What AC repair costs, written down before you call.

Most of the anxiety around an AC repair is not the money. It is not knowing the money. You call, you wait in a four-hour window, someone looks at your system, and only then does a number appear.

Everything here is published before you call. This page is the short version; the full list is on the pricing page.

The two ways to get there

A check-up is for a system that is running. You want a read on where it stands before the season, or before you buy the house.

A diagnostic is for a system that is not running right. Something is wrong and the job is finding it.

Same person, same tools, different symptom. The diagnostic costs more because it is harder work than a routine measurement pass.

Nothing is credited against the repair. That sounds worse than it is: a credited diagnostic has to be paid for somewhere, and it gets paid for by inflating the repair price. The numbers here do not have that built in.

The common repairs

• Capacitor, outdoor unit. The most common summer failure in the Valley. Roof units are their own price on the list.
• Contactor. The relay that switches the outdoor unit on and off.
• Float / safety switch. The shutoff that cuts the system when the drain backs up.
• Drain line clear-out. A plugged condensate drain, cleared and flushed.
• Condensate pump. Where the water has to be lifted rather than falling out on its own.
• Thermostat install. Your thermostat, existing wiring in place.
• Outdoor fan motor. Universal replacement, with the matching run capacitor included rather than added on.

Anything not on the list is charged by the hour, one hour minimum, and you hear the estimate before it starts.

What flat rate actually means here

One price per repair. Where the unit sits is already priced in. No trip fee, no dispatch fee, and no fuel surcharge inside the service area. Outside it, the visit carries a job minimum instead, which exists to cover the drive rather than to turn anyone away.

You hear the number and agree to it before anything is touched. If you would rather think about it, that is a complete answer and nothing happens on assumption.

The ceiling, and why it is good for you

No job here can exceed $1,000 in labor and materials combined. That is a legal limit, not a marketing position, and it has a side effect worth understanding: nobody here can sell you a system. There is no version of this visit that ends in a financing application, because selling you new equipment is not something that is allowed to happen.

If your system genuinely needs replacing, you will be told so and handed to a licensed Arizona contractor, with no fee and no referral markup.

If you already have a quote

A second opinion on a written quote is on the price list. Bring the quote and you get told what the same work costs here, or whether it needs doing at all. On a four or five figure quote, that is a cheap way to find out you were right to hesitate.

If you would rather not wait for that, the quote checker on that page does the arithmetic against this same list while you are standing in the driveway, for nothing.

Check it yourself, free

What were you quoted?

Pick the repair and type the number you were given. You get the published price here and the difference, with no email address and no phone call.

The repairChoose oneCheck-upDiagnosticTune-UpDeep Clean Tune-UpBlower capacitor, indoor closetBlower capacitor, atticCondenser capacitor, outdoor unitCondenser capacitor, roof unitContactorFloat / safety switchCondensate pumpDrain line clear-outThermostat installOutdoor fan motorOutdoor coil rinseOutdoor coil deep cleanSecond opinion on a quotePre-purchase AC evaluationYou were quoted

$

A higher price is not automatically a bad one. Overhead, warranty terms, parts, and how fast somebody can get to you all cost real money. This tells you the size of the gap, not whose fault it is.