Heat Pump Repair in Bay St. Louis, MS
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 Hancock County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Your heat pump works almost every month of the year here
In Bay St. Louis your heat pump does not get much rest. It runs from November through March to keep the house warm, then switches over and runs April through October to keep it cool. That is close to twelve months of work a year, with only brief breaks in between.
Winter nights average 43°F, which is mild enough that the system leans on it night after night rather than sitting idle. Summer afternoons average 90°F, and that heat pushes the compressor hard for most of the day, all season long. The switch between heating and cooling, over and over, wears on the reversing valve, and a valve that sticks will leave you with heat when you want cooling or cooling when you want heat. On top of that, this county has seen 20 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storm damage to the outdoor unit or its power supply is a real risk here. With almost a third of Mississippi households losing power for a day or more last year, a heat pump that will not come back on after an outage is a common call.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 7 months
- April through October, it cools
- 43°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state tests contractors before they get this license and keeps a record of who holds one. It applies to the contractor, not to each job they take on, so the license is what's on file for the business doing the work, not something issued fresh for your repair.
For a heat pump repair, the part of the job that reaches beyond that license is the refrigerant. Anyone who opens the refrigerant side of your system, in Mississippi or any other state, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal requirement, separate from the state license, and it applies to whoever actually handles the refrigerant lines on your unit.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Why is my heat pump blowing cold air?
- In heating mode, a heat pump moves warm air at a lower temperature than a furnace does, so the air from the vents can feel cool even when it is working right. If the air feels genuinely cold, not just cool, the system may be stuck in defrost mode, low on refrigerant, or blowing before the indoor coil has warmed up. A thermostat set to "emergency heat" with no real fault can also leave you running backup heat that is not keeping up. A contractor can check refrigerant charge and defrost operation to find out which it is.
- Why is there ice on my heat pump?
- Some frost on the outdoor unit in winter is normal, and the heat pump should clear it on its own through a defrost cycle. Ice that stays or builds up thick usually means airflow is blocked, refrigerant is low, or the defrost control has failed. Check first that nothing is stacked around the outdoor unit and that the coil fins are not packed with debris. If the ice keeps coming back after that, the refrigerant charge or the defrost board likely needs a contractor's attention.
- Why is my heat pump running but not cooling?
- When the unit runs but the air is not cold, the most common causes are a dirty filter choking airflow, a blocked outdoor coil, or refrigerant that has leaked out. With summer afternoons here reaching 90°F, a system already low on refrigerant will struggle even more to keep up. Check the filter first, since that is something you can do yourself. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear of debris, a contractor will need to check the refrigerant charge, since opening that side of the system legally requires EPA Section 608 certification.