Why Heat Pump Maintenance Is Recommended Twice a Year
Why does a heat pump want servicing twice a year when a furnace only asks for once? A furnace rests all summer and an air conditioner rests all winter, but your heat pump does both jobs, so it works through a February cold snap and again through an August heat wave. Where a furnace has half the year off, your heat pump is running all twelve months.
So heat pump maintenance is recommended twice a year rather than once: a visit in spring before the cooling season, and a visit in fall before the heating season. We do the same careful work whether we handled the heat pump installation or the system came with the house.
If your system has already stopped heating or cooling properly, that is a repair visit rather than heat pump maintenance, so tell us when you call and we will send the right technician.
Comparing Maintenance
| Equipment | Furnace | Air conditioner | Heat pump |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works | Winter only | Summer only | All twelve months |
| Service | Once a year | Once a year | Twice a year |
What Your Heat Pump Maintenance Visit Covers
Each heat pump maintenance visit is shaped around the season your system is about to work through, so spring and fall cover different ground.
The spring visit
Spring heat pump maintenance gets the system ready to cool your house for four months without a break. We verify the refrigerant charge, clean the outdoor coil, clear the condensate drain, check the blower and the filter, and measure amp draw at the electrical connections. A clean coil and a correct charge are what keep the house comfortable and the power bill sensible.
The fall visit
Cold weather asks more of a heat pump than summer does, so the fall visit is about being ready for it. We test the defrost cycle so the outdoor coil sheds ice instead of holding onto it, clear the base pan so meltwater drains away, confirm the auxiliary heat comes on when it is needed, and recheck airflow and the electrical connections. You head into the coldest weeks with the heating side already checked.
If you also run a separate central air conditioner, our air conditioner maintenance and tune-up covers it.
Why Choose Us for Your Heat Pump Maintenance
We have been servicing heating and cooling systems across Kitchener-Waterloo for over 10 years, we are an Authorized Lennox Dealer, and we are a five-time HomeStars Best of Award winner. Sina, our owner and main technician, has worked on equipment like yours many times before.
Heat pump maintenance also protects your equipment warranty, because most manufacturers ask for evidence of regular servicing before they approve a claim on a compressor. After every visit we leave you a written record of what we checked and what we measured, so that evidence is in your hands whenever you need it.
Sina did a routine Fall furnace maintenance and tune-up for us. He was responsive, punctual and professional. He did a very thorough job and answered all our questions patiently.
Shubha Apte, Google review
How a Visit Goes
You book a time
Call us or send the form, and we will book a window that suits your day, with the time confirmed in advance.
We work through the system
Your technician works through the outdoor unit and the indoor air handler in order, taking readings at each stage and writing down what the system is doing.
You hear what we found
We go over the readings with you before we leave. If something needs repair beyond the heat pump maintenance itself, we give you the price first and you decide what happens next.
Where we service heat pumps
A heat pump works in both seasons, so we are out servicing them twice as often as a furnace. That takes us right across Waterloo Region and into Wellington, Perth and Oxford counties. Give us your postal code and we will confirm we reach you.
