Heat Pump Repair Cost (2026)
Most heat pump repairs run ¥9,000–¥419,800 depending on the problem, the brand tier, and your local labour costs — in yen, from Japanese sources. Start from the problem, then localize. Reviewed August 2026.
¥9,000–¥419,800 across all common heat pump repairs. Pick the problem to narrow it.
| Most common repair | Typical total (JPY) | DIY? |
|---|---|---|
| Leak testing and recharging the refrigerant | ¥27,000–¥50,000 | Pro recommended |
| Replacing the outdoor unit's control board | ¥28,000–¥46,000 | Pro recommended |
Plus a typical service-call / diagnostic fee of ¥8,500–¥19,000, often credited toward the repair.
Pick a quality tier for a class-typical estimate. Everything updates without a page reload; no data leaves your browser.
Base: published rates from 2 Japanese heating & cooling companies (2026-08) · Japan national base range (MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2024) · Reviewed August 2026 · Estimated
How much does heat pump repair cost by problem? Estimated
| Problem | Typical range | Repairs priced |
|---|---|---|
| Not Heating | ¥27,000–¥50,000 | 2 |
| Not Cooling | ¥21,000–¥55,000 | 2 |
| Stuck in Defrost / Frozen Outdoor Unit | ¥9,000–¥46,000 | 2 |
| Reversing Valve Replacement | ¥12,000–¥170,000 | 2 |
| Defrost Control Board Replacement | ¥28,000–¥64,000 | 2 |
| Capacitor Replacement | ¥9,000–¥52,000 | 2 |
| Refrigerant Leak Repair / Recharge | ¥16,000–¥50,000 | 2 |
| Compressor Replacement | ¥52,000–¥419,800 | 2 |
| Outdoor Fan Motor Replacement | ¥21,000–¥75,000 | 2 |
| Short Cycling (Turns On and Off) | ¥28,000–¥105,000 | 2 |
Base: published rates from 2 Japanese heating & cooling companies (2026-08) · Japan national base range (MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2024) · Reviewed August 2026 · Estimated
How do brand & quality tier change the parts cost?
Brand and tier adjust the parts portion only — never labour. Parts prices vary by brand, and they say nothing about how good a unit is. The reference line here is Daikin's outdoor-unit control board, listed at 18,700 JPY tax-included at a genuine-parts retailer; Panasonic's outdoor boards sit at essentially the same level. Above the reference sits Corona, a maker known for affordably priced machines, whose outdoor control unit is listed at 27,284 JPY — the most expensive control component observed anywhere in this file. Below the reference are Mitsubishi Electric, whose three listed boards are each 8,459 JPY, Hitachi, whose sixteen listed boards have a median of 17,150 JPY, and Sharp, whose service board is 7,480 JPY. For Toshiba, Fujitsu General and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries no Japanese board price could be confirmed, so each is set at the median of its own band. Iris Ohyama, Haier and Hisense, the gas makers Rinnai, Noritz, Paloma and Purpose, and the kerosene makers Chofu, Sunpot, Toyotomi and Dainichi are held at the reference for the same reason, and no price difference is claimed either way. A cheap machine does not mean a cheap spare board, and Corona is the proof. Pick a tier in the calculator for a class-typical estimate, or a specific Japanese brand to override it.
| Brand | Parts factor | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Basic tier parts ×1 | ||
| Corona (コロナ) | ×1.2 | Parts ×1.2 (Corona is a Niigata heating manufacturer making simple standard-range air conditioners alongside kerosene fan heaters, kerosene water heaters, and the heat-pump water heater it was first to commercialise. The machines are affordably priced; the parts are not. At a genuine-parts retailer its outdoor control unit is listed at 27,284 JPY tax-included, the most expensive control component observed anywhere in this file. Because that is a complete control unit rather than a bare board, and a low-volume one, the raw ratio of 1.46 against the 18,700 JPY anchor is capped at 1.2. This entry is the clearest illustration of why tier and factor are independent axes here: a value-tier machine can carry the dearest spare part on the list.) |
| Iris Ohyama (アイリスオーヤマ) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Haier (ハイアール) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Hisense (ハイセンス) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Purpose (パーパス) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Toyotomi (トヨトミ) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Mid-range tier parts ×1 | ||
| Panasonic (パナソニック) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Toshiba (東芝 大清快) | ×0.95 | Parts ×0.95 (tier median (0.95 = median of the mainstream-tier brands whose Japanese board prices were actually observed: Panasonic 1.0 and Sharp 0.9). Toshiba's Daiseikai line is a long-standing staple of the Japanese room-AC market. A genuine-parts retailer's Toshiba category was reached and does list prices -- an air-conditioner mounting plate at 770 JPY and a louver motor at 4,840 JPY, both tax-included -- but no control board appears in it, and no other Japanese retailer page with an openly priced Toshiba board was reached. The brand is therefore anchored on its own tier's evidenced median rather than guessed. Note also that the Toshiba air-conditioning business is no longer Toshiba-owned: it now trades in Japan as Toshiba Carrier / Carrier Japan, while the Toshiba-badged white goods sit with a separate owner -- the nameplate a homeowner searches is unchanged.) |
| Fujitsu General (富士通ゼネラル ノクリア) | ×0.95 | Parts ×0.95 (tier median (0.95 = median of the mainstream-tier brands whose Japanese board prices were actually observed: Panasonic 1.0 and Sharp 0.9). Fujitsu General's nocria line comes from an air-conditioning-led manufacturer and sits in the mid-to-upper volume band. Fujitsu General inverter boards do circulate on Japanese marketplaces, but no retailer page carrying an openly priced Fujitsu General board was independently reached and read, so a marketplace figure seen only in a search summary has deliberately not been used as evidence. The brand is anchored on its own tier's evidenced median rather than guessed.) |
| Sharp (シャープ プラズマクラスター) | ×0.9 | Parts ×0.9 (Sharp is known for its Plasmacluster models and sells broadly across the standard range. At a genuine-parts retailer its air-conditioner service board is listed at 7,480 JPY tax-included, among the cheapest boards observed anywhere in this file. Because only that one board is publicly priced, the raw figure is not passed through: raw ratio 0.40 against the 18,700 JPY anchor, held at 0.9 under the file's policy floor.) |
| Rinnai (リンナイ) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Noritz (ノーリツ) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Paloma (パロマ) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Chofu (長府製作所) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Sunpot (サンポット) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Dainichi (ダイニチ) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Premium tier parts ×0.9 | ||
| Daikin (ダイキン) | ×1 | Baseline — no parts adjustment |
| Mitsubishi Electric (三菱電機 霧ヶ峰) | ×0.9 | Parts ×0.9 (Mitsubishi Electric, maker of the Kirigamine line, is treated as an upper-tier brand on the strength of its sensor control and domestic manufacturing. Its parts, however, are not expensive. At a genuine-parts retailer three different boards -- indoor control, outdoor inverter control and inverter control -- are each listed at 8,459 JPY tax-included, well below the reference. Because that looks like a single flat exchange price rather than three independent prices, the low raw figure is not passed through; the brand is placed slightly below the reference instead. Raw ratio 0.45 against the 18,700 JPY anchor, held at 0.9 under the file's policy floor.) |
| Hitachi (日立 白くまくん) | ×0.9 | Parts ×0.9 (Hitachi's Shirokumakun line is well regarded at the top of the range for its automatic freeze-wash cleaning. A specialist Hitachi genuine-parts shop lists sixteen air-conditioner boards openly, ranging from 3,800 JPY to 25,000 JPY tax-included. Their median is about 17,150 JPY, marginally below the reference -- a ratio of 0.92, recorded as 0.9. This is the one brand in the file whose factor is a true median of multiple observed board prices rather than a capped single observation.) |
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (三菱重工 ビーバーエアコン) | ×0.9 | Parts ×0.9 (tier median (0.9 = median of the premium-tier brands whose Japanese board prices were actually observed: Daikin 1.0, Mitsubishi Electric 0.9 and Hitachi 0.9). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, maker of the Beaver line, is a DIFFERENT company from Mitsubishi Electric -- the two are routinely confused, and a homeowner ordering parts must confirm which one they have. No Japanese retailer page carrying an openly priced Mitsubishi Heavy board was reached; the brand is anchored on its own tier's evidenced median rather than guessed.) |
Heat Pump error codes
When the display shows a fault code, the diagnosis — and the price — gets specific. 134 heat pump codes are decoded in the error-code directory; the most looked-up:
Trane 6 flashes Trane 7 flashes Bosch E6 Bosch P2/H5 Bosch P3/H3 Bosch P4/H6 Bosch P8 Bosch PH/HH Carrier 41-13 Carrier 53-41 Carrier 61-41 Carrier 64-41
How much is a heat pump service-call fee?
Most Japanese companies charge a diagnostic / service-call fee of ¥8,500–¥19,000, often credited toward the repair if you proceed.
Base: published rates from 3 Japanese heating & cooling companies · National fee range · Reviewed August 2026 · Estimated
Is it worth repairing a heat pump?
If the repair quote exceeds roughly half the price of a comparable new heat pump — or the unit is well past its typical service life — replacement is often the better value. Localize the repair range above first, then compare.
Prices are prefecture-level estimates based on labour-cost data, not fake city precision. See the methodology for the localization method and named sources.
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).