Heat Pump Not Cooling — Repair Cost in France (2026)
France national estimate: €90–€600 for a heat pump — not cooling — built from French sources, never converted from another country's prices. Pick your quality tier and enter a postal code to localize. Reviewed July 2026.
Also searched as: “heat pump not cooling repair cost”, “heat pump not blowing cold air fix cost”, “heat pump AC mode not working repair price”.
€90–€600 France national estimate for a heat pump — not cooling. Localize below.
| Most common repair | Typical total (EUR) | DIY? |
|---|---|---|
| Leak detection and recharging the refrigerant circuit of a reversible air conditioner that has stopped cooling | €250–€600 | Pro recommended |
| Cleaning the filters and the indoor unit with a check of the operating pressures | €90–€350 | Pro recommended |
Plus a typical service-call / diagnostic fee of €80–€170, often credited toward the repair.
Pick a quality tier for a class-typical estimate, or a specific French brand to override it (both adjust the parts portion only, never labour). Enter a French postal code to localize to your region's labour costs. All figures stay in euros, never converted from another country's prices. Everything updates without a page reload.
Base: published rates from 4 French heating & cooling companies (2026-07) · France national base range (Insee Tous salariés 2023) · Reviewed July 2026 · Estimated
How do brand and quality tier change the repair cost?
Brand and tier adjust the parts portion only — never labour. Value-tier brands — Ariston, Chaffoteaux and Auer — carry some of the lowest parts factors; Saunier Duval, ELM Leblanc, De Dietrich, Chappée, Atlantic, Thermor and Riello form the mainstream core of the French heating market, with Saunier Duval as the price anchor for this list; premium makers — Vaillant, Frisquet and Viessmann — source mainly through the manufacturer's own network (pièces d'origine). On the heat-pump and split-system side, Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba sit in the premium tier, Panasonic, LG and Atlantic in the mainstream core, and Airwell at the value end. Pick a tier for a class-typical estimate, or a specific French brand to override it.
| Brand | Parts factor | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Basic tier parts ×0.925 | ||
| Chaffoteaux | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Ariston | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Auer | ×0.85 | Parts ×0.85 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| Airwell | ×0.85 | Parts ×0.85 (published rates from 3 local repair companies) |
| Mid-range tier parts ×1.1 | ||
| Saunier Duval | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| ELM Leblanc (Bosch) | ×1.5 | Parts ×1.5 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| De Dietrich | ×1.3 | Parts ×1.3 (published rates from 5 local repair companies) |
| Chappée | ×1.5 | Parts ×1.5 (published rates from 3 local repair companies) |
| Atlantic | ×0.9 | Parts ×0.9 (published rates from 3 local repair companies) |
| Thermor | ×1.15 | Parts ×1.15 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| Riello | ×0.9 | Parts ×0.9 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| Cuenod | ×1.1 | Parts ×1.1 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| Panasonic | ×0.85 | Parts ×0.85 (published rates from 3 local repair companies) |
| Premium tier parts ×1.15 | ||
| Frisquet | ×1.05 | Parts ×1.05 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| Vaillant | ×1.15 | Parts ×1.15 (published rates from 3 local repair companies) |
| Viessmann | ×1.1 | Parts ×1.1 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| Daikin | ×1.35 | Parts ×1.35 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
| Mitsubishi Electric | ×1.6 | Parts ×1.6 (published rates from 2 local repair companies) |
Base: French brand parts factors from French parts retailers and repair guides; tier factor = median of the tier's French brands · Applied to the parts portion only · Reviewed July 2026 · Estimated
Heat Pump not cooling: what usually causes it? Estimated
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Leak detection and recharging the refrigerant circuit of a reversible air conditioner that has stopped cooling
Pro recommended€250–€600
In France most air-to-water heat pumps installed to replace a boiler are not reversible: the demand for cooling mainly concerns reversible air conditioning and air-to-air heat pumps, whose installed base is growing fast, and it is that equipment which is priced here. The material allowed for is the refrigerant alone, billed at €60 to €80 a kilo for R32, that is €60 to €160 for a typical charge of one to two kilos; one real published quote shows €88 of R32. The amounts published for the recharge, €65 to €300, and for the leak, €80 to €400, are call-out prices and not part prices; repairers quote €250 to €600 for leak detection plus recharge together, the same real quote itemising leak detection €120 + repair €85 + recommissioning €90 + refrigerant €88 + call-out charge €60, that is €443. Any handling of refrigerant is reserved for a certified operator working for a firm holding the refrigerant-handling certificate (attestation de capacité).
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Cleaning the filters and the indoor unit with a check of the operating pressures
Pro recommended€90–€350
The number one cause of a reversible air conditioner blowing lukewarm: fouled filters choke the airflow, the evaporator ices up and the cooling disappears, the classic symptom of units never cleaned after two or three summers. The service priced here goes further than rinsing filters: it includes dismantling and cleaning the indoor unit and then taking the operating pressures, which involves the refrigerant circuit and requires a certified operator. The job sits within the general repair range recorded in France, €90 to €350 per visit, with €150 to €300 for a single-split and €250 to €450 for a multi-split depending on the number of units to be opened.
Base: published rates from 4 French heating & cooling companies (2026-07) · France national base range (Insee Tous salariés 2023) · Reviewed July 2026 · Estimated
How much is a service-call fee for heat pump repair?
Most French companies charge a call-out / diagnostic fee of €80–€170, often credited toward the repair if you go ahead. It is separate from the repair totals above. VAT on French home heating and cooling work is usually the 10% reduced rate for repair and maintenance in a dwelling completed more than two years ago, not the 20% standard rate; some energy-performance improvement work can fall to 5.5%, depending on the equipment fitted and the rules in force. Many independent installers and micro-entrepreneurs also fall under France's small-business VAT exemption (franchise en base de TVA, €37,500 threshold for services) and charge no VAT at all — their invoices carry the note "TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI". Prices displayed to consumers in France are quoted TTC (toutes taxes comprises — all taxes included).
Is it worth repairing a heat pump, or should you replace it?
A common rule of thumb: if the repair cost exceeds roughly half the price of a comparable new unit — or the appliance is past ~8 years for a heat pump — replacement is often the better value. The calculator's localized totals give you the number to weigh against a new-unit quote.
Prices are region-level estimates based on regional wage data (Insee, Tous salariés 2023 all-employees base), not fake city precision. Shopping in the U.S.? See the U.S. version (USD). In Canada? See the Canadian version (CAD). See the methodology for the localization method and named sources, or return to the France HVAC repair guide.
Reviewed by a Red Seal–certified appliance technician who also holds a Technical Safety BC gas ticket (Gas-C) and an ODS/halocarbon refrigerant ticket (CFC/HCFC/HFC).