Heat Pump Repair in Bluffton, SC

Heat pumps run all year

The Savannah/Hilton Head airport logs about 2,600 cooling degree days a year, 85 percent of them May through September, and about 1,700 heating degree days, mostly December through February (1991–2020 normals). A heat pump works through both, so it wears faster than a cooling-only unit.

Electric heat is the norm

About 7 in 10 homes inside the town limits heat with electricity and 3 in 10 with natural gas. In ZIP 29909 (Sun City and Okatie), gas leads, at about 6 in 10 homes (as of 2024).

Older systems

About a third of town homes were built from 2000 to 2009, so many original systems are 17 to 26 years old now. R.S. Andrews puts a coastal heat pump at 10 to 15 years.

Newer homes

About 6 in 10 town homes date from 2010 or later, with a median year built of 2012 (as of 2024), so half the homes in town are under 14 years old.

After hours

Service Experts is open 24 hours, Howell-Chase and R.S. Andrews run 24/7, and Summit Services answers its phone around the clock.

Permit office

A repair is the technician’s call. Replacing the system needs a permit: inside the town limits, the Town of Bluffton at 20 Bridge Street; outside them, Beaufort County.

Check that the thermostat is on the right mode (heat or cool) and has fresh batteries, that the breaker has not tripped, and that the air filter is not clogged. Look at the outdoor unit: leaves and debris around it block airflow. A full condensate pan can trip a float switch and shut the system down, which stops the indoor unit until the drain is cleared.

If the unit blows cold air in winter or warm air in summer, R.S. Andrews says the reversing valve that switches modes may need repair or replacement. If ice builds up on the outdoor unit, Summit Services says a little frost is normal in heating mode, but ice that stays points to a failed defrost cycle. Turn the system off and call; running it iced over can damage it.

Heat pump repair covers four families of problems, as the two companies that publish lists describe them: a reversing valve or its solenoid that sticks (the unit runs in the wrong mode); the defrost board or outdoor temperature sensor that fails (ice locks up the outdoor unit); low refrigerant from a leak (the indoor coil freezes); and worn electrical parts such as contactors, capacitors and fan motors (the system trips breakers or shuts down).

Summit Services says salt air corrodes the outdoor cabinet’s electrical parts, and that it carries defrost boards, reversing valve solenoids, contactors, capacitors and crankcase heaters on its trucks. Howell-Chase, R.S. Andrews and Service Experts each list heat pump repair as a service. Ask each company for a written diagnosis that names the failed part before you approve the work.

R.S. Andrews says heat pumps in coastal conditions typically last 10 to 15 years, and that replacement is usually the better choice when a major repair costs more than half the value of a new system, when the unit uses an older, phased-out refrigerant, or when it can no longer keep the house dry. Summit Services uses a similar test: on a unit past 12 years, replacement usually wins once a compressor or reversing valve repair nears 40 percent of the price of a new one.

About a third of Bluffton town homes were built from 2000 to 2009, so many original systems have passed that age. If a technician recommends replacement, see what a new heat pump costs in Bluffton on the HVAC page for what drives the price and what to ask for in a written quote. A change-out needs a permit: the Town of Bluffton’s Growth Management office at 20 Bridge Street inside the town limits, or Beaufort County outside them. The licensed contractor pulls it.

A heat pump works through the cooling and the heating season, so R.S. Andrews recommends a tune-up in spring and another in autumn. Its checklist covers a coil wash to remove dirt, salt and bio-film, a refrigerant pressure check, clearing the condensate drain, tightening electrical connections and checking capacitors, and checking blowers and airflow.

Howell-Chase lists heat pump maintenance, and Service Experts, Summit Services and R.S. Andrews sell maintenance plans; see air conditioner maintenance and HVAC plans in Bluffton. If your ducts are dirty or leaking, see air duct cleaning in Bluffton.

Howell-Chase and Summit Services both list Hardeeville, Ridgeland and Okatie as service areas, Service Experts lists Hardeeville, Ridgeland, Okatie and Beaufort, and R.S. Andrews lists Hardeeville. Howell-Chase is 12.4 mi and Summit Services 12.0 mi from Hardeeville City Hall in a straight line. Ask about a travel charge when you call.

Hardeeville and Ridgeland are in Jasper County, so a heat pump replacement there is permitted by a different office than Bluffton or Beaufort County. Ask the contractor which one. For a home on Hilton Head, see HVAC companies on Hilton Head Island.