Blowing cold air? Iced up outside? Not keeping up on a cold night? A heat pump is a system you diagnose with instruments, not guesses. We measure charge, airflow, and defrost before we touch a part.
Updated June 2026 • Written by the team at Anderson Heating, Air & Insulation, serving Calhoun since 1978 🐾
A heat pump moves heat instead of burning fuel, so its warm air feels cooler than a furnace even when it's working. Truly cold air or a unit that won't keep up usually means a low refrigerant charge, a stuck reversing valve, a defrost problem, leaky or undersized ducts, or auxiliary heat not engaging. Some icing and cold air is just normal defrost. The only honest way to tell the difference is to measure pressures, temperatures, and airflow — which is exactly what Anderson does.
A heat pump is an air conditioner that can run in reverse. In summer it pulls heat out of your house; in winter it pulls heat out of the cold outdoor air and brings it inside. That's why its warm air feels milder than a gas furnace's — and why it has parts an AC-only system doesn't: a reversing valve to switch modes, defrost controls to melt winter frost off the outdoor coil, and usually auxiliary heat strips for the coldest snaps. Diagnose a heat pump like a plain AC and you'll miss half of what can go wrong.
A light frost on the outdoor coil in cold, damp Gordon County weather is normal — the unit runs a defrost cycle to clear it. A heat pump encased in solid ice, or one that never defrosts, is not. Causes range from a failed defrost sensor to a low charge, restricted airflow, or poor drainage at the base. Because we measure charge and airflow, we can separate harmless defrost from a fault worth fixing.
North Georgia winters are well within a properly sized, correctly charged heat pump's comfort range, and modern units handle the cold far better than old ones. A heat pump that 'can't keep up' is almost always low on charge, starved by leaky or undersized ducts, or mis-sized — all measurable. We can also tune the auxiliary heat so it kicks in only when truly needed, keeping you warm without burning money on the strips.
Anderson is a building-science company with six blower doors and six duct blasters. Most shops own zero. That's how we prove whether a struggling heat pump is the equipment or the ductwork leaking your heat into the attic — and repair first, replacing only when the numbers say so.
We'll measure the real cause — charge, airflow, defrost — and quote the actual repair before any work starts.
Call (706) 629-0749A heat pump's warm air is naturally cooler than a furnace's. Truly cold air usually means a low charge, a stuck reversing valve, a long/stuck defrost cycle, or auxiliary heat not engaging — though some cold air is just normal defrost. We measure pressures and temperatures to tell the difference instead of guessing.
Light frost in cold, damp weather is normal — the unit runs a defrost cycle to melt it. Solid ice or a unit that never defrosts is not: a failed defrost control, low charge, restricted airflow, or poor drainage. We measure charge and airflow to tell harmless defrost from a real fault.
Yes — North Georgia winters are well within a properly sized, correctly charged heat pump's range, and modern units handle cold far better than old ones. A heat pump that 'can't keep up' is usually low on charge, starved by leaky ducts, or mis-sized — all measurable. We can also tune the aux heat so it only runs when truly needed.
It overlaps but adds a winter layer — a heat pump shares the same refrigerant, coil, and airflow fundamentals as an AC, but adds a reversing valve, defrost controls, and often auxiliary heat. We measure charge and airflow and check those heat-mode parts, and our six blower doors and six duct blasters let us prove whether the problem is the equipment or the ducts.