AC maintenance in Houston is mostly about timing. A cooling system here may run from spring well into fall in heavy, humid air, then sit while a gas furnace or heat pump takes over for a handful of cold weeks. The best maintenance plan follows that calendar: the right check before each season, a few habits in between, and some preparation for the storms that arrive in the middle of the cooling season.
A note on who you would be calling: Houston Air & Heating does no HVAC work itself. It runs a free line, (832) 662-4107, answered at any hour by an automated assistant. Say you want a tune-up or maintenance visit and it transfers you to a locally owned HVAC company, independent of the line, that works in your area. You set the date with that company, it handles the visit, and you pay it, not the line.
This page covers when to book, what to keep up with yourself, how to get ready for hurricane season and how to read a maintenance agreement. The item by item list of what a technician checks lives on a separate page, what an HVAC tune-up includes, and the question of whether a yearly visit pays off has its own guide, is an HVAC tune-up worth it.
The Houston maintenance calendar
ENERGY STAR advises a professional check-up ahead of each season, spring for cooling and fall for heating. On the Gulf Coast, that general advice maps onto the year like this.
- Late winter into early spring: the cooling check. Book the air conditioning visit before the first stretch of warm, sticky days, while companies still have open calendars. A system checked now has its coil, drain and refrigerant charge looked at before months of heavy running, and a weak part has a chance to show up on a mild day instead of a scorching one.
- Late spring: storm season planning. Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1. Take photos of the indoor and outdoor units and their labels, note where the outdoor disconnect and the breaker are, and clear the area around the condenser. The section below covers this in more detail.
- Summer: habits, not appointments. This is when filters load up fastest and condensate drains carry the most water. Check the filter monthly, watch the drain line and keep the outdoor unit clear. If something seems wrong, call for a repair rather than waiting for a tune-up date.
- Early fall: the heating check. Book the furnace or heat pump visit before the first real cold front, while the air conditioner may still be running in the afternoons. A gas furnace needs its burners, venting and heat exchanger looked at; a heat pump needs its heating mode and backup heat tested.
- Winter: be ready for a hard freeze. Houston freezes are rare but serious, as February 2021 showed. Make sure carbon monoxide alarms work if you have gas heat, and know where your system's shutoffs are before the forecast turns.
Why AC maintenance in Houston matters more than the national average suggests
Maintenance advice written for the whole country assumes a few months of cooling. In the Houston area the cooling season is long and the air is humid, so the same machine logs far more running hours and pulls far more water out of the air. Every one of those hours moves air through the filter and across the indoor coil, and every gallon of condensate has to drain away through a small pipe.
The U.S. Department of Energy puts the savings from swapping a clogged filter for a clean one at 5 to 15 percent of the air conditioner's energy use, and it says to check the evaporator coil every year and clean it as needed. ENERGY STAR adds that dirty coils make a system run longer, which raises energy costs and shortens the life of the equipment. Those effects stack up faster when the system rarely gets a day off.
Humidity adds a second job. An air conditioner that is short on airflow or refrigerant may still blow cool air, but it can leave the house clammy. Research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that when installation faults leave a house too humid, people tend to turn the thermostat down to feel comfortable, which drives energy use up further. A careful technician looking at airflow and charge is checking comfort as well as efficiency.
HVAC service in Houston also means heating
Plenty of Houston houses have a gas furnace up in the attic or tucked in a hall closet; others use a heat pump or electric heat strips in the air handler. The heating side only runs for part of the year, which is exactly why it deserves a look in fall. Parts that sat idle through summer, like an igniter or a flame sensor, show their problems on the first cold night, and that is when every heating company's phone rings at once.
A heat pump is the exception to the one-visit-per-season idea. It does the heating and the cooling, so it runs nearly all year and benefits from attention in both spring and fall.
Habits that matter most in humid heat
A yearly visit does not replace what you can safely do in between. These are the homeowner tasks that make the biggest difference in a Gulf Coast house. None of them involves refrigerant, wiring, gas or opening an electrical panel.
Check the filter every month
ENERGY STAR says to check the air filter in a central air conditioner, furnace or heat pump once a month and clean or change it as needed. Write the date on the frame when you put a new one in. A filter that looks gray and matted after a few weeks of summer running is normal here; a filter you cannot see light through is overdue.
Watch the condensate drain
ENERGY STAR warns that a plugged condensate drain can cause water damage, affect indoor humidity and breed mold. Know where the drain line ends outside and glance at it on hot afternoons: it should drip. Water in the pan under the attic unit, or a system that has shut itself off, is a sign to call. The AC leaking water guide explains what to look for.
Keep the outdoor unit clear
The condenser has to push heat out into already hot air. Keep shrubs, vines, grass clippings, leaves and stored items away from its sides and top, and do not let a fence or a pile of patio furniture box it in. Turn the system off at the thermostat before working near it.
Notice changes early
A new noise, a room that never cools, a jump in the electric bill or ice on the copper lines all point to a problem a technician should find. The AC not cooling guide lists safe checks to try first: thermostat mode and batteries, the filter, and one breaker reset.
Leave these to a technician: refrigerant, capacitors and other electrical parts, anything inside a gas furnace, and the burners. If you smell gas, leave the house first, then call 911 or your gas utility's emergency number from outside. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, get everyone out and call 911.
Hurricane season and power outages: prepare the outdoor unit
Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, right through the hardest months of Houston cooling. Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 and other storms have left large parts of the region without power for days in summer heat. Maintenance cannot prevent an outage, but it can make sure the system comes back cleanly when the power does.
- Before a storm: clear loose items around the condenser that wind could throw into the fins, and photograph the unit, its label and the indoor equipment for your records and any insurance claim.
- During an outage: switch the thermostat Off so the system does not try to start the moment power flickers back. If you run a portable generator, keep it outdoors and well away from windows, doors and vents because of carbon monoxide.
- After power returns: wait a few minutes before turning cooling back on, and listen as it starts. A hum without the fan turning, a burning smell or a breaker that trips again means stop and call.
- If floodwater reached the unit: do not turn it on. Have a technician inspect any outdoor unit, air handler or furnace that sat in water before it runs again.
Some homes in flood-prone parts of the area have condensers set on raised stands or platforms. If yours sits low in a spot that has taken water before, ask the company at your next visit what raising it would involve. If the system will not restart after a storm, the emergency AC repair page explains your next steps.
Maintenance agreements: what to ask before you sign
Many HVAC companies sell a yearly maintenance agreement, sometimes called a service plan or club membership. It usually bundles a spring and a fall visit with other perks. Some are good value and some are mostly a sales tool, and the paperwork is how you tell the difference.
| Ask this | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What tasks are done at each visit, in writing? | "Tune-up" has no fixed meaning. A written task list lets you compare plans and check the visit against the list. |
| Does it cover both systems and both seasons? | A plan with one visit a year may skip the furnace or the heat pump's heating side entirely. |
| Is coil cleaning included, or extra? | Coil cleaning is often the costliest part of a visit and a common add-on charge. |
| Will I get the readings from each visit? | Measurements written down this year are what make next year's visit meaningful. |
| How does renewal and cancellation work? | Know whether it renews automatically, at what price, and how to cancel. |
| What happens in a summer breakdown? | Ask how the plan treats members when demand is high, and get the answer written into the agreement rather than taken on trust. |
The industry has a published minimum for what a maintenance inspection should cover: ANSI/ACCA 4 QM, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America standard for residential HVAC maintenance. Asking whether a plan's visits follow it is a fair question. The tune-up checklist breaks those tasks down so you can compare.
Want a spring or fall check booked? Call the line any hour. Tell the assistant which systems you have and where you live, and you will be put through to a local company that schedules and prices the visit.
- 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.
Related services and guides
- AC Repair in Houston
- Furnace Repair
- Heating Repair (Heat Pumps and Electric Heat)
- Is an HVAC Tune-Up Worth It?
- What an HVAC Tune-Up Includes
- How to Choose an HVAC Company in Houston
Maintenance calls across greater Houston
The line takes calls from Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria and Galveston counties. The town pages below note local details such as utilities and flood history.