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The reversing valve and refrigerant circuit on a heat pump carry the load of every heating cycle from October through May. Homes in Pueblo County, CO run heat about eight months a year, from October through May. Cold outdoor air pushes the refrigerant system hardest, because the heat pump is pulling warmth from air that has little to give, which means longer run cycles and more stress on the compressor. A contractor diagnosing a repair here pulls that component history before quoting anything else, because worn refrigerant-side parts account for failures that a visual inspection of the cabinet will not surface.
Stock this old has been through enough ownership changes and piecemeal fixes that what is inside a heat pump unit can differ sharply from what the nameplate suggests. Half the homes in Pueblo County, Colorado were built in 1974 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year). That history matters for repair because a contractor who opens the system may find a compressor or reversing valve from a production run that current distributors no longer stock, which changes what the repair costs and whether a direct replacement is even available. Sourcing drives the job more than the diagnosis does.
The Parts of a Heat Pump a Contractor Checks First
The outdoor unit is the piece most homeowners recognize, and it is where a contractor often starts. Inside that cabinet sit the compressor and the condenser coil, both of which handle the pressure and heat exchange that drive the whole system. When either one fails, the unit may run without moving useful heat anywhere.
Inside the house, the air handler holds the evaporator coil and the blower fan, which pull heat from indoor air and push conditioned air into the living space. A reversing valve, usually tucked inside the outdoor cabinet, switches the system between heating and cooling modes and is a common point of failure when a heat pump heats in one season but not the other. The refrigerant lines connecting both units carry the working fluid between them, and a leak along those lines will undercut whatever the other components are doing.
The drawing shows the general layout of a heat pump system, and a licensed contractor determines which parts and conditions apply to your particular house.
Get matched in Pueblo CountyPueblo County, by the numbers
552 severe weather events were recorded in Pueblo County, Colorado 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 Pueblo County, Colorado were built in 1974 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesPueblo County, Colorado holds 73,646 housing units (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesOwners occupy 68.9% of the occupied homes in Pueblo County, Colorado (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesWeather Stress on HVAC Equipment in Pueblo County
Extreme weather events put direct load on heat pump systems, forcing them to run harder and longer to hold indoor temperatures. How often that happens here shapes how quickly components wear and how often repair needs come up.
552 severe weather events, 2015–2024. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database.