Heat pump installation and repair
One system that cools the house in summer and heats it in winter. We size it, install it under permit and repair the faults that are particular to it.
A heat pump heats and cools with one system, and a Los Angeles winter is mild enough to let it do both well.
A heat pump looks like an air conditioner. In summer it works like one, pulling heat out of the house and releasing it outside. In winter it runs the other way, pulling heat from the outdoor air and bringing it inside. It runs on electricity, with no flame.
We install, replace and repair heat pumps in homes across Los Angeles, from Long Beach and Rolling Hills to Santa Monica, Pasadena, Burbank, Woodland Hills, Calabasas and Thousand Oaks. It suits a house that is replacing an old furnace and AC together, a house moving off gas, and a house that has never had cooling. If you are comparing options, see all our heating and cooling services.
Why it suits a Los Angeles winter
A heat pump works best when the outdoor air is mild, and that describes a Los Angeles winter. Cold nights here are brief, and a modern heat pump keeps heating comfortably through them without leaning hard on backup heat. The same unit then carries the house through the summer.
That makes one system do the job of two. Where a house had a gas furnace for winter and a central air conditioner for summer, a heat pump and an indoor air handler can replace both.
It is not the right answer for every house. Ducts that leak badly or are too small hold a heat pump back, just as they hold back an AC. An electrical panel with no spare room may need work first. And some homeowners simply prefer gas heat. We look at the house and tell you which way we would go.
Ducted or ductless
The house decides which one fits.
Ducted heat pump
An outdoor unit and an indoor air handler that use the existing ducts. The natural swap for a house with a furnace and central air.
Ductless heat pump
A mini split is a heat pump too. Wall or ceiling heads serve one room each, with no ducts at all. See ductless mini splits.
Replacing a furnace and AC
When both are old, a single ducted heat pump can replace them. Compare that with a new furnace in furnace installation and replacement, and with a new AC in AC installation and replacement.
The refrigerants new units use
New heat pumps made from 2025 on use R-454B or R-32 instead of the older R-410A. Both have a much lower impact on the climate. A new outdoor unit needs an indoor coil or air handler built for the same refrigerant, so a heat pump replacement usually means replacing both halves. Older R-410A heat pumps are still repaired and recharged with R-410A.
Replacing a ducted heat pump follows the same path as any changeout here. It needs a mechanical permit from your city's building department, and California's Title 24 usually adds an independent HERS test of the ducts and, depending on your climate zone, the refrigerant charge. We pull the permit and arrange the test.
Heat pump repair
A heat pump shares most of its parts with an air conditioner. These faults are particular to it.
Defrost problems
In cold, damp weather frost forms on the outdoor coil, and the heat pump runs a defrost cycle to clear it. If the coil stays iced, a sensor, the defrost control or low refrigerant is usually to blame.
Reversing valve
The valve that switches the system between heating and cooling. When it sticks, the system blows cool air in heat mode or warm air in cool mode.
Auxiliary heat always on
Backup electric heat that runs all the time makes the power bill climb. The cause can be a thermostat setting, a wiring fault or a heat pump that is not pulling its weight.
Weak heating or cooling
Low refrigerant from a leak, a dirty coil, a failing capacitor or poor airflow.
Rebates and what moves the price
Before you buy, check the rebate pages of your utility, whether that is LADWP, SCE or SoCalGas. Programs change, so look at what is on offer when you are ready.
We price your house after we have seen it. The size the load calculation calls for, ducted or ductless, the state of the ducts, the electrical panel, where the indoor unit sits, and the permit and HERS test all move the number. Our guide to heat pump installation cost walks through each factor, and our guide to heat pump vs AC compares the two for a Los Angeles house.
How it goes
The same steps for an install or a repair.
You call or send the form
Tell us what you have now, how old it is and what you want it to do. For a repair, tell us what the system is doing and in which mode.
We look at the whole system
For an install we run a load calculation and check the ducts and the panel. For a repair we test the controls, refrigerant, defrost and valve.
You get the answer and the price
We explain the choices or the fault in plain words, and the price before any work starts.
We do the work and test it
We run the system in both heating and cooling and check it performs before we leave.
Why call Air Cove HVAC
We know heat pumps in both of their jobs, and we know how to size one for a Los Angeles house so it does not struggle on the few cold nights or the long hot afternoons. We are licensed and insured. We give you the price before any work starts.
To get started, call us or send us the details. It helps to have a photo of the label on the outdoor unit, the rough size of the house and whether it has ducts. We answer every day, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Heat pump questions
Why don't contractors like heat pumps?
The reputation comes from colder places and older equipment, where heat pumps struggled in freezing weather and leaned on costly backup heat. Modern heat pumps are far more capable, and a mild Los Angeles winter plays to their strengths. We install them and repair them.
Is it okay for a heat pump to run all night in winter?
Yes. A heat pump is built to run long, steady cycles at lower output, so running for hours on a cold night is normal. What is not normal is a system that runs nonstop and never reaches the set temperature, a coil that stays iced, or backup heat that never switches off.
How much is a heat pump for a 2000 square foot house?
It depends on the house more than the floor area. Insulation, windows, sun and the ducts change the size it needs, and ducted or ductless changes the job. We run a load calculation and price the right system after we have seen the house.
Can a heat pump replace my furnace and air conditioner?
Yes, in many Los Angeles houses. A ducted heat pump and an air handler can do both jobs through the existing ducts, provided the ducts and the electrical panel are up to it. We check both before we recommend it.
Do I need to be home?
Yes. For an install we need to see the whole house. For a repair we need to reach the indoor unit and the thermostat as well as the outdoor unit.
Thinking about a heat pump, or is yours acting up? Tell us about the system.
One system, both seasons
Call us, or send the form and we will call you back. We work across Los Angeles, seven days a week.