Most people searching for a c repair in Pasadena are living in a house that was built for a different era of cooling. Census estimates put the median year built for Pasadena homes at 1977, so half the housing is older than that. Below is what is different about keeping a Pasadena home cool, and how a free call reaches a local company.
Houston Air & Heating answers the phone; it does not fix equipment. A recorded assistant takes your call, notes whether the house is too hot or too cold and what you are seeing, and connects you with a heating and cooling business in the Pasadena area that is locally owned and runs on its own. That business sends someone out, diagnoses the problem, names its price and handles the repair. Your payment goes to that business, never to the line.
Pasadena: from strawberry fields to the Ship Channel
Pasadena was laid out in 1893 by John H. Burnett, a Galveston businessman, who borrowed the name of the California city for the green, lush look of the land. After the 1900 Galveston hurricane, the American Red Cross under Clara Barton sent 1.5 million strawberry plants to farmers in the Pasadena area, and Pasadena became the strawberry capital of the region.
The Houston Ship Channel changed everything. Refineries rose along the channel, and after World War II it became a center of the petrochemical industry. Pasadena went from 3,436 residents in 1940 to 22,483 in 1950 and 58,737 in 1960, according to the Handbook of Texas. Those plant workers needed houses fast, and a large share of the city's streets were built in those two decades.
A Pasadena house by era: what to ask the technician about
A rough guide only. Remodels and past replacements change the picture, so let the company confirm what is in your attic, closet and side yard.
Built in the 1940s to 1960s boom
Many of these homes were not designed around central air, so the air handler and ducts were fitted in later wherever they would go. Ask whether the return air opening is big enough for the system and whether long duct runs to the back bedrooms leak.
Built in the 1970s and 1980s
Central air from the start, but the original equipment is long gone and the ducts may be the same age as the roof. Ask whether a replacement is being sized to the house, with a load calculation, rather than copied from the old unit's label.
East of 146, in the windstorm area
For homes in Pasadena's windstorm area, new work and repairs are expected to meet TDI's windstorm building standards. Ask whether the outdoor unit will be anchored to its pad and whether the job will be inspected for a windstorm certificate.
The windstorm rule that applies to only part of Pasadena
Pasadena is unusual among Harris County suburbs. The Texas Department of Insurance treats the part of the city that lies east of State Highway 146, inside the city limits, as a designated catastrophe area, the same status as the first tier counties on the coast. TDI added that part of Pasadena by a commissioner's order after a November 1996 hearing, along with nearby Shoreacres, at the request of both cities.
Why does that matter for air conditioning? To qualify for wind and hail coverage through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, new work and repairs in a catastrophe area must meet TDI building specifications and pass inspection, and TDI issues a separate windstorm certificate for the air conditioner once it is installed and inspected. In practice the focus is on the outdoor condenser: TDI's product evaluation rules for condenser anchorage call for a pad large and thick enough to take the fasteners and an anchoring method that keeps the unit from overturning. A loose condenser can shift in a hurricane, kink its refrigerant lines or turn into flying debris.
If your house is on the bay side of 146, raise this before you sign for a new system. Ask the company whether the unit will be anchored to the windstorm standard, who arranges the TDI or engineer inspection, and whether you will get the certificate for your records. If you live west of 146, which covers most of Pasadena, the windstorm program does not apply to you.
City permits for AC work in Pasadena
Pasadena runs its own Permit Department, which handles building and mechanical permits inside the city limits and publishes a fee schedule. The city also requires paperwork showing compliance with the state's energy code before it signs off on covered work. For a homeowner the takeaway is short: ask whether your system change needs a city permit and inspection, and make sure the quote you sign names both if it does.
Who handles what when the house is hot
| What you notice | Who to call |
|---|---|
| The whole street or house has no power | CenterPoint Energy, which owns the poles and wires in Pasadena |
| A billing or plan question | The retail electric provider you chose |
| Lights work but the AC blows warm or will not start | An HVAC company (the free line can put you through) |
| You smell gas | Leave the house first, then call 911 or the gas company's emergency number on your bill from outside |
| A carbon monoxide alarm sounds | Get everyone out and call 911 |
Quick checks before you call
- Thermostat. Set to Cool, a few degrees below room temperature, with fresh batteries if it uses them.
- Air filter. Lint and dust can smother a filter until the indoor coil ices over. Put in a clean one if yours looks matted.
- Breaker. Flip the AC breaker back on once if it has tripped. Should it pop again, something is wrong, so stop there and phone for help.
- Outdoor unit. Pull back grass clippings, leaves and anything stacked against the condenser so it can move air.
Anything past that, including refrigerant, wiring and the parts inside the panels, is a job for a technician. Our guide to an AC that is not cooling walks through the common causes.
Why Pasadena homeowners call the line
Older houses, failures at odd hours
With half of Pasadena's homes built before 1977, a lot of tired equipment is still running. The line picks up around the clock and hands your call to a Pasadena-area business that is not owned by the line.
Landlords and owners alike
Only about 54 percent of Pasadena homes are owner occupied, per the Census Bureau. Owners and landlords can call with the property's area and problem. Renters should report the problem to their landlord first.
Free to call, priced by the company
The call costs nothing. Whatever business you are connected with looks at the system, sets its own price and collects payment itself. No payment goes through the line.
Know what to ask before you sign
This page covers the 146 windstorm rule and the city permit, and the site shows how to confirm a company's ACR license on the TDLR website.
Services Pasadena homes ask about most
Hot months drive the demand for AC repair, from a unit that hums but will not start to a frozen coil. When an old system needs a major part, read about AC installation and replacement and our guide on whether to repair or replace. Winter cold fronts send people to heating repair, and shops and offices near the industrial corridor can look at commercial HVAC.
AC Repair in Houston
Warm air, a unit that hums but will not start, ice on the lines or a tripped breaker. How a careful diagnosis works in Houston heat and what to ask before you approve a repair.
Emergency AC Repair (24/7)
No cooling at night, on a weekend or during a heat wave or power outage. What to do while you wait and who is most at risk.
AC Installation and Replacement
Why a load calculation matters more than the brand, what a complete replacement quote lists, and permits in Houston.
Heating Repair (Heat Pumps and Electric Heat)
Heat pumps blowing cool air, aux heat running all night, electric heat strips that quit. How Houston homes heat and what goes wrong before a freeze.
How a Pasadena call works
- Dial the numberAn automated assistant picks up (832) 662-4107 at any hour and asks what you need help with.
- Say what is wrongTell it whether the trouble is cooling or heating, where in the Houston area you are, and what the system is doing.
- Reach a local companyYour call is transferred to an independent, locally owned HVAC company, which gets a short summary of your problem before it answers.
- Work it out with themThat company inspects, quotes, repairs and bills you directly. If nobody can pick up, your name, number and problem are passed on for a call back.
About this line: Houston Air & Heating is a free phone line, not an HVAC contractor. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local heating and air conditioning company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. Companies may pay a referral fee. You never pay the line. Read how the line works.
Verify the license before work begins. Texas requires anyone contracting to do air conditioning, refrigeration or heating work to hold an Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (ACR) Contractor license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Ask the company for its ACR license number, then confirm it on the TDLR license search (opens in a new tab). The line does not check this for you.
Nearby areas and guides
Every Houston-area community the line serves: