A heat pump in trouble usually lets you know one of three ways in January: the house won’t climb past 64, the outdoor unit turns into a block of ice, or the electric bill jumps because the backup heat strips are doing all the work. Summers Plumbing Heating & Cooling has been serving Marion and the surrounding area since 1969. Our heating techs work on heat pumps every week in Marion, Gas City, Jonesboro and Fairmount, and out on the county roads where a lot of homes are all-electric or keep propane as backup.
Book heat pump service or call (765) 664-4328. Phones are answered 24/7.
These are the calls we run most from November through March:
On a repair visit we check refrigerant pressures, the reversing valve, the defrost controls, the electrical parts and the airflow inside the house, and we give you the price before any work starts. If it’s paired with a gas or propane furnace, we check the furnace repair side too, since they share controls.
If your heat pump is 12 to 15 years old, needs a new compressor, or still runs on R-22 refrigerant, replacing it usually makes more sense than another big repair. We’ll put both numbers in front of you and let you decide.
A new install starts with a load calculation on your house, not a guess based on the size of the old unit. Older homes near downtown Marion with add-on ductwork, and ranch houses over crawl spaces, often need some duct changes to heat evenly. We’ll also talk through dual fuel: a heat pump that handles the mild days, with a gas or propane furnace that takes over on the coldest nights. For a room addition, a finished garage or a house with no ductwork, a ductless mini-split installation is often the better fit. If a furnace turns out to be the right call for your home, see furnace replacement in Marion. Current offers are on our specials page.
A heat pump works all year, heating in winter and cooling in summer, so it wears faster than a furnace or an air conditioner alone. We recommend two checkups a year, one in spring and one in fall. A maintenance visit includes:
Between visits, keep two feet clear around the outdoor unit, brush snow off the top and sides after a storm, and don’t wrap or cover it for the winter. A heat pump has to move air across that coil to make heat. If you also have a furnace, we can do the heat pump checkup and a furnace tune-up in the same visit. You can see everything else we do on our heating services in Marion page.
Our Marion shop is at 614 E 4th St. We cover Grant, Wabash and Blackford counties, including Fairmount, Gas City, Jonesboro, Upland, Converse, Swayzee and Hartford City.
If it only lasts a few minutes, it’s probably the defrost cycle, which is normal. If the air stays cool, the usual causes are low refrigerant, a stuck reversing valve, or backup heat that isn’t turning on. Check that the thermostat is set to Heat and the filter isn’t clogged, then call us.
Yes, a little. Light frost on the coil and a cloud of steam during defrost are normal. A thick layer of ice that doesn’t clear within an hour or two is not. Turn the system to emergency heat and call so the compressor isn’t running iced over.
Most newer heat pumps heat well into the 20s, and cold-climate models keep working well below that. On the coldest nights, backup heat strips or a gas or propane furnace in a dual-fuel setup fill the gap. Sizing the system to your house matters more than anything else.
If it’s under about 10 years old and the problem is a capacitor, contactor, fan motor or sensor, repair it. If it’s 12 to 15 years old, needs a compressor, or uses R-22 refrigerant, replacement usually costs less over the next few years. We’ll show you both prices.
Twice a year, spring and fall, because it runs for both heating and cooling. Change or check the filter every one to three months in between.
Summers Plumbing Heating & Cooling’s Marion shop is at 614 E 4th St, Marion, IN 46952. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day at (765) 664-4328, and we offer same-day heat pump repair whenever possible across Grant, Wabash and Blackford counties, including Gas City, Jonesboro, Fairmount, Upland and Hartford City.
