Heat pump and heating service in Tampa Bay

Cold air in January, strip heat on the bill, a heat pump that will not switch over: independent local AC contractors in Hillsborough or Pinellas.

Call 813-522-6238 Request a call back

Heating in Tampa Bay is a few weeks a year and it is almost always the same machine that cools the house: a heat pump, with electric strip heat as backup. The nights that drop into the 30s are exactly when a heat pump's defrost cycle, a stuck reversing valve, or a burned-out heat strip shows up, and when the bill shows what strip heat costs.

Call and get connected with an independent local air-conditioning contractor who serves your part of Hillsborough or Pinellas. Say whether the system blows cold, runs but never warms the house, or trips a breaker; a call connects you to the contractor directly and the form gets you a call back to schedule the visit.

What heating looks like here

Heat pumps: the standard system in the 1990s and newer subdivisions (New Tampa, Riverview, Brandon) and in most replacements. In cooling mode it is an air conditioner; in heating it reverses. Roughly below the upper 30s °F, depending on the system, it leans on the strip heat.
Strip heat only (an air conditioner with electric resistance heat): common in 1960s–80s houses in Pinellas Park, Largo, and Carrollwood. It works, and it costs several times what a heat pump costs to run, which is why Duke Energy's largest rebate tier is for replacing strip heat with a heat pump.
Gas furnaces paired with straight-cool AC: rarer, mostly in older Tampa neighborhoods with gas service; Tampa Electric's rebate covers a straight-cool system paired with a new natural-gas furnace.

The usual January calls

Cold air from the vents on a cold morning: the heat pump is in defrost (normal for a few minutes) or the reversing valve is stuck (a repair).
The house never warms up: heat strips burned out, a failed sequencer, or a thermostat wired for the wrong system after a replacement.
A breaker trips when the heat comes on: strip heat draws far more than cooling does, and a weak breaker or a loose connection fails under it. Leave it off and call.
A smell of burning dust the first cold night: normal for a few minutes on the strips; a smell that persists is not.

Replacing with a heat pump

If the house is on strip heat and the AC is due anyway, a heat pump replacement is the same job with a different outdoor unit. Duke Energy pays two tiers for it (SEER2 15.2 and SEER2 16, both with HSPF2 7.5) after a Duke Home Energy Check (Duke does not charge for it); Tampa Electric's tiers are SEER2 15.2 and 16.2. Ask that it be sized for cooling, which is the bigger load here, and the same permit and refrigerant rules as any replacement apply.

Have this ready when you call

Whether the system is a heat pump, strip heat only, or gas
What it does when you call for heat: cold air, no air, trips the breaker
The age of the equipment
Your utility, and for Duke, whether you have had a Home Energy Check

Verify the license

Ask for the license number and check it before you sign. A certified air-conditioning contractor begins with CAC; a registered one with RA; mechanical contractors with CMC or RM.

Want a contractor to look at the system?

Call or send the form. An independent local air-conditioning contractor who serves your area contacts you to schedule the visit.

Call 813-522-6238 Request a call back

Tampa Bay Cooling Line connects homeowners with independent local air-conditioning contractors. We are not an air-conditioning contractor. Service availability, pricing, and timing are determined by the contractor.