Heat Pump breaker
 

Heat pump outside unit not coming on. Air coming out of vent is 66 degrees even though thermostat is set at 74. Thinking it may be a breaker issue,. Garage main panel breaker is fine. Are there other breakers in the chain and if so where?

How's old is the house?

Only one breaker.

Check to make sure the condensate drain is not clogged.

The condensate drain is a wise thing to check and easy to correct. Hopefully, that is the problem.

If the inside unit is running but not the outside unit it could be the capacitor in the outside unit. Fairly simple to replace and see if that was the issue if you have a spare available but the OP probably does not.

There is a shutoff switch on the outside near the outside unit. This is required as a safety measure. There should be a small box on the exterior wall that you open and pull the handle on the switch. However, I doubt that is the problem. A bad capacitor is more likely, but usually, the outside fan will run, but the compressor will not.

I have Christmas lights plugged into the outlet by the compressor. They are on but wondering if this could be an issue

I don't think so.

Are you sure the breaker in the main panel is on? It is a 2-step process. You push it all the way to the "off" position and then back to the "on" position. Just a thought.

Thanks- yes I have checked it a couple of times

May have been a filter issue- I pulled the filter and it is now working- trying to find a 19 x 20 x 4 -tough to find also no mention of the MERV on this one- what is typical

A few thoughts:

- I haven't heard of sensors in the blower unit that would shut off the outside unit in the case of low air flow. Plus, if those sensors did exist it makes sense that they would shut off the blower unit too.

- If the filter is dirty enough to block the airflow sufficiently to be a problem then it needed to be changed long ago

- Could it have been cycling the breakers that solved the problem; did you try putting the filter back in? I had a similar problem during the cooling season. Blower fan was running, outside unit was making a soft humming sound, but fan was not running. I cycled the breakers just to see if it would help and it did. (I later replaced the capacitor just in case)

- Amazon has filters in that size. MERV 8 and MERV 11 are typical.

Thanks- AC capacitor replaced last spring ( assuming it is the same for ac and heat )

I use the "Filterbuy" Merv 11 filters from Amazon. The standard filter is Merv 8, but I have found that the Merv 11 filters make the house less dusty and more quiet. You can also buy a filter at ACE Hardware, but it will be a Merv 8.

An HVAC tech up north told me merv 11 is too restrictive and could damage the unit-

In my opinion, that tech is wrong. I get plenty of air flow with Merv 11 filters.