Heat pump repair in Vancouver, WA.

Heat pump not heating or cooling.

A heat pump that runs but won't move heat is the call we get most. The cause can be as small as a thermostat left in the wrong mode or a clogged filter choking airflow, or as serious as a failed reversing valve, a dead compressor, or a refrigerant leak. One local tell worth knowing: if the house is warm but your bill suddenly doubled, the electric backup heat may be quietly carrying the load while the heat pump side sits idle. We check for that on every no-heat visit. Cooling failures share most of the same suspects; our guide to the five common causes of warm-air complaints walks the list from easy to expensive.

Ice on the outdoor unit.

Frost on the coil is part of winter here. Vancouver's cold is a wet cold, so the outdoor coil frosts up for weeks at a stretch and the unit defrosts itself on a schedule: the fan stops, the refrigerant reverses, steam rises off the coil, and water drips out the bottom. What isn't normal is a coil that stays buried in ice, a fan blade frozen in place, or ice sheeting over the top of the cabinet. That usually points to a failed defrost board or sensor, a bad outdoor fan motor, or a low charge. Don't chip at the ice; coil fins bend easily and the repair gets bigger. Switch to emergency heat and call us.

Short cycling.

A healthy heat pump runs long, steady cycles. If yours starts and stops every few minutes, something is off: restricted airflow, a charge problem, a failing sensor or control board, or a system that was oversized on day one. It's worth a prompt call, because every restart hammers the compressor, the most expensive part in the machine. Short cycling is also a classic end-of-life sign, alongside 2–3 repairs in a single season and bills that keep creeping up; our guide on how long heat pumps actually last here covers the full list.

Ductless mini-split trouble.

Mini-splits fail in their own ways: a head blinking a fault code, one zone cold while the others run fine, a head dripping water down the wall, or airflow that's weaker than it used to be. Many of these trace back to condensate drainage, a dirty blower wheel, or a communication fault between the head and the outdoor unit, and a proper diagnostic sorts them out quickly. As a Mitsubishi Diamond Contractor we're factory-trained on Mitsubishi's ductless line, and we repair most other major ductless brands too. Adding a zone or replacing a worn-out head is covered on our ductless mini-split installation page.

Diagnosis first, then a written quote.

We don't guess from the driveway. Every visit starts with instruments: refrigerant pressures, electrical readings, airflow. When the charge is low we leak-test instead of just adding refrigerant, because low charge always means a leak and a top-off alone is a temporary fix. You get the finding and the repair price in writing before any work begins, and nobody will pressure you to sign during a service call. There's a flat trip charge for diagnostics on existing equipment; you'll hear the amount before we're on the road, and it usually rolls into the repair if you go ahead. Newer equipment is moving to R-454B; our refrigerant transition guide explains the changeover. And if the culprit turns out to be your furnace, AC, or ductwork instead, our all-system HVAC repair page covers everything else we fix.

Repair or replace: the honest math.

Vancouver's mild climate is easy on compressors, so heat pumps here typically last 12–18 years, and ductless systems 15–20. When a repair quote lands on an older unit, run two quick tests. The 50% rule: if the fix costs more than half of a comparable new system, replace. The $5,000 rule: multiply the repair cost by the unit's age in years; over $5,000, replacement usually wins. A new heat pump installed runs about $8,800–$27,200 depending on size and tier, and you can see the range instantly with our estimator. We'll show you both numbers side by side, and if replacement is the smarter spend we'll quote it through our heat pump installation team. Running a dual-fuel setup where the gas side is what's failing? Start at furnace installation instead.

Why Pacific Peak for heat pump repair.

The tech in your driveway works for us, not a subcontractor, and the company is licensed and bonded in Washington, Lic# PACIFPM742JC. Between our Mitsubishi Diamond Contractor status and our American Standard Authorized Dealer line, we get factory training on the two brands we install, plus plenty of bench time on everything else. Meet the crew on the team page.

Peak Care members skip the line.

A maintenance plan changes what a breakdown costs and how fast we get there. Base Camp ($22/mo, billed $269/yr) includes priority scheduling, 10% off all parts and labor, and no trip charges. Ridge ($32/mo, billed $389/yr), the tier we enroll our own families in, adds priority same-day emergency dispatch during business hours (next morning after hours) and 15% off parts and labor, with no trip, overtime, or diagnostic charges at all. Plans bill annually and never auto-renew. Not a member? We still prioritize same-day service for no-heat and no-cool emergencies whenever the schedule allows.

Heat pump repair across the metro.

We roll from our shop on NE 191st Ave in east Vancouver and repair heat pumps in Camas, Battle Ground, Ridgefield, Washougal, Brush Prairie, Portland, and Gresham. Details for your town are on the service area page.

Common questions about heat pump repair.