Before you hire an HVAC company: the questions that separate good ones from the rest

Five questions that tell you most of what you need

Before you hire an HVAC company, ask five things: whether the company holds a Texas air conditioning license and what the number is, whether they diagnose before they price, whether you see the price before any work starts, what warranty stands behind the repair or installation, and who will actually come to your house. A good company answers all five without hesitation or irritation. How a company handles these questions on the phone tells you most of what you need to know about how it will handle your system.

I am Brandon Quigley, the third generation of my family to run Quigley Heating & Air from Farmers Branch. We have been doing this since 1945, and I would much rather a homeowner ask us hard questions than hire anyone blind. Below are the questions I would ask if I were on your side of the phone, the answers to listen for, and the warning signs that should make you hang up and call someone else.

Is the license real, and whose name is on it?

In Texas, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation states that contractors who install, repair or maintain air conditioning, refrigeration or heating systems must hold a TDLR license. TDLR runs a free online license search, so you can confirm a number in a couple of minutes before anyone comes out. Ask for the number on the phone. Ours is TACLA23686E, and it is printed on our website. A company that hedges on this question has answered the only question that matters.

Refrigerant is its own rule. The EPA advises homeowners to work with dealers that employ service technicians who are EPA-certified, often called Section 608 certification, because handling refrigerant takes training and the right equipment. ENERGY STAR's hiring tips also suggest learning your state's license and insurance requirements before you choose. It is fair to ask a company to confirm its technicians are certified and that it carries insurance. You are letting these people into your attic and onto your electrical panel.

How do you diagnose, and when do I see a price?

Ask the company to walk you through a service call. Here is ours. You get a text naming your technician when they are on the way. They arrive in a marked van with an ID badge, put on shoe covers and lay drop cloths, ask what you have noticed, then run a full system diagnostic. Before any work starts, they review what they found and the repair options with you. Nothing is replaced until you have seen the price and said yes.

Ask what the diagnostic visit costs and what it covers, so there are no surprises. Our Q Club members pay a reduced diagnostic fee of 60, 75 or 85 dollars depending on their tier, and they see their repair discount on the estimate before approving. Whatever company you call, the answer should be clear and the same before and after the technician arrives. Be wary of anyone who names a repair price before looking at the system. They are guessing, and you will pay for the guess.

A good diagnosis also comes with a reason. The technician should be able to tell you what they measured and what the numbers mean, not only which part to replace. If your call is about an air conditioner that runs without cooling, my guide on what is usually behind that problem lists the checks our technicians make, so you can tell whether someone is testing or guessing.

Questions to ask while the technician is standing there

Once there is a diagnosis, slow the conversation down long enough to understand it. A good technician welcomes these questions and can answer them in plain English. If you cannot get a straight answer to the first one, do not approve the second step.

• What failed, and what caused it to fail?
• Is the part on the truck, or does it have to be ordered?
• What is the total price, including labor, before you start?
• What are my options: repair now, repair later or replace?
• What warranty covers the parts and the labor on this repair?
• What should I watch for over the next few weeks?

Questions for a replacement estimate

A replacement is a much larger decision, and ENERGY STAR's contractor tips set a useful standard. Expect the contractor to inspect your system and your home, size the equipment from the house itself, including its size, insulation and windows, check the ducts for leaks, and measure airflow against the manufacturer's specifications. Expect written, itemized estimates and a signed proposal that lists costs, model numbers, the job schedule and warranty information. ENERGY STAR also suggests calling references and asking whether the job finished on time and within budget.

Use the list below during the estimate visit. If a salesperson cannot answer these, the estimate is not finished yet. For a deeper look at why two replacement quotes can be far apart, read my guide on what drives the cost of a new system.

• How did you decide what size system my house needs?
• What did you find in the ductwork, and is fixing it included?
• What are the exact model numbers and efficiency ratings?
• Are electrical, drain, thermostat and permit work included?
• What warranty covers the equipment, and what covers your labor?
• How long will installation take, and who will be here?

Red flags I would walk away from

Some warning signs are loud and some are quiet. The loud ones are easy: pressure to sign today, a price that is only good if you decide before the salesperson leaves, or a refusal to give a license number. The quiet ones cost people more, because they sound reasonable at the time.

The first quiet one is a technician who recommends replacement within minutes without measuring anything. The second is a company that adds refrigerant every summer and never mentions the word leak. The EPA notes that system leaks result in increased operation and maintenance costs, and a refrigerant system that keeps needing more has a leak somewhere. The third is an estimate with no model numbers, which makes it impossible to compare. And watch for a salesperson who leans on comfortable myths, like bigger always being better; I take apart the most common ones in AC myths that cost you money.

• Pressure to decide on the spot
• No license number, or a number that does not match the company
• Replacement pitched before any measurements
• Refrigerant added year after year with no leak search
• Estimates without model numbers or warranty terms

Local company, national brand or the builder's crew

Ask who you are actually talking to. Some companies answer the phone from a national call center and send whichever subcontractor is free. Others are local businesses whose owners answer for the work and whose name has been on the same building for years. Neither label guarantees good work, but it changes who you call when something goes wrong, and whether anyone remembers your system next summer.

Ask whether they service your brand. We are a Lennox Authorized Dealer, we install Trane, and we service all brands, so you never have to replace equipment just to keep a company you trust. If your system was installed by a builder during a remodel or new construction, it is worth having your own company look it over during the first year, while any installation problems are still easy to address.

Ask, too, how quickly they can come during the first heat wave, when every company in Dallas is booked. Many companies give maintenance plan members priority. Ours are scheduled first: within 12 hours for Platinum members, within 24 hours for Silver, and ahead of non-members for Chrome. That answer matters more in July than it does in October, which is exactly why it is worth asking in October.

What online reviews can and cannot tell you

Reviews are useful for patterns, not for any single story. Read the recent ones and look for the same few things repeated: whether the company communicated, arrived when it said it would, explained the price before the work and fixed the problem so it stayed fixed. Pay close attention to complaints about price surprises, and to how the company responds to criticism. We have a 4.8 rating on Google from more than 600 reviews, and I still read the critical ones, because they tell us where to improve.

What reviews cannot tell you is whether the company is right for your particular house. That comes from the conversation. A company that asks good questions about your rooms, your bills and your system's history before it recommends anything is usually the one that will get the answer right.

Look at the dates as well. A company with years of steady reviews has a track record you can read. A sudden burst of short, identical reviews tells you less. And if a friend or neighbor has used a company for years, that conversation is worth more than a dozen strangers.

The last question: what happens after the job?

Ask what the relationship looks like after the repair or installation. Will someone call to schedule maintenance? Is there a plan that gives you priority when the system fails on a holiday weekend? Our answer is the Q Club, with two tune-ups a year, priority scheduling and extended repair warranties, and I explain what any good plan should include in my guide to maintenance plans.

If you would like us to be one of the companies you compare, call our office and ask us every question on this page. We serve homes and businesses across Dallas, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Coppell, Frisco, Garland, Highland Park, Plano, Richardson and University Park, and we will be glad to show our work.

Questions people ask me