AC problems
AC Maintenance and Tune-Ups
What a real tune-up includes, and why a Houston system needs one before the heat arrives.
A tune-up is the one HVAC service where you have to know what you are buying, because the word covers everything from a technician spending an hour on the system to a salesman glancing at it on his way to the clipboard. A proper spring service on a Houston system means cleaning the condenser coil, checking the refrigerant charge against the manufacturer's figures rather than by feel, testing the capacitor and contactor, checking amperage on the motors, flushing the condensate drain, checking the blower and the filter, and testing the thermostat.
The two items that pay for themselves here are the drain flush and the coil cleaning. A condensate drain that clogs in July overflows into the ceiling or trips the float switch and shuts the system off on the hottest day, and a dirty condenser coil can cost a fifth of the system's capacity. Both are cheap to do in April and expensive to discover in August.
What a tune-up should not be is a pretext. If a technician arrives for a maintenance visit and leaves having recommended a new system, ask for the measurements that led him there. A good one will have them written down.
What it looks like
- The system has not been serviced since it was installed
- Last summer it struggled in the afternoons
- A musty smell when it starts
- You want the drain checked before the wet season
Whatever the problem turns out to be, the first step is the same: describe it, say where the house is, and one independent HVAC contractor working in your town contacts you to look at it. No charge for being connected, and no obligation once he has.
Where
AC Maintenance and Tune-Ups across north Houston
Humble
Subdivisions from the seventies to the nineties, so a lot of systems on their second or third replacement, with attic air handlers and original ductwork.
Kingwood
Big two-storey houses from the eighties under full tree cover, with upstairs that runs hot and air handlers in attics that reach 140.
Porter
Fast-growing Montgomery County, with builder-grade systems in the new subdivisions and older country houses on their original equipment.
New Caney
New construction along 59 beside acreage in the pines, with long power runs and surge damage after every storm.
Splendora
Rural lots, manufactured homes and older houses, where package units and window units are as common as central systems.
Crosby
East Harris County, older subdivisions near the lake, open land and salt air, which eats condenser coils faster than anywhere inland.
Dayton
Liberty County, country HVAC: heat pumps on propane-free properties, long drives for the technician, and nobody local to call.
The Woodlands
The biggest HVAC market north of Houston: large houses, often two or three systems each, and covenants on where an outdoor unit can sit.
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AC problem in north Houston?
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