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Air conditioning and heating for League City houses
Most of the housing here is slab-on-grade with the air handler in the attic, the ducts laid above the insulation and the condenser on a pad at the side of the house. Each of those three places has a predictable way of going wrong on the Gulf coast, and none of them is the fault of the brand on the equipment.
The attic is the hard part
An attic in this climate reaches temperatures that nothing in the house is designed for, and that is where we put the air handler and most of the ductwork. Three consequences follow, and they account for a large share of the calls we take.
Condensate. An air handler in an attic produces water all summer, directly above a ceiling. That is why the code wants a primary drain, a secondary pan, a float switch and a route for the water that does not rely on anybody noticing. We check all four on every visit, because the first sign of a blocked primary is usually a stain on a bedroom ceiling and by then the cost has multiplied.
Duct losses. Flexible duct laid on top of or under insulation in a 140°F attic loses cooling the whole length of the run. A system that appears undersized at the thermostat is very often correctly sized and leaking into the roof space. That is measurable, and we measure it before quoting equipment.
Access. Equipment that cannot be reached does not get serviced. Where the platform or the walkway is the real problem we say so, because a decent walk board is cheaper than the maintenance that gets skipped without one.
Humidity is most of what comfort means here
A house at 74°F and 65% relative humidity feels worse than the same house at 77°F and 48%, and it costs more to run. Oversizing is the usual cause, and it is the easiest mistake to make when replacing like for like.
Why oversizing makes it worse
Cooling removes moisture only while the coil is wet and the air is moving across it. An oversized system reaches the set temperature quickly and shuts off before it has dehumidified, so it short-cycles all day and the house stays clammy. Bigger is not cooler here. It is damper.
What we do instead
We calculate the load from the house as it stands — orientation, glazing, insulation, infiltration, how many people actually live there — rather than from the nameplate on the unit being removed. Where the old unit was oversized, the replacement is smaller, and we explain why before you sign anything.
Where variable speed earns its money
A variable-capacity system runs long and slow, which is exactly what dehumidification wants. It is not always worth the premium, and on a small well-shaded house it often is not. We will tell you when it is not.
Residential work we take on
Repairs and diagnosis
- No cooling, weak cooling, short cycling, iced coils
- Refrigerant leak location rather than repeated top-ups
- Condensate blockages, overflowing pans, tripped float switches
- Blower, contactor, capacitor and control faults
- Thermostat and control wiring faults, including after a power event
Replacements
- Load calculated room by room before equipment is chosen
- Condenser height and pad or stand decided as part of the quote, not afterwards
- Disconnect, whip and line set penetration raised where they are low
- Line set, drain and electrical renewed rather than reused where reuse is false economy
- Old refrigerant recovered properly and the system commissioned with readings recorded
Heating
- Gas furnaces, heat pumps and electric strip heat
- Heat pump balance point and strip heat staging set properly — badly set strips are an expensive, invisible fault
- Flue, combustion and safety checks before the first cold snap
- Honest advice on heat pump versus furnace for a climate with a short heating season
Ductwork and airflow
- Static pressure and duct leakage measured and reported in writing
- Sealing, resizing and re-running failed or crushed flex
- Return air sizing, which is the commonest cause of a noisy, struggling system
- Room-by-room balancing for the bedroom that is always warmer than the rest
What we do not do
We are a mechanical contractor, so there are jobs we will not quote on even when they turn up in the same conversation. Drainage, grading, sump and lift pumps, flood barriers and foundation work are not ours. Electrical work beyond the equipment disconnect belongs to a licensed electrician. Plumbing, water treatment and gas supply beyond the appliance connection belong to a plumber. Flood zone determinations, base flood elevations and elevation certificates are a matter for FEMA, the City and a licensed surveyor, and nothing on this site is one.
Saying so costs us work and saves you money, which is the right way round.
Mon–Fri 7am–5.30pm