Heat pump repair in Arlington, VA — same day, 24/7

What we fix

Why Arlington homeowners contact us

• We take every request as it arrives, day or night. Most contractors call back in two hours. By then the homeowner has called someone else.
• We know Arlington housing. Arlington splits sharply between high-rise condos and 1940s through 1950s single-family homes in neighborhoods like Cherrydale and Lyon Village. The condo work is mostly fan coils and water-source heat pumps; the house work is older ducted systems that have been patched for decades.
• Heat pumps are what we do. Arlington has a large stock of water-source heat pumps in mid-rise buildings, which most residential contractors do not service. Those units fail differently — usually at the compressor or the water loop valve — and they need someone who knows the difference.
• Straight pricing. Diagnostic fee quoted before we dispatch. No surprise line items.

Signs your heat pump needs attention

Heat pumps rarely fail without warning. They degrade first, and the degradation looks like normal operation if you have not seen it before. These are the signals worth acting on before the system fails outright in January.

• Cold air in heat mode. The compressor runs, the fan runs, the air is not warm. Usually the reversing valve, a defrost fault, or a low refrigerant charge. Rarely the compressor itself.
• Running constantly without reaching the setpoint. The system has lost capacity. Low charge, restricted airflow, or a failing compressor valve.
• Auxiliary heat running most of the winter. The strips are doing the work the heat pump should be doing. It heats the house, and it roughly triples the electric bill.
• Ice that never clears. Frost during a defrost cycle is normal. A solid block of ice that survives for hours is a failed defrost board or a refrigerant fault.
• Hard clicking at the outdoor unit. Contactor or capacitor. Inexpensive now, a compressor later if ignored.
• Uneven temperatures between rooms. Airflow and duct distribution, not usually the equipment. Worth measuring rather than guessing.
• Any repeated breaker trip. Not a reset-and-forget problem. A tripping breaker is a fault, and repeated resets damage the compressor.

If you recognise two or more of these, the system is telling you something specific. A diagnostic visit converts that into a component name and a number.

What it costs

We publish ranges because a firm quote before diagnosis is a guess dressed up as a price. These are the numbers we actually see in Arlington.

Four things move the number: the part, the refrigerant type, whether the system is single-stage or variable-speed, and access to the unit. A heat pump wedged into a closet takes longer to work on than one with clearance. We tell you which of those applies before we start, not after.

There is no separate trip fee. The $89 covers the visit and the diagnosis, and it disappears if you approve the repair. After-hours emergency dispatch is $149.

What happens when you contact us

We read every request as it arrives, at any hour. No voicemail, no queue, no callback in two hours.

The first exchange is a qualification, and it is not a formality. We ask what the system is doing, how long it has been doing it, whether the house is losing heat, and whether anyone has looked at it already. That determines which parts the technician loads, which is why most repairs finish on the first visit instead of the second.

The technician confirms the symptom and runs the diagnostic sequence: refrigerant pressures, electrical draw, control board fault codes, airflow, and reversing valve operation. Thirty to sixty minutes depending on the system.

Then you get a number before any work starts. Not a range, not an estimate — a price for the specific repair, plus replacement arithmetic if it is worth considering. You approve or you do not. If you do not, you owe the $89 and nothing else.

Payment is on completion. Card or check. No deposit, no prepayment.

Repair or replace

The rule we use: if the repair costs less than a third of replacement and the system is otherwise sound, repair it. Past twenty years, with a refrigerant leak or a failed compressor, replacement usually wins on five-year total cost.

Three questions decide it. How old is the system — under fifteen years repair almost always wins. What refrigerant does it use — R-22 systems are expensive to recharge and the supply keeps shrinking. Is this the first major failure or the third — one repair in five years is normal, three in two years is a pattern.

We quote both on every major repair, side by side, with the numbers shown. You decide. We do not push replacement because it pays better.

Service area

We cover Arlington and the surrounding ZIPs: 22201, 22203, 22207. Nearby: Clarendon, Ballston, Wilson Boulevard, Virginia Square, Cherrydale.

See all service areas

Common questions

Do you service condo heat pumps?

Yes. Arlington has a lot of water-source heat pumps in mid-rise buildings. Those fail at the compressor or the loop valve rather than the outdoor unit, and they need a different diagnostic approach.

How much does heat pump repair cost in Arlington?

Diagnostic is $89, waived on approval. Most repairs run $250 to $900. Major component replacements — reversing valve, compressor — run higher.

My 1940s house has original ductwork. Can it take a modern system?

Usually not without work. Fifty-year-old ducts leak and cannot handle the static pressure of a variable-speed system. We measure before recommending.

Should I repair or replace a twenty-year-old heat pump?

Past twenty years with a refrigerant leak or failed compressor, replacement usually wins. Under that, repair is usually the better call.

Do you charge extra for nights and weekends?

After-hours dispatch is $149, covering the trip and diagnosis. Repair pricing is the same as daytime.

How fast can you get here?

Same day for most requests before 4pm. No-heat calls dispatched within two hours.