Heat pump repair and installation in McDonough, GA covers diagnosing and fixing a system that moves heat rather than generating it, or replacing that system when repair no longer makes sense. A heat pump handles both heating and cooling from a single outdoor unit, which makes it a practical fit for Henry County’s climate. When something goes wrong, it affects comfort year-round, not just one season.
McDonough sits about thirty minutes southeast of Atlanta on I-75, and our crews make that run regularly. The area has grown fast. You’ll find historic homes near the Square, well-established subdivisions, large newer builds out toward Lake Dow and Eagles Landing, and rural properties scattered through the county. The age of the home, the size of the house, and the condition of the ductwork all factor into how a heat pump performs and what it takes to get it back on track.
Henry County summers are long, humid, and hard on equipment. The outdoor unit runs almost constantly from May through September, and that kind of sustained load wears on capacitors, refrigerant levels, and coil condition faster than a shorter cooling season would. Then a cold front pushes through in January and the system has to pivot hard to heating mode. That swing puts the reversing valve and defrost controls to the test every single winter.
All Purpose Heating and Air Conditioning has been doing this work for more than 35 years. We’re licensed, insured, and locally owned. If your heat pump is giving you trouble, or if you’re ready to replace an aging system, give us a call or request your estimate and we’ll get you on the schedule.
A heat pump that blows cool air in heating mode is one of the most common calls we get from McDonough homeowners in winter. It usually points to a failed or stuck reversing valve, a refrigerant problem, or a defrost cycle that isn’t working the way it should. The system is trying to heat the house, but something in the refrigerant circuit is keeping it from doing its job.
Ice on the outdoor unit is another sign worth taking seriously. Some frost during a cold night is normal. A unit that stays encased in ice for hours, or that ices over repeatedly, has a defrost control or refrigerant issue that won’t fix itself. In McDonough, where winter cold fronts can push overnight temperatures down to freezing with little warning, a heat pump that can’t defrost properly leaves a house cold fast.
Auxiliary heat running constantly is a different kind of warning. The aux strips are there as backup for very cold days, not as the primary heat source. If your thermostat shows “aux heat” or “em heat” running through a mild afternoon, the heat pump isn’t producing enough heat on its own. That drives up energy costs and usually signals a refrigerant charge issue, a failing compressor, or a system that’s simply past its useful life.
Age matters too. Heat pumps in the larger homes out toward Eagles Landing and Lake Dow often carry heavier loads than a system sized for a smaller historic home near the Square. A system running hard for fifteen years or more in this climate has earned a close look. If repair costs are stacking up, replacement is often the more practical answer. We can help you think through which direction makes sense.
Every job starts with a real diagnosis. We don’t guess at the problem and order parts. A technician checks the refrigerant charge, tests the reversing valve, inspects the defrost board and sensors, and looks at the electrical connections and capacitors before anything else. On an installation, that first step is a load calculation so the replacement system is sized correctly for the house, not just matched to whatever came out.
Sizing matters more than most homeowners realize. McDonough has a wide mix of housing stock. A newer construction home in a large subdivision has different insulation, window area, and duct layout than a historic home near the Square or a rural property with older construction. An undersized system runs constantly and never catches up. An oversized system short-cycles, which wears out components early and leaves the house feeling humid even when the temperature is right.
Once the diagnosis or sizing is complete, we move into the actual repair or replacement. On a repair, that might mean replacing the reversing valve, recharging refrigerant, replacing a defrost control board, or addressing electrical components like capacitors or contactors. On a full replacement, we handle disconnecting and removing the old equipment, setting the new outdoor unit, and connecting it to the air handler. If the air handler is also being replaced, that adds time and affects the total cost of the job.
After the work is done, we start the system and test it through both heating and cooling modes. We check refrigerant pressures, airflow, electrical draw, and thermostat response before we leave. What drives cost is whether you’re repairing or replacing, how large the system needs to be, and whether the air handler is part of the project. The only way to get a real number is to request your estimate.
All Purpose Heating and Air Conditioning serves McDonough as part of a broader service area across the south metro. If you want a full picture of what we do in Henry County, our McDonough HVAC service page covers heating, cooling, and related services for homeowners in this area.
Heat pumps are a specific piece of equipment with their own quirks, and we’ve built out a dedicated resource for homeowners who want to understand the service in more depth. Our heat pump services page walks through how these systems work, what typically goes wrong, and what a repair or replacement involves from start to finish.
If your system is running but not cooling the way it should once summer arrives, that’s a separate conversation from a heating problem. Our McDonough AC repair page covers cooling-side issues for homeowners dealing with a system that isn’t keeping up with the heat and humidity Henry County delivers every summer.
We also serve Alpharetta, Conyers, Peachtree City, Newnan, and Atlanta. If you’re in McDonough or anywhere nearby in Henry County, give us a call or request your estimate and we’ll get a technician out to take a look. Our crews know this area and we’re on the road down I-75 regularly.
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