Heat Pump Repair in Austin, TX: Honest Diagnostics From the Team Trusted Since 1972

Whether it's blowing warm air in July or ice-cold air in January, our licensed technicians find the actual problem and give you a straight answer: what it costs, whether it's worth fixing, and what we'd do if it were our house. Serving Austin and Central Texas since 1972, with trucks stocked for the drive so most repairs finish in one visit.

Call (512) 710-1132

TRUST BAR

Family-owned since 1972. Licensed in Texas #TACLA3825C. Three generations of Austin families have our number on the unit.

All major brands, whoever installed it. Trane, Carrier, Lennox, Daikin, Goodman, Mitsubishi, and the rest.

Firm price before work begins. Full diagnostic, plain-English explanation, exact price. Before we start..

BEFORE YOU CALL: FIVE CHECKS THAT MIGHT SAVE YOU A SERVICE VISIT

We'd rather earn your trust than your diagnostic fee. Run through these first:

1. Thermostat mode and setpoint. Confirm it's on Heat or Cool (not Fan or Emergency Heat) and set past the current room temperature. If someone bumped it to Em Heat, that alone explains a shocking electric bill.
2. Air filter. A clogged filter strangles airflow and mimics a half-dozen expensive failures. If you can't remember changing it, change it, then give the system an hour.
3. Breakers and the outdoor disconnect. Check the panel for a tripped breaker and the small box near the outdoor unit for a pulled disconnect. If a breaker trips again immediately, stop and call us. Do not keep resetting it.
4. Outdoor unit airflow. Clear leaves, grass clippings, and cedar debris. The coil needs two feet of clear space to breathe.
5. Winter only: is it just defrosting? A few minutes of steam, water sounds, and cool indoor air on a cold morning is the defrost cycle working, not a breakdown. If it clears within about 10 minutes and heat returns, you're fine.

Still not right? Now it's a real repair, and here's exactly what happens next.

COMMON HEAT PUMP PROBLEMS WE FIX

Not cooling. In our climate this is the emergency. Common causes: low refrigerant from a leak, a weak or failed capacitor, a burned contactor, a coil choked with cedar pollen and cottonwood fluff, or a reversing valve stuck in heat mode. Most are same-visit repairs off the truck.

Not heating. Usually a failed defrost board or sensor, a reversing valve problem, or backup heat strips that quietly died months ago and got noticed on the first cold snap. If your system only falls behind on the coldest nights, it may also be an original sizing problem, and we'll tell you if that's what we find rather than selling you parts that won't fix it.

Ice on the outdoor unit. Light winter frost that the defrost cycle clears is normal. A unit encased in ice, or any ice in summer, is not. Causes range from a failed defrost control to low refrigerant to blocked airflow. Shut it off and call, because running an iced-over unit can take out the compressor, turning a modest repair into a replacement conversation.

Blowing cool air in heat mode. Three possibilities, and we'll tell you honestly which one you have: a normal defrost cycle (no charge for physics), the fact that heat pump supply air runs 90 to 100 degrees and feels cooler than furnace air even while warming your house, or a genuine fault like low refrigerant or a reversing valve failure. We take this call every winter, and we'd rather explain the first two for free than invent a repair.

Aux or emergency heat stuck on. Your backup heat strips cost roughly three times as much to run as the heat pump. They should only engage in genuine cold, typically when outdoor temperatures fall into the 20s and 30s depending on your system's balance point, or during defrost. If that indicator lives on your thermostat all winter, something upstream failed and your electric bill is paying for it.

Short-cycling. On-off-on every few minutes kills compressors. Usual suspects: refrigerant charge, a clogged filter, thermostat placement, or an oversized system. Long steady runtimes on a 100-degree afternoon, by contrast, are normal and even desirable for variable-speed equipment.

Grinding, screeching, buzzing, or repeated breaker trips. Shut it down and call. These are the sounds of a small problem about to become a large one.

Bills up, nothing else changed. The system is working harder than it should and telling you early. Catching it now is the difference between a part and a compressor.

WHAT OUR DIAGNOSTIC ACTUALLY COVERS

"We'll take a look" isn't a diagnostic. Here's what an LHS heat pump service call includes, so you can compare us to anyone:

• Refrigerant pressures and subcooling/superheat, not just "looks low"
• Temperature split across the indoor coil, the number that proves the system is moving the heat it should
• Reversing valve operation in both modes
• Defrost board, sensor, and full defrost cycle test, the failure point behind most winter ice calls
• Backup heat strip staging and amp draw, so aux heat works when the next freeze needs it and stays off when it doesn't
• Capacitor readings against spec, because capacitors weaken before they fail, and they always fail in July
• Contactor, wiring, and condensate drainage inspection
• Airflow and filter condition

You get the findings in plain English with a firm price before any repair begins. No mystery line items, no discovering charges after the fact.

STRAIGHT ANSWERS ON REPAIR COST

Nobody can quote a heat pump repair sight unseen, but you deserve better than "it depends." Honest ranges:

• Minor electrical repairs (capacitors, contactors, sensors): the most common summer failures, and typically the least expensive category. Usually fixed same visit.
• Defrost controls and boards: mid-range, and the most common winter repair.
• Refrigerant leaks: varies with leak location and refrigerant type. Older phased-out refrigerants cost more every year, and we'll tell you when topping off is throwing good money after bad.
• Compressors and reversing valves: the big-ticket repairs, and where the repair-vs-replace math below earns its keep. We'll run it with you before you spend anything.

Most repairs are completed in one visit of one to three hours, because our trucks are stocked for the failures this climate actually produces and the rural miles between them.

REPAIR OR REPLACE? THE FRAMEWORK OUR TECHS ACTUALLY USE

No games. This is the decision tree in our techs' heads:

• Under 8 years old: repair, almost always.
• 8 to 12 years: judgment territory. A capacitor, yes. A compressor, run the numbers.
• 12 to 15+ years: in a climate where heat pumps work all twelve months, that's a full service life. Major repairs here usually buy borrowed time at retail prices.
• The quick math: repair cost times system age. When the product lands in new-system territory, comparison shopping is rational, and we'll quote the [replacement](LINK: /hvac/heat-pump-installation/) alongside the repair so you're choosing with real numbers.
• Also weighed: repeat visits (three in two summers is a message), phased-out refrigerant, and whether the system ever kept you comfortable in the first place.

Because the same company handles our repairs and installations, nobody's paycheck depends on steering you either way. You get the framework and the math. You make the call.

THE FREEZE-READINESS CHECK NO ONE ELSE DOES

Every LHS heat pump repair visit ends with a freeze-readiness check at no extra charge: defrost cycle verified, backup heat strips tested under load, and your thermostat's emergency heat setting explained so you know exactly what to do when the next multi-day freeze rolls through the Hill Country. Everyone here remembers February 2021. We'd rather you find out your heat strips are dead in October than at 2am in a hard freeze.

DON'T WAIT ON THESE

Shut the system off first, then call promptly:

• Outdoor unit encased in ice
• Burning smells or a breaker that re-trips
• Grinding or screeching from either unit
• No cooling in extreme heat, especially with elderly family, young kids, or pets at home

Summer heat here is a safety issue, not a comfort issue. No-cool calls jump the line, and during freezes, no-heat calls do.

STOP THE NEXT REPAIR BEFORE IT STARTS

Most peak-summer breakdowns we run trace back to skipped maintenance: dirty coils, weak capacitors, slow leaks, clogged condensate lines. Heat pumps never get an off-season in Texas, which makes annual maintenance matter more here than almost anywhere. An LHS maintenance plan gets your system tuned before the seasons that break it, plus priority scheduling when everyone else is melting. Ask about our Ultimate Home Care Plan.

Heat Pump Installation and Replacement

Sometimes the honest answer isn't a repair. If your system is 11 to 15 years old, on phased-out refrigerant, or racking up service calls, putting money into it can mean paying retail prices for borrowed time. That's when replacement deserves a real look, with real numbers.

Every Lantz Home Services heat pump installation starts with a Manual J load calculation, not the tonnage copied off your old unit's nameplate. We size for Texas extremes on both ends: August afternoons that run your system for twelve hours straight, and the multi-day hard freezes everyone here remembers. Ducted systems, ductless mini-splits, and dual-fuel setups, all installed by licensed LHS technicians.

If your AC is on its way out, that's the smartest moment to consider a heat pump, because you're already buying the expensive half of the system. We'll quote it both ways so the comparison is honest.

Get a free in home estimate. Call us today and Leave it to Lantz.