A heat pump that is low on refrigerant does not announce it. It just gets weaker. The house takes longer to reach temperature, the outdoor unit runs almost constantly, the electric bill creeps up, and one cold morning you find the coil buried in ice. By the time most Puget Sound homeowners call us, the system has been leaking slowly for months.
Here is the honest version of what that costs, and how to tell whether you are buying a repair or starting a replacement conversation.
Refrigerant is not fuel — it is a sealed loop
This is the single most useful thing to understand before anyone gives you a price.
Refrigerant is not consumed the way gas or oil is. It circulates in a closed loop, absorbing heat outside and releasing it inside during winter, then reversing in summer. A properly built system holds the same charge for its entire life. So if your heat pump is low, it did not "use up" refrigerant. It leaked.
That matters because "we'll top it off" is not a repair. It is a rental. You will be paying for the same refrigerant again next season, plus another diagnostic, and in the meantime the compressor is running hot and under-lubricated. Compressor replacement is the most expensive single failure on a heat pump, and chronic low charge is one of the fastest ways to get there.
What the diagnostic actually involves
Finding a leak is skilled work, not guesswork. A proper leak call includes:
- Reading suction and liquid pressures and comparing them against superheat and subcooling targets for your specific equipment
- Inspecting the obvious suspects first — service valves, Schrader cores, flare fittings, brazed joints at the line set
- Electronic leak detection and, when needed, nitrogen pressure testing or UV dye to trace a slow leak inside a coil
- Checking the line set where it passes through a crawlspace, wall, or attic, which in Puget Sound homes is often where rubbing, corrosion, or a bad original braze shows up
We give you a price before any work starts. That is the process on every repair call — diagnose, quote, then fix.
What a refrigerant leak repair costs
Heat pump repair in our service area runs $150 to $1,500 in standard markets, $175 to $1,800 in affluent markets like Seattle, Maple Valley, Normandy Park, Black Diamond, Steilacoom and Fircrest, and $200 to $2,000 in luxury markets like Bellevue, Gig Harbor and Fox Island.
Where your leak lands inside that range depends almost entirely on location and access.
| Leak location | Typical difficulty | Where it lands in the range |
|---|---|---|
| Leak locationSchrader valve core or service cap | Typical difficultyEasy, accessible, quick | Where it lands in the rangeBottom of the range |
| Leak locationFlare fitting or accessible brazed joint | Typical difficultyStraightforward reseal or rebraze | Where it lands in the rangeLower half |
| Leak locationLine set inside a wall or crawlspace | Typical difficultyAccess work drives the cost | Where it lands in the rangeMiddle to upper half |
| Leak locationOutdoor condenser coil | Typical difficultyCoil replacement plus full recharge | Where it lands in the rangeTop of the range |
| Leak locationIndoor evaporator coil | Typical difficultyCoil replacement plus full recharge | Where it lands in the rangeTop of the range |
Add to any of those the cost of the refrigerant charge itself, which scales with how much your system holds and which refrigerant it uses. A larger ducted system holds meaningfully more than a single-zone ductless head.
Refrigerant type changes the math more than anything else
R-22 systems
If your outdoor unit is old enough to be charged with R-22, the leak question is largely settled. Production was phased out, remaining supply is reclaimed and expensive, and a unit running R-22 is typically 15-plus years into a 15 to 20 year lifespan in our climate. Spending four figures to repair it buys you time on equipment that is already past its efficiency prime.
R-410A systems
Still widely serviceable, and still the fleet you will find on most Puget Sound homes installed between roughly 2010 and 2024. Repairs on these are usually a reasonable call if the system is under about 10 years old and the leak is in an accessible spot.
R-454B systems
New equipment ships with the current low-GWP refrigerant. If yours is recent and leaking, it is almost certainly warranty territory — which is exactly what a manufacturer warranty registered at install is for, alongside our 10-year parts and labor coverage.
When repair is clearly the right call
- The system is under about 10 years old
- The leak is at a fitting, valve, or accessible joint rather than inside a coil
- The repair costs less than half of a replacement
- The rest of the system is healthy — compressor amps normal, no history of repeat failures, ductwork in good shape
- There is still manufacturer warranty on the part
A good technician should tell you when the fix is small. We have talked plenty of homeowners out of a new system over a $200 valve.
When replacement is the honest answer
- 12-plus years old with a leaking coil. Coil plus charge on an aging system is a large repair on equipment nearing the end anyway.
- R-22. See above.
- Repeat leaks. Two leaks in two seasons on the same unit means the metal is failing, not one joint.
- The compressor is already showing strain. Low charge damages compressors. If it has been running low all winter, you may be paying for the leak now and the compressor next year.
- Salt-air corrosion. In waterfront areas — Des Moines, Dash Point, Steilacoom, Gig Harbor, Burien — corroded coils leak in more than one place. Coastal replacements should get corrosion-resistant coil coatings.
Heat pump replacement runs $10,000 to $16,000 in standard markets, $11,500 to $19,200 in affluent markets, and $12,500 to $21,600 in luxury markets. A full new ducted heat pump system runs $12,000 to $18,000 standard. Every install carries a 10-year parts and 10-year labor warranty, and most are finished in one day.
Want a real number before anyone comes out? The instant estimate tool gives you Good, Better and Best starting prices in about 60 seconds.
The rule we actually use
If the system is under 10 years old and the repair is less than half the cost of replacing it, repair it. If it is 12 to 15 years old and you are looking at a four-figure coil job, put that money toward a new system instead — you get current efficiency, a full warranty, and potentially rebate money that a repair can never earn.
Qualifying heat pump installations can draw local utility rebate money when replacing an existing electric or fossil-fuel system, depending on what you are replacing and what you install. Programs change, so we confirm your current eligibility and handle the paperwork. These programs pay only through their own contractor networks, so we check the current requirements before we quote. Note that rebate eligibility follows the utility that bills you for power, not your county, so we check your address before promising anything. The federal 25C tax credit ended December 31, 2025 and does not apply to any 2026 install.
What to do right now
- Turn the system off if it is iced solid. Running it low on charge with a frozen coil is how compressors die. See our guide on a heat pump that will not heat for the free checks worth doing first.
- Do not let anyone recharge without a leak search. You are paying twice otherwise.
- Find your equipment age and refrigerant type. Both are on the data plate on the outdoor unit.
- Get the repair-or-replace math in writing. Our cost guide covers what a new system actually runs across the region.
Get a straight answer
We diagnose the leak, tell you exactly where it is, and give you both numbers — the repair price and the replacement price — before any work starts. If the repair is the smart buy, we say so. That honesty is why people call us back.
Call (253) 785-4622 Monday through Friday, 8 to 6, or request an estimate. We serve 45 cities across King, Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties from our shop in Federal Way, and we schedule most service calls the same week.