HVAC repair for NYC.

Air conditioning is on but the room won't cool.

A no-cool call rarely traces to one cause. The most common combinations on NYC service calls are a capacitor that has aged out, a condenser coil packed with dust and lint, a slow refrigerant leak that started last season, or a thermostat that lost its calibration. The technician needs to separate symptom from cause before any parts go on the truck.

• 01Confirm thermostat call for cooling, line voltage at the contactor, and amp draw on the compressor
• 02Inspect the outdoor coil for blockage, the indoor coil for ice, and the condensate line for backup
• 03Pull static pressure across the air handler to rule out a clogged filter or collapsed flex duct
• 04Test capacitor microfarads against the nameplate rating, check the contactor for pitted contacts
• 05Hook gauges to read suction and head pressure, scan for refrigerant leak with electronic detector

Capacitor and contactor swaps finish on the truck. Frozen-coil thaws need a few hours plus a filter and airflow correction. A small refrigerant top-off with leak search is one ticket. A failed compressor, a buried evaporator coil, or a bad blower motor turns into a parts-order and a return visit. The diagnostic report tells you which path applies before anyone authorizes parts.

Diagnostic plus travel runs $248. Most parts-on-the-truck no-cool repairs land in the $400 to $900 range once the diagnostic fee is credited against the repair. Compressor replacement, coil replacement, and refrigerant transition cases get a separate written estimate.

Or call (718) 835-6820 (Brooklyn dispatch) or (212) 810-0915 (Manhattan line).

Furnace, boiler, or heat pump is not making heat.

No-heat calls split by fuel and equipment. Gas furnaces fail at ignition, flame sensor, draft inducer, gas valve, or blower motor. Steam and hot-water boilers fail at the low-water cutoff, circulator pump, expansion tank, gas valve, or control board. Heat pumps fail at the reversing valve, defrost board, or outdoor coil that never came out of frost. The diagnosis flow is different for each.

• 01Walk the sequence of operation: thermostat call, draft inducer prove, ignition trial, flame sense, gas valve open, blower delay
• 02Read flame current at the flame sensor in microamps, clean and re-seat if marginal
• 03On a boiler: verify low-water cutoff function, expansion tank pressure, circulator amp draw, and aquastat setpoint
• 04On a heat pump: confirm defrost board cycles, reversing valve shifts, outdoor sensor reads correctly
• 05Pull combustion analysis on any gas appliance you suspect is burning rich or showing CO over baseline

Flame sensor cleanings, igniter swaps, thermocouple replacements, and low-voltage wiring fixes finish on the same call. Gas valve replacements, circulator pump swaps, and draft inducer motor replacements need a parts order in most cases. A cracked heat exchanger, a leaking steam boiler section, or a heat pump compressor failure shifts the conversation to repair-versus-replace.

Diagnostic plus travel runs $248. Simple no-heat parts swaps usually land in the $350 to $850 range. Circulator pumps, draft inducers, and gas valves run $700 to $1,800. Cracked heat exchanger or major boiler section work is a written estimate, not a repair ticket.

Or call (718) 835-6820 (Brooklyn dispatch) or (212) 810-0915 (Manhattan line).

The system runs but the airflow at the registers is weak.

Weak airflow shows up most often after a renovation or a filter that was missed for a few cycles. The chain of causes is filter to return path to blower to duct to register. A 1-inch high-MERV filter that wasn't sized for the unit can starve the blower. A return that was framed over during a kitchen reno can choke the whole system. The tech has to walk the path, not just look at the unit.

• 01Pull static pressure across the air handler, compare against the equipment nameplate spec
• 02Inspect filter type and MERV rating, check size against the return-grille opening
• 03Open accessible duct sections, look for collapsed flex, kinked transitions, and disconnected joints
• 04Verify return grille count and free area against the system's CFM requirement
• 05Check blower wheel for dust loading and the motor for amp draw outside spec

Filter and duct adjustments resolve on the same visit when access is good. A failed blower motor is a parts-order, usually one to three business days. Duct repairs on a renovated apartment or a brownstone with original galvanized trunk lines can become a small project with permit paperwork attached. The diagnostic call tells you which of these applies.

Diagnostic plus travel runs $248. Filter and return fixes often finish under the diagnostic. Blower motor replacement runs $650 to $1,400. Duct-section repair or undersized-return remediation gets a written estimate based on access and footage.

Or call (718) 835-6820 (Brooklyn dispatch) or (212) 810-0915 (Manhattan line).

The cooling charge keeps dropping. Something is leaking.

Refrigerant leaks fall into three categories: indoor coil leaks, line set leaks, and outdoor unit leaks (Schrader cores, brazed joints, fittings on the service valves). The $199 diagnostic covers the leak search on a single-zone system. Multi-zone mini-splits, VRF systems, and long line runs in finished walls can become a separate ticket because the search itself takes hours.

• 01Electronic leak detection on every accessible joint, fitting, Schrader, and weld
• 02Bubble test on suspected joints when access allows
• 03Nitrogen pressure test at 350 to 500 PSI on the line set when a slow leak is suspected, hold for at least an hour
• 04Inspect indoor coil for formicary corrosion, the most common silent failure on coils older than seven years
• 05Pull a deep vacuum after any open-system work and verify decay rate before recharging

Recovery, repair, evacuation, and recharge follows EPA Section 608 procedure on every refrigerant job. Vinco techs are 608 certified. The R-410A to R-454B transition means parts and refrigerant availability for older R-410A equipment will tighten over the next several years. If your system is on R-22 and the leak is on the indoor coil, replacement almost always beats repair on the numbers.

Diagnostic plus travel runs $248. A single-zone leak search and pinhole repair with recharge runs $650 to $1,500. Indoor coil replacement is a written estimate. VRF refrigerant work is priced by line length and number of zones. /a2l-refrigerant-phaseout has the long version of the refrigerant transition.

Or call (718) 835-6820 (Brooklyn dispatch) or (212) 810-0915 (Manhattan line).

Rooftop unit is down and the building is calling.

A rooftop unit failure on a restaurant, retail space, or small office building can shut the operation down by lunch. Common failure modes are compressor lockout, condenser fan motor failure, economizer actuator stuck, blower belt slipped or broken, control board fault, and refrigerant loss. After-hours dispatch is available; the surcharge is disclosed on the call.

• 01Pull the unit lockout history if the board logs it, check current fault code first
• 02Inspect both condenser fan motors and blower section, including belts and bearings
• 03Verify economizer modulates fully open and fully closed, check outside-air sensor reading
• 04Test compressor amp draw, check for short cycling and high head pressure
• 05Walk the gas train on heating-mode failures, verify pilot or hot-surface ignitor function

Belt replacements, capacitor swaps, contactor swaps, and fan motor replacements finish on the call in most cases. Compressor replacement, economizer actuator replacement, and control board replacement become parts-order jobs with same-week turnaround on common units. If the outdoor unit needs replacement and the building is mid-block, a rigging day is part of the scope and gets priced separately.

Diagnostic plus travel runs $248. After-hours and weekend dispatch carries a 50 percent labor surcharge on the $165 per hour standard rate (Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm Eastern is standard). Most RTU repairs land between $700 and $2,800 once parts and labor settle. Compressor replacement and rigging-day work get written estimates.

Or call (718) 835-6820 (Brooklyn dispatch) or (212) 810-0915 (Manhattan line).

Error code on a Mitsubishi, Daikin, or LG multi-zone system.

VRF and multi-split error codes do not stop at the indoor head. The fault almost always involves the branch controller, the refrigerant detection sensor, the communication wiring between heads, or a drain pan condition that the system is reporting as a safety lockout. Reading the error code alone is not the diagnosis; the tech needs to verify against the system tree.

• 01Pull the active and historical error codes from the outdoor unit and every indoor head on the loop
• 02Check refrigerant detection sensor function on A2L systems, common nuisance trip source
• 03Verify M-NET or communication wiring continuity between heads, branch controllers, and outdoor unit
• 04Inspect indoor drain pans and condensate pumps, a single clogged head can lock the whole system
• 05Test electronic expansion valve operation if the code points to superheat or subcool issues

Sensor replacements, condensate pump replacements, and communication wiring repairs finish on the call. Branch controller and electronic expansion valve replacement become parts orders. Mitsubishi City Multi and Daikin VRV jobs sometimes need OEM tech support on the phone for the deeper diagnostic path; Vinco runs that loop without billing extra. /vrf-error-codes has a fuller error-code reference.

Diagnostic plus travel runs $248. Sensor and pump-level repairs run $500 to $1,200. Branch controller or EEV replacement is a written estimate that depends on the system. Multi-day VRF commissioning rework is priced as project work, not a service call.

Or call (718) 835-6820 (Brooklyn dispatch) or (212) 810-0915 (Manhattan line).

Steam or hot-water boiler in a pre-war Manhattan or Brooklyn building.

Pre-war steam and hot-water boilers in NYC live in a category of their own. The equipment is often older than the building's current management, the controls have been added in layers over decades, and a single failed circulator or expansion tank can take half a building offline. Boiler work needs a tech who understands the original design intent and the modern overlay.

• 01Verify low-water cutoff function on every steam boiler, this is a code requirement and a common failure point
• 02Inspect the expansion tank, check for waterlogging on a hot-water system
• 03Test circulator pump amp draw and head pressure against the design curve
• 04Walk the gas train, control board, and aquastat sequence on hot-water systems
• 05Check makeup water feeder and pressure-reducing valve on a hydronic loop

Low-water cutoff replacement, expansion tank replacement, circulator pump replacement, and aquastat replacement are standard service-call work. Section leaks on a cast-iron boiler, refractory failure, or a cracked heat exchanger become a repair-versus-replace conversation. Steam and hot water are different beasts; the tech needs to identify which system the building runs before quoting parts.

Diagnostic plus travel runs $248. Common boiler parts repairs land in the $600 to $2,200 range. Section replacement, refractory work, and boiler replacement get written estimates. The decision tree at /hvac-repair-vs-replace covers when the math turns against repair.

Or call (718) 835-6820 (Brooklyn dispatch) or (212) 810-0915 (Manhattan line).