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A contractor quoting a heat pump repair in Union County has to establish how hard the system has been running in heating mode before they can say which component failed and which ones are close behind it. Homes in Union County, SC run heat about five months a year, from November through March. That kind of sustained heating demand puts repetitive mechanical stress on the reversing valve, which switches direction every time the system cycles, and on the compressor, which is doing its hardest work when outdoor temperatures drop. Cold-weather operation is where heat pump compressors labor most, and wear builds there in ways that only open the equipment reveals. A refrigerant charge that looks marginal in warmer weather reads as an active problem once a contractor checks it against real heating load.
Ductwork laid in houses of this vintage was sized for equipment that no longer exists in them, and the refrigerant lines running alongside it reflect the same history. Half the homes in Union County, South Carolina were built in 1972 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year). When a heat pump fails and a contractor opens it, what they find depends on every repair and adaptation that came before, and parts for a system at this stage of its service life are not always still made. That gap between what the house was built with and what eventually ended up running in it is where the repair scope gets decided.
The Parts of a Heat Pump a Contractor Checks First
The outdoor unit is the piece most homeowners recognize, sitting on a concrete pad beside the house. It holds the compressor, which is the heart of the system, and the outdoor coil. When either of those fails, the unit may run without moving heat, or stop running altogether. The compressor is usually the first place a contractor looks.
Inside the house, the air handler sits in a closet, attic, or utility space and holds the indoor coil and the blower. The reversing valve, which tells the system whether to heat or cool, lives in the outdoor unit. A refrigerant line set runs between the two units, and a problem anywhere along that path shows up as poor performance at both ends.
The drawing shows a typical layout, and a licensed contractor determines which components apply to your specific house and situation.
Get matched in Union CountyUnion County, SC, by the numbers
73 severe weather events were recorded in Union County, South Carolina between 2015 and 2024.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, bulk CSV export, events 2015-01-01 through 2024-12-31.Half the homes in Union County, South Carolina were built in 1972 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesUnion County, South Carolina holds 13,527 housing units (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesOwners occupy 71.3% of the occupied homes in Union County, South Carolina (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesCodes & Standards Covering Heat Pump Repair in Union County, South Carolina1 sourced rules & standards
Contractor Rules in Union County, South Carolina
South Carolina requires a mechanical contractor license for contracting work whose total cost of construction is greater than ten thousand dollars.
Severe Weather Events in Union County
Weather puts load on heat pumps. How hard a unit works over its life, and how often it gets pushed to its limits, is a local fact shaped by local conditions.
73 severe weather events, 2015–2024. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database.