Heating Repair in Brandon, FL

Knowing the type tells you what a failure means, so check before you call.

A heat pump. The outdoor unit runs in winter as well as summer. In colder months, a heat pump pulls heat from the outside air and pumps it into the house. In summer the same machine runs in reverse to cool.

Auxiliary heat. A heat pump may also have auxiliary heat, which means electric resistance strip heat used as a supplement.

A gas furnace. If your home burns gas for heat, say so when you call. ENERGY STAR warns that gas connections that are not working properly are a fire hazard.

Our guide on how to tell if you have a heat pump explains the signs.

Only three things are yours to check on a cold night. None of them needs a tool or an open panel.

1. Thermostat settings. Set the mode to Heat, with the set temperature above the room temperature. Tampa Electric also advises setting a central heating fan to Auto. See our thermostat settings guide.
2. Air filter. ENERGY STAR says to inspect, clean or change the filter in a furnace or heat pump once a month. It warns that a dirty filter can damage equipment and lead to early failure. Our HVAC air filter guide covers sizes and types.
3. Vents, returns and the outdoor unit. Open the supply registers and move furniture or rugs off the return grilles. With the system off, clear leaves and yard debris from around the outdoor unit by hand. Do not cover a heat pump in winter; a Department of Energy-hosted owner guide says it needs airflow to pull heat from outside.

If a breaker for the heating system has tripped, leave it off and call a licensed contractor. Do not open the air handler, the outdoor unit's electrical compartment or a furnace cabinet.

This page uses NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals for its Plant City station, east of Brandon. They describe the climate, not our service records.

A short list of cold nights

The normal low at Plant City is 50.0°F in January, 52.8°F in February and 53.3°F in December. November's normal low is 57.9°F. The station averages about three nights a year at or below 32°F, and about 18 nights at or below 40°F. Nearly all of those freezing nights fall in December, January and February.

Heating degree days, in plain words

A heating degree day is NOAA's tally of how far each day's mean temperature falls below 65°F, added up. Plant City's normals come to about 436 heating degree days a year. About 340 of them land in December through February. The normals record none at all from June through September.

So a Brandon heating system can go the whole summer without being asked to heat. Our guide on when to turn on the heat covers starting it up again.

A diagnosis confirms the cause. These notes come from a heat pump owner guide posted on a U.S. Department of Energy site.

Frost on the outdoor unit on a cold morning

When the outdoor coil drops below 32°F, the guide says, condensation freezes on it. The heat pump then runs a defrost cycle, briefly switching to cooling mode to melt the ice. Fans may stop or slow, and auxiliary heat may come on. The guide says defrost typically takes 5 to 15 minutes. A unit stuck in defrost or covered in ice needs an HVAC professional. Meltwater drips at the unit, so keep it from pooling and refreezing on a walkway. See heat pump defrost mode.

Air that feels warm rather than hot

The guide says heat pumps give a steady, gentle flow of warm air and work best running continuously. Fuel-fired systems deliver hot air in shorter bursts, it says. Mild air from a running heat pump is not, by itself, a fault.

Signs that need a professional

The guide lists these as signs a heat pump is not working properly:

• It is not running at all, or it cycles off and on frequently.
• The house never reaches the temperature set on the thermostat.
• The thermostat shows auxiliary heat constantly.
• Strange smells or excessive noise come from the unit or the ductwork.
• The outdoor or indoor coil is frozen.

For any of these, it advises contacting a qualified HVAC professional. If the smell is of burning, read AC smells like burning and keep the system off.

A higher bill in a cold week

Tampa Electric notes that a cold snap can raise a bill even if the thermostat setting stays the same. The system has to run longer to hold the indoor temperature. A higher bill alone does not prove a fault.

On a heat pump, a large change to the setting can bring on the supplemental heat strip.

Tampa Electric's advice is to adjust a heat pump thermostat by only two degrees at a time. It says that avoids activating the supplemental heat strip. It also suggests the lowest comfortable setting, held constant.

The owner guide on the Department of Energy site agrees on keeping the thermostat steady. It suggests a setback only when the house will be empty for more than a day. It calls auxiliary strip heat costly and inefficient, and says frequent use is a reason to have the unit checked.

If your thermostat has an Emergency Heat setting, our emergency heat guide explains it. Our auxiliary heat guide covers how the strips work.

If you use a portable heater overnight while a repair is arranged, follow the public safety advice.

• The U.S. Fire Administration says to keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet from a space heater.
• It says to turn space heaters off when you leave the room or go to bed.
• Tampa Electric says to choose a heater with an automatic switch that cuts the power if it tips over.
• Tampa Electric also warns against light-duty extension cords, and against using a space heater in the bathroom.

Our guide to space heaters compares the main types.

The checks depend on the heat your home has.

• Heat pump: whether the system is properly charged with refrigerant, any refrigerant leaks, airflow, cleaning the indoor and outdoor coils, and the electrical terminals. The owner guide lists each of these as technician work.
• Auxiliary heat: that the supplemental strips come on only when they are needed.
• Controls: the thermostat settings.
• Electrical: ENERGY STAR's checklist has a contractor tighten electrical connections and measure voltage and current on motors. It says faulty connections can cause unsafe operation.
• Gas furnace: gas connections, gas pressure, burner combustion and the heat exchanger, from the same ENERGY STAR checklist.

Refrigerant is the fluid that carries heat between the indoor and outdoor units. Blume's refrigerant work is done by EPA Section 608 certified technicians, who hold the federal refrigerant-handling credential. You get a written, upfront price before any work starts.

The U.S. Fire Administration advises having heating equipment cleaned and inspected each year by a professional. A heating tune-up before the first cold front is one way to do that.

Brandon has no city government. The U.S. Census Bureau lists it as "Brandon CDP", a census-designated place. The Bureau uses that term for unincorporated communities that do not have a legally defined boundary or an active, functioning governmental structure.

Hillsborough County's Development Services department provides building inspection services for all of unincorporated Hillsborough County. Its permit resources describe repair or replacement of an existing heating or air-conditioning system as a project that can require only a mechanical permit.

The county says that a contractor you hire will obtain all of the necessary permits. Before hiring, it advises confirming that the contractor holds a valid license and is insured to work in Hillsborough County. Our Florida HVAC permit guide covers the state rules.

If the whole house is dark, the problem is power, not heat. Tampa Electric's territory covers Hillsborough County and parts of Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties. Check your bill to confirm which utility serves your address.

With so few cold nights, it is tempting to leave a heating fault until next winter. On a heat pump, that can be a mistake. The same machine cools the house in summer, so a fault found in January is worth a diagnosis before the cooling season.

One failed part is a repair. If the diagnosis finds a larger failure on older equipment, Blume shows repair and replacement side by side and does not sell equipment a home does not need. Replacement equipment is sized with an ACCA Manual J load calculation and Manual S selection. Financing is available through Synchrony Bank.

For heat pump faults in more depth, see heat pump repair in Brandon. For the bigger decision, read when to replace a heat pump.

Blume Mechanical Service, LLC is a Class A licensed Florida air conditioning contractor (license CAC-1822618) and is fully insured. We are brand-agnostic and service all major manufacturers' equipment. Our office is at 2840 West Bay Drive #114, Belleair Bluffs, FL 33770. Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties make up our core service area. A person answers the 24/7 dispatch line.

What to have ready when you call

• Whether the outdoor unit runs when the thermostat is set to Heat.
• The thermostat mode, the set temperature and the temperature it reads.
• Whether the thermostat shows auxiliary or emergency heat.
• Whether a breaker has tripped.
• Any frost or ice on the outdoor unit, and any smell or new noise.
• Whether your home heats with gas.
• When the heat last worked.

More on the area is on our Brandon HVAC page.