means either a heat pump or an air handler with electric heat strips and a plain AC outside. The data plate on the outdoor unit settles which: a heat pump lists heating capacity and has a reversing valve; a plain condenser does not. Know which one you have before you call.

What a technician checks

In cooling season the checks match an AC: thermostat, filter and airflow, the capacitor and contactor, refrigerant pressures and the temperature drop across the coil.

In heating season a technician adds the heat pump's own parts: the reversing valve that switches modes, the defrost control and its sensor, and the auxiliary heat strips in the air handler, each on its own breaker or sequencer. A heat pump that blows lukewarm air in a cold snap may be working as designed; one that never leaves auxiliary heat is not.

Winter here is short and sharp

The NOAA 1991–2020 normals for San Marcos show about 20 nights a year at or below 32°F, most in December through February, with a January average low near 39°F. On mild winter days a heat pump carries the house alone. On the hard nights it leans on its strips, and a system with a failed defrost board or a stuck reversing valve shows it then, usually all at once.

Repair or replace

A capacitor, contactor, defrost sensor, fan motor or strip heater element is a repair. A failed compressor or reversing valve, or a refrigerant leak in the outdoor coil of an older system, opens the replacement question. Heat pumps installed before about 2010 often run on R-22, which has not been produced since 2020. Since January 2025, new heat pumps ship with R-454B or R-32 rather than R-410A, so replacing one half of an R-410A system with new equipment usually means replacing the attic coil too.

What to have ready when you call

• Whether it is a heat pump or a plain AC with heat strips, from the outdoor data plate
• What the thermostat shows: "aux heat", "emergency heat", or neither
• The setting and the indoor reading
• The install year and the refrigerant on the data plate
• Your address and ZIP code, and attic access for the air handler

Common questions

Steam is coming off the outdoor unit in winter. That is usually the defrost cycle, and it should stop within several minutes. A unit that stays white with ice is another matter: see iced-over heat pump.

Should I switch to emergency heat? Only as a stopgap when the outdoor unit has clearly failed. It runs the house on electric strips alone, which is the most expensive way to heat it. Call rather than leave it there.

Is the contractor licensed? Ask for the TDLR license number and look it up before work starts.