Equipment
Heat Pump Cooling After the Ten-Year Mark
What to check on a heat pump that is now a decade old: the outdoor coil, the backup heat, and a slow refrigerant leak.
A heat pump at ten years is not automatically finished. It is at the age when a weak capacitor, a dirty coil, or a slow leak starts to look like 'it just doesn't cool like it used to.'
Cooling mode, specifically
Confirm the thermostat is calling for cool, not a leftover emergency-heat setting. Emergency heat is electric strips. They will run up a bill and they will not tell you the heat pump is idle.
The outdoor coil still has to reject heat in cooling season. Cottonwood, dryer lint, and a deck built too close are the same problem as on a straight air conditioner. Clean airflow first.
Repair or replace
A capacitor, a contactor, a fan motor, and a drain are repairs. A compressor on a leaking coil, in a chassis that is rusted through, is a replacement conversation. Ask for both prices. Age alone is not the quote.
The owner of an independent shop can usually say which one they are looking at. Have the model number ready so the conversation starts with your equipment, not a package.
Ready to call a shop? Find independent AC repair by city.