What hvac work costs, and which of it you should not be paying for at all.

Prices vary by region and by how much access the job needs. Where a job has a genuine do-it-yourself version we say so rather than quoting a number for it.

• Ductwork threaded through a house built for floor grates
• Additions still on window units
• Uninsulated walls and an oversized condenser
• Electrical panel cannot support a modern condenser
• R-22 system leaking refrigerant
• Ducts in an unconditioned attic
• System cools but the house stays humid
• Blower runs constantly and never satisfies
• Cooling drops off on the hottest days only
• One zone stuck hot or cold
• Squeal or grind from the air handler
• Upstairs runs hot no matter the setting
• Control board fault on a communicating system
• Fifteen degree difference between floors
• Furnace ignites, runs a minute, shuts off
• Dual fuel system switching at the wrong temperature

Things you should not pay for

• One central return for the whole house
• Silver-wrapped tape on old duct joints
• Furnace runs but the house never warms evenly
• Filter slot is a gap behind a grille
• Thermostat has only four wires
• Condenser pad has sunk and the unit leans
• Evaporator coil freezing over
• Only some rooms cool, and always the same ones
• SEER 10 system still running at thirty years
• Flex duct crushed or kinked in the attic
• Water on the floor near the air handler
• Refrigerant line insulation crumbling
• Outdoor unit caked in cottonwood and red dust
• Thermostat set to 72 and the house reads 78
• Whole street replacing systems the same year
• Smart thermostat installed and the heat now runs oddly
• Condensate pump buzzing or backing up
• White PVC vent pipes outside stained or dripping
• House feels stuffy in a new build
• Loud startup thump from the outdoor unit
• Heat pump runs constantly below freezing
• Outdoor unit steaming in winter

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Written by Jaylan Jones. I Like To Fix earns a referral fee when a call connects to a contractor. See our business-model disclosure.