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Heating & Cooling · RepairHeat Pump Repair
Heat pump repair for the faults that are specific to heat pumps — reversing valves, defrost boards, outdoor sensors and iced coils — as well as the capacitors, contactors and fan motors they share with air conditioners. Diagnostic visit $90–$150, folded into the repair if you go ahead.
A heat pump that is 'broken' in January is often doing something normal that nobody explained. Steam rising off the outdoor unit and a few minutes of cool air from the vents is the defrost cycle; a coil frosted white on a −10°C morning is expected. What is not normal is a solid block of ice that never clears, a unit that runs constantly without the house warming, or heating mode that has quietly turned into cooling mode. Our guide to the heat pump defrost cycle separates the two.
The parts unique to heat pumps are the ones we see fail. A reversing valve stuck between positions leaves the unit blowing lukewarm in both modes. A defrost control board or a failed outdoor coil sensor means the unit never enters defrost, and in lake-effect snow off Lake Ontario the coil ices over in an afternoon. A cracked condensate pan on a ductless head drips down the middle of the wall. We carry the sensors, capacitors and contactors on the truck; reversing valves and boards are usually next-day.
Newer units complicate repairs in two ways. Inverter-driven compressors and boards from Mitsubishi, Daikin and Fujitsu throw specific fault codes that need the manufacturer's service data to read properly, and newer equipment increasingly ships on A2L refrigerants — R-32 and R-454B — which need matched recovery gear and their own leak procedures. Both are routine for us: refrigerant handling in Ontario takes an ODP card on top of the TSSA gas licence, and the recovery equipment for the A2Ls is already on the truck. If your unit is flashing a code, the Mitsubishi and Daikin code guides tell you whether to keep it running or shut it off.
We repair heat pumps across Burlington, Oakville, Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Ancaster, and the 24/7 emergency line covers a no-heat call in the middle of the night at the same price as a Tuesday. If the unit is past 12–15 years and the compressor is gone, we will say so and show what heat pump installation costs beside the repair. Book a diagnostic online or by phone.
Call for heat pump repair when
- The outdoor coil stays iced over for hours, or ice is building up on the fan blades
- Heating mode blows cool air continuously, not just for a few minutes during defrost
- The unit runs non-stop and the house never reaches the set temperature
- The breaker trips when the outdoor unit starts, or the unit hums and will not start
- Water is dripping from a ductless indoor head, or the head shows a flashing fault code
How it works
We ask what the unit is doing and what the outdoor temperature is; a surprising number of 'failures' are defrost cycles or a thermostat left in the wrong mode.
Pressures, temperatures across the coil, sensor readings and the fault log — then a written price for the fix.
Parts replaced, charge checked against the nameplate, defrost tested, and the unit run in both modes before we leave.
Brands: We repair Mitsubishi, Daikin, Fujitsu, Lennox, Carrier, Goodman, Bosch and other major heat pump brands, ducted and ductless.
Common questions
Why is my heat pump blowing cold air in heating mode?
For a few minutes every hour or so in cold weather, it is defrosting and that is normal. Continuously, it points to a stuck reversing valve, low refrigerant or a control fault. Why a heat pump blows cold air in heating mode helps you tell the difference before you call.
Should I turn the heat pump off in extreme cold?
No. Cold-climate units are built to run at −25°C; switching to 'emergency heat' just puts the whole load on the electric strips or the furnace. Shut it down only if it is iced solid, making a grinding noise or tripping the breaker — see should I turn off my heat pump in extreme cold.
Is it worth repairing a 12-year-old heat pump?
For a capacitor, fan motor, sensor or board, yes. For a compressor or reversing valve on a unit that old, the money usually goes further toward a new cold-climate system with a rebate behind it; we give you both figures.
Why is my heat pump icing up?
Light frost is normal; solid ice means defrost is not happening — a bad sensor or board — or the airflow is blocked by snow, leaves or a low charge. Clear snow away from the unit first, then read why heat pumps ice up and call if it does not clear.
Do you service ductless heat pumps too?
Yes — wall-mounted heads, multi-zone systems and the outdoor inverter units. The common ductless faults are clogged condensate lines, failed fan motors and communication errors between the head and the outdoor unit.