A heat pump is one machine that cools your home in July and heats it in January, so we test it both ways on every call. On the Beach the usual culprits are the reversing valve, the defrost controls, a refrigerant leak, or a salt-worn coil and fan motor. Same day in most cases, priced in writing before work starts.
A Beach heat pump works all year, so its faults do not wait for winter. Pick the closest match. No heat at all, or stuck on EM HEAT? Start with our heating repair page.
Grinding usually means worn fan motor bearings; a high screech can be a motor or a strained compressor. Letting it run can turn a motor repair into a far bigger bill, so switch it off and phone us.
📞 Call (850) 235-8834On a cold, damp morning this is almost always defrost: the valve shifts, the fan pauses and frost melts off as steam for a few minutes. Cycling for an hour is a fault.
What normal defrost looks like →The wrong season points first at the reversing valve or the signal that drives it. A valve stuck halfway gives weak air in both modes, which is harder to notice.
Reversing valve faults →Low refrigerant shows up in both modes: tepid heat in January, slow cooling in August, and an outdoor unit that rarely shuts off.
Charge and leaks →Gulf air eats outdoor coils and the wiring beside them. A corroded coil loses capacity in summer and frosts over faster in winter.
Coil and fan motor →Heat when you ask for cooling, or the reverse, usually means the new thermostat is set for the wrong reversing valve terminal. A short visit, not a broken heat pump.
O/B wiring explained →A heat pump has everything a cooling-only system has, plus the parts that let it run backwards. Those parts cause calls a plain AC never does.
Every heat pump has a reversing valve, a four-way valve in the outdoor unit that redirects refrigerant so the indoor coil runs cold in summer and warm in winter. It moves when you change modes, and again every time the unit defrosts. Beside it sit the defrost control board and a sensor clipped to the outdoor coil. A straight air conditioner has none of these, and they are where we start when a heat pump works in one mode but not the other.
On the Beach the outdoor unit breathes salt air all year. It settles on the fins, works into the capacitor and contactor terminals, and wears on the fan motor. A salty coil gives up capacity in August and frosts sooner in January.
Almost every ductless system heats as well as cools. Its outdoor unit has a reversing valve and defrost logic like any other heat pump, and we repair them, including ones someone else installed. Ductless mini-splits on the Beach →
A heat pump can pass a summer check and still let you down in January. Testing both modes on every call is how we avoid a second trip.
Tell us what the heat pump is doing and which season it is struggling in. You reach someone at Quincy’s, who gives you the trip charge and a time. On site, the technician runs the system in cooling, then in heating, and watches the reversing valve move each way. Pressures and line temperatures get read in the mode that matters, and on most boards we can force a test defrost. You get the diagnosis and a written price; nothing is repaired until you say yes.
You will know the trip charge before we come and the repair price before we start. Every repair carries a written labor warranty: if the same fault returns within the covered period, the return visit carries no labor charge. Our technicians earn no commission, so when a solenoid coil is the whole problem, a solenoid coil is the whole bill. On an older heat pump you also get a replacement number, and the choice stays yours.
The big names below, plus builder-grade units you may not recognize. A reversing valve works the same in all of them; boards, sensors and wiring conventions differ, so we look up the model before ordering parts.
Not sure which you have? Read us the model number from the outdoor unit label.
The usual house setup: an outdoor unit in the yard and an air handler in a closet, attic or garage, with backup strips inside.
Outdoor sections on a balcony, roof deck or mechanical platform, with the air handler in a unit closet.
Wall heads, ceiling cassettes and multi-zone systems, with their own boards and error codes. They defrost like any heat pump.
Compressor, coils and blower in one outdoor cabinet, on some older houses and small buildings. Everything the salt reaches is in one box.
Newer high-efficiency equipment, often with communicating controls. We read the stored fault history before reaching for parts.
Still running in some Beach rentals. We keep them going when it is sensible and say so when refrigerant cost makes it a poor bet.
When replacement is a real question, we price both before you decide.
Even on a heat pump past ten years
Before you approve the repair
We have fixed heat pumps along this stretch of the Gulf for 47 years, long enough to know which outdoor units corrode first and which thermostat swaps cause trouble.
Chris Valladez, Senior Service Technician, 16 years with Quincy’s
NATE Certified Technician · One of the technicians who handles heat pump calls on the Beach
Pulled live from Google, in the order Google returns them. Nothing here scrolls on its own.
Quincy’s took care of us when our AC went out. Honest folks, on time, fair price. We will use them again every time.
Same day service during the hottest week of the summer. The tech walked me through what was wrong and fixed it on the spot. Did not feel sold to.
Replaced our entire system. Crew showed up when they said they would, were respectful inside the house and cleaned up everything when they left.
4.8 / 5across 199 Google reviews from Panama City, Lynn Haven, Callaway and the Beach.
Three conditions that rarely come up a few miles inland.
An outdoor unit facing the water takes salt spray and blown sand every day, while the same model on the far side of the building can look years younger. A fresh-water rinse and a check of every connection at each maintenance visit buy real time.
Condo heat pumps often sit on walled balconies or unshaded roofs. A boxed-in balcony unit can pull its own discharge air back through the coil, hurting it in both seasons. For rooftop units, give us the building and unit number when you call.
A heat pump in a house that sits empty between stays can fail quietly, and guests switch modes and leave EM HEAT on. A thermostat you can check from your phone helps. When you call, tell us who will meet us there and when guests arrive.
Open the one that matches your system. These are the heat-pump-specific problems; for heat strips, sequencers, a gas furnace or a house with no heat at all, see heating repair in Panama City Beach.
The reversing valve decides which coil is hot and which is cold. A small solenoid coil on the outside moves a pilot, and refrigerant pressure then slides the piston inside the valve body. The question is always whether the electrical side failed or the valve itself.
A dead solenoid coil, or a thermostat signal that never reaches it, is the cheaper case: a new coil goes on without opening the refrigerant circuit. A valve body that is stuck, or moves only partway and leaks hot gas to the suction side, has to be cut out, with the refrigerant recovered, a new valve brazed in, a vacuum pulled and the system recharged. The partial shift is the sneaky one, because the system still heats and cools, just weakly in both seasons.
Typical Bay County market range for a reversing valve, refrigerant recovered and recharged: $500 to $1,400 (not a Quincy’s quote).
When the outdoor coil frosts on a cold, wet morning, the heat pump switches briefly into cooling mode with the outdoor fan off. The coil warms from inside, steam rolls off the top, and the backup strips may come on so the air indoors does not turn cool. You may hear a whoosh as the valve moves. Normal defrost lasts a few minutes.
A unit that never defrosts turns into a block of ice. One that defrosts too often, or never finishes, keeps the strips running and the meter spinning. The usual causes are a failed defrost control board, a coil sensor that has drifted or corroded loose, a bad fan relay, or a low charge. Typical Bay County market range for a defrost board or sensor: $300 to $750, not a Quincy’s quote. Our defrost mode explainer shows what you should and should not see.
A heat pump is less forgiving of a wrong charge than a cooling-only system. A slightly low charge may barely show in May, then turn into tepid air, frequent defrosts and long strip run times in January. Summer charging checks do not apply in cold weather, so the right winter approach is often to recover the charge and weigh it back in to the manufacturer’s spec.
Low charge means a leak, because refrigerant is not used up. On the Beach, leaks turn up in corroded coil tubes, at service valves and at mini-split flare connections. Typical Bay County market range to find and repair one: $400 to $1,600 plus refrigerant, not a Quincy’s quote.
Most heat pumps in service today run R-410A, which is being phased down, and new equipment uses R-454B. Older units run R-22, which is no longer produced and costs about $90 to $175 per pound installed here. See R-410A vs R-454B and still running an R-22 system.
The outdoor coil throws heat away in summer and gathers it in winter. Salt and corrosion on the aluminum fins block airflow, and once the fins flake they cannot be rinsed back to health. The condenser fan motor sits above that coil in the same air, and its bearings wear faster here than they do inland.
Corrosion also reaches contactor lugs, capacitor terminals and motor splices. A corroded connection runs hot and kills parts early, so we fix the connections too. Typical Bay County market ranges: condenser fan motor $350 to $850, capacitor $150 to $400, contactor $150 to $350. Market figures, not Quincy’s prices.
The thermostat tells the reversing valve which way to go through one wire, on a terminal marked O or B. Most equipment energizes the valve for cooling (O); some energizes it for heating (B). Set a new thermostat the wrong way and the heat pump does the opposite of what you ask: heat in July, cooling in January.
Other slips: a thermostat configured for a furnace, a missing backup-strip wire, or AUX heat called too early. Typical Bay County market range for thermostat wiring or replacement: $150 to $500, not a Quincy’s quote. Bill jumped and the display says AUX or EM HEAT? Read AUX heat vs EM heat and the January bill.
Our heat pump calls start from our own office on FL-79. Houses, condos and rentals along Front Beach Road, Back Beach Road and Thomas Drive, across 32407, 32408 and 32413, all year.
What people ask us about heat pumps specifically, in July and in January.
Not sure it is the heat pump? Describe what it does in each mode and we will tell you whether it sounds like the valve, the defrost, the charge or something simpler.
📞 Call (850) 235-8834Every visit starts with a flat trip charge, given to you on the phone before dispatch, and the repair price comes in writing after diagnosis. Typical Bay County market ranges (not our quotes): most heat pump repairs $150 to $1,400, a defrost board or sensor $300 to $750, a reversing valve $500 to $1,400, and a compressor $1,500 to $3,500.
Usually that is defrost. On cold, damp mornings the heat pump shifts briefly into cooling mode to melt frost off the outdoor coil, the outdoor fan stops, and the melt rises as steam. The whoosh is the reversing valve moving. It lasts a few minutes. Grinding, rattling or screeching are not part of defrost.
The classic sign is the wrong season: cool air on heat, or warm air on cool, while the outdoor unit runs. A valve stuck partway gives weak heating and weak cooling. Thermostat wiring and a failed solenoid coil cause the same symptoms for far less money, so we rule those out with a meter first.
Heating relies on parts summer never tests: the valve shift, the defrost controls and an exact refrigerant charge. A slow leak that barely mattered in August shows up in January. Heat pump air also normally comes out around 90 to 100 degrees, cooler than your skin, so some lukewarm feel is normal. See heat pump blowing lukewarm air.
Yes. Systems here typically last about 12 to 17 years inland and less near the Gulf, and the outdoor coil, fan motor and electrical connections go first. Rinsing, real coil cleaning and tightening connections at each maintenance visit slow it down.
The reversing valve setting is almost certainly wrong. Heat pumps switch modes through an O or B terminal; most equipment expects O, some expects B. Set for the other one, every mode runs backwards. It is a quick correction, and usually nothing in the heat pump is damaged.
No. R-410A and R-454B run at different pressures with different oils, so neither belongs in an R-22 system. R-22 is no longer produced and costs about $90 to $175 per pound installed here. A small leak repair can still make sense; a large one usually points toward replacement.
Yes. Nearly all ductless systems are heat pumps with the same faults, plus their own boards and error codes. We work on systems we did not install. New installs are on our ductless mini-split page.
Often, yes. A solenoid coil, defrost board, capacitor, fan motor or thermostat fix makes sense at almost any age. A failed compressor, a valve body on a badly corroded unit, or a coil leak on R-22 equipment is when we also price a replacement.
The heat pump is one piece of the system. These pages cover the rest of what we do on the Beach.
Our heat pump work centers on the Beach; the same crew covers Bay County inland.
Heat pump repair across Panama City Beach ZIP codes 32407, 32408 and 32413. Close to the line? Call and we will tell you.
