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Heating & Cooling · MaintenanceHeat Pump Maintenance & Tune-Up
Heat pump maintenance and tune-up visits come in pairs: one in spring to prove cooling mode and one in fall to prove heating mode, defrost and backup heat, because a heat pump works in both seasons. Each visit takes 45–90 minutes, and a standalone tune-up runs $120–$250.
A furnace rests from May to September and an air conditioner sleeps all winter, so each gets one check a year. A heat pump gets no off-season: the compressor, outdoor fan and coil that cooled the house in July are pulling heat out of −10°C air in January. That is the logic of the twice-a-year schedule, with a cooling check before the first humid week and a heating check before the first frost.
The fall visit is where the heat-pump-only tests happen. The technician forces a defrost cycle and watches it run: the reversing valve shifts, the outdoor fan stops, the backup heat tempers the supply air, and the coil sensor ends the cycle once the coil is clear. Then the auxiliary heat is staged on, each electric strip is checked for amp draw, and the lockout temperatures in the thermostat are read back. Strips that are allowed to run at +5°C are a common reason for a high winter bill, and the setting is corrected in a minute.
Refrigerant charge is verified in both modes, since a system can cool well enough in July and still come up short in January. In cooling, superheat and subcooling are compared against the manufacturer's targets; in heating, the readings go against the manufacturer's heating chart, and on inverter models with no published field method they are logged as a baseline and charge is only corrected by weighing it in. Connecting gauges takes an ODP card, and the tune-up price does not include refrigerant. A low reading means a leak to find, which is heat pump repair, not maintenance.
Winter care of the outdoor unit is the part owners can share. Defrost meltwater has to leave through the drain holes in the base pan; when leaves or silt plug them, the water refreezes and ice climbs into the bottom rows of the coil and then the fan blades. At the fall visit we clear the pan, test the base-pan heater where the model has one, rinse the coil from the inside out, and check that the stand keeps the unit above drifting snow and out of the roof drip line. Between visits, keep about half a metre clear around the cabinet and brush snow off instead of chipping at ice; what to do when a heat pump is covered in snow has the safe steps.
What a heat pump tune-up checks that an AC tune-up skips
- A forced defrost cycle, timed from start to termination, with the coil sensor reading recorded
- Reversing-valve shift in both directions, and the resistance of its solenoid coil
- Auxiliary heat: the amp draw of each strip stage, or the furnace changeover on a hybrid system
- Thermostat lockout settings, meaning the outdoor temperature above which backup heat is blocked
- Base-pan drain holes, pan heater, crankcase heater and the clearance under the unit for snow
How it works
Booked for April or May. Coil rinsed, condensate drain cleared, capacitor and contactor tested, charge verified in cooling mode and the temperature drop across the indoor coil recorded.
Booked for September or October, ahead of the first frost. Defrost forced and timed, reversing valve shifted, backup heat staged, lockout temperatures confirmed and the base pan cleared for winter.
You get the numbers from both visits side by side, so a drifting charge or a slowing defrost shows up as a trend instead of a January breakdown. To set up the pair of visits, book a heat pump tune-up.
Brands: We maintain ducted and ductless heat pumps from Mitsubishi, Daikin, Fujitsu, Lennox, Carrier, Goodman, Bosch and other major brands, whoever installed them.
Common questions
How often should a heat pump be serviced in Ontario?
Twice a year: once in spring before cooling season and once in fall before heating season. A hybrid system with a gas furnace still needs both, and the fall visit then covers the furnace's combustion check as well. A heat pump used only for cooling, with a furnace doing all the heating, can be treated like an air conditioner and seen once each spring.
How much does a heat pump tune-up cost?
A standalone visit runs $120–$250, and a maintenance plan that includes both seasonal visits is $150–$350 per year, so the plan is usually the cheaper way to buy two checks. The full breakdown, including what changes the price for ductless multi-zone systems, is in how much heat pump maintenance costs.
What can I do myself between visits?
Change or wash the indoor filter every one to three months, keep shrubs, leaves and stored items about half a metre back from the outdoor unit, and clear drifted snow after a storm. Do not pour hot water on the coil or chip ice with a tool. Gauges, electrical tests and anything behind a panel stay with a licensed technician.
Does a ductless heat pump need the same maintenance?
Yes, plus one extra job. The outdoor unit gets the same defrost, charge and base-pan checks, and each indoor head needs its screens washed and its drain line cleared. Every few years the blower wheel inside the head needs a deep clean, which is a separate service: see mini-split cleaning.
My heat pump is only two years old. Can maintenance wait?
The early years are when installation faults show up: a lockout temperature left at the factory default, a stand set too low for snow, a slow leak at a flare joint. Some manufacturers' warranty terms also ask for documented maintenance, so check your registration paperwork. A recorded baseline in year one makes every later reading easier to judge.