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A contractor diagnosing a heat pump here has to sort out what the equipment has been running against before they can say why a part failed. 202 severe weather events were recorded in Franklin County, Virginia between 2015 and 2024. At that rate, severe weather is a regular condition of operating in this area, not an occasional interruption, and the components that carry the heaviest load in rough conditions, the compressor, the reversing valve, the electrical contacts, are the ones a contractor checks before anything else. A system that has been cycling hard through repeated weather events may show the same symptoms as one that was simply installed poorly, and the repair path for each is different. Contractors working this area know to establish which they are dealing with before they quote a fix.
Repair work on a heat pump goes one of two ways once the unit is opened: the failed part is still in production, or it is not. Half the homes in Franklin County, Virginia were built in 1988 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year). Housing built across that span has been through enough equipment cycles that discontinued compressor models and out-of-production control boards turn up regularly in Franklin County service calls. A contractor opening an older unit here prices the repair against what that specific part actually costs to source, not against a standard parts list.
The Parts of a Heat Pump a Contractor Checks First
The outdoor unit sits on a pad outside the house and holds the compressor and the condenser coil. These are the pieces a contractor reaches first when a heat pump stops heating or cooling. The compressor drives the whole refrigerant circuit, so when it struggles, the system struggles with it.
Inside, the air handler hangs in a closet, attic, or mechanical room and pushes conditioned air through the house. It contains the evaporator coil and the blower motor, both of which a contractor will examine. The reversing valve, which sits inside the outdoor unit, is what lets a heat pump serve both seasons, and it is a common point of failure when a system heats but won't cool, or the reverse.
The drawing shows a general layout of these components, and a licensed contractor determines which parts apply to your specific setup.
Get matched in Franklin CountyFranklin County, Virginia, by the numbers
202 severe weather events were recorded in Franklin County, Virginia 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 Franklin County, Virginia were built in 1988 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesFranklin County, Virginia holds 28,408 housing units (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesOwners occupy 78.5% of the occupied homes in Franklin County, Virginia (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesCodes & Standards Governing Heat Pump Repair in Franklin County, Virginia2 sourced rules and standards
Licensing and Legal Requirements in Franklin County, Virginia
Virginia’s contractor licence classes start above $1,000: the entry class covers a single contract or project over $1,000 but less than $30,000, or less than $250,000 of work in any 12-month period, with larger classes above that.
Virginia requires a contractor licence: no person may engage in, or offer to engage in, contracting work in the Commonwealth without one.
Severe Weather Events in Franklin County
Extreme weather puts heat pumps under sustained stress, shortening the intervals between repairs and raising the stakes for equipment that was already working hard. How often that pressure arrives is a local question, and the data for Franklin County shapes what repair work here actually looks like.
202 severe weather events, 2015–2024. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database.