The short answer is “yes.” That’s because sometimes your problem doesn’t come from the geothermal ground loop system at all. Instead, it could be a pesky coil choking the system.
In a geothermal heat pump, there are two main coils. These include the air-side coil and the refrigerant-to-water coil inside the unit.
When either gets dirty, scaled, or out of balance, the entire geothermal unit becomes less efficient. That’s when coil repair services are actually what is needed instead of complete geothermal repair services.
Why geothermal heating systems fail
We’ve pulled up some of our Colonial Plumbing and Heating notes directly from our technicians, and these reasons are what they’ve found to be the most common issues as to why a geothermal heat pump needs to be repaired.
First, dust on the air-side coil acts like a blanket, forcing your compressor to work harder.
Second, and this is on the water side, mineral scale or low flow raises head pressure and trips safeties even though the loop is fine.
Finally, a clogged condensate pan or a sticky TXV are issues that commonly trip safeties.
How Colonial Plumbing and Heating performs coil repair
Colonial Plumbing and Heating Co., Inc. starts with diagnostics to find the issue. The repair process could include a proper coil cleaning, descaling the coaxial heat exchanger when minerals build up, fixing airflow, or replacing a weak capacitor/TXV that’s starving the coil. If the coil is physically damaged or leaking, we’ll quote a replacement.
How to know it’s time to call us
You don’t have to be a plumbing professional to know when you need to call in a professional. Watch for these warning signs:
- Warm air in heat mode
- Ice on refrigerant lines
- Water around the air handler
- A unit that short cycles but never warms the house
Those are classic coil symptoms.
If your geothermal is running but not right, let’s check the coils before you panic about the loop. Book coil repair services with Colonial Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc. Call (804) 526-8415 or schedule online.
