Four of these jobs are yours. The rest are ours, and we will say why.
Heating and cooling for houses and small premises across Simi Valley. A good deal of what people pay a contractor for is a filter, a hose and twenty minutes, and we would rather show you than charge you for it. The line between that and the work that needs a licence is real, and it is not where most companies draw it.
What you can do, and what you should not
Yours, and worth doing
- Change the filter
The right size and the right rating, at the interval the house actually needs rather than a figure on a box.
- Clear the outdoor unit
Power off at the disconnect, a garden hose from the inside out, and two feet of clear space around it.
- Keep the registers open and the returns clear
Closing vents to save money does the opposite, and furniture across a return is the commonest cause of a room that never matches.
- Watch the condensate
A drain pan with standing water in it is an early warning. Noticing it is yours; clearing it may not be.
Ours, and here is why
- Anything with refrigerant in it
Handling refrigerant requires federal certification. It is not a formality and it is not something a contractor can waive for you.
- Anything with gas in it
Burners, gas valves, heat exchangers and flues. A mistake here is not an expensive mistake, it is a different kind.
- A breaker that trips more than once
Resetting it repeatedly is the single most dangerous thing on this list, and it is the thing people do most.
- Anything sealed, brazed or wired
Compressors, capacitors, control boards and contactors. Capacitors hold a charge after the power is off.
Can I just do this bit myself?
Five jobs people ask us about, crossed with the four kinds of person who ask. What the answer actually is, how to do the ones that are yours properly, and the one situation where doing it yourself can cost you more than the repair would have.
Houses
Long uniform tracts across most of the valley, ducts in attics that get genuinely hot, additions and garage conversions hung off systems that were sized before they existed, and a climate of hot days and cool nights that hides an underperforming system for most of the year.
Every first visit finds everything, measures it, and prices a repair before anybody mentions a replacement.
Small premises
Shops and salons along Los Angeles Avenue, small offices and professional suites, cafes and takeaways, and the light industrial units around Easy Street where the plant is on the roof and nobody has a drawing of it.
We are a small-premises contractor rather than a large-plant one, and we will say so when a building is bigger than we should be taking on.
The work, plainly
- Diagnosis with instruments
Static pressure, airflow, refrigerant charge against the manufacturer’s target, temperature split, and a combustion analysis on anything that burns gas. Written down with the date.
- Repair, costed first
What it is, what it costs, and what it does not fix. Replacement is discussed after a repair has a number against it.
- Load calculation and replacement
Room by room, on the house as it stands now rather than on the size of the unit coming out.
- Attic duct sealing and insulation
Leakage measured, joints sealed, runs insulated, registers balanced against a target rather than by hand on a vent.
- Ductless for additions and conversions
Sized for the room it serves, with the line set routed where it can be serviced and the condensate given a fall it can use.
- Gas appliance safety
Combustion analysis, heat exchanger inspection, flue checked as installed, carbon monoxide alarms fitted where there is none.
- Annual service
The same readings every year on the same sheet, so a slow change is visible before the first hot week turns it into an emergency.
- Showing you the bits that are yours
Where the filter is, what size it takes, how to clear the outdoor unit safely, and what to look at before you ring anybody. It takes ten minutes and it is part of the visit.
What we will not do
| We will not | Why |
|---|---|
| Charge you for a filter change | It is a filter. We will fit one while we are there and show you what size it takes, and if that is genuinely all that was wrong we will say so. |
| Add refrigerant and leave | A system low on refrigerant has a leak, because refrigerant is not consumed. Topping it up without finding the leak is selling somebody the same repair every year, and it is bad for the atmosphere as well as for them. |
| Condemn a heat exchanger without showing you | It is a real reason to shut a furnace down and the most abused finding in this trade. You get the camera image or the combustion reading, and you are welcome to a second opinion. |
| Recommend replacement on age alone | Age changes the arithmetic on a repair. It is not a fault. |
| Take instructions on a landlord’s equipment from a tenant | Without the owner’s authority we cannot, and a tenant who arranges work on somebody else’s equipment can end up paying for it. We will say so rather than take the booking. |
| Give legal advice about a tenancy | We are a heating and cooling contractor. What a lease requires, and what to do when a landlord will not act, are questions for a tenant advice service or a lawyer. |
| Quote a price before we have seen it | A figure given on the telephone is a guess dressed as a quote, and it is always a low one. |
Asked often enough to write down
Can I top up the refrigerant myself?
No, and for two reasons that are both bigger than us wanting the work. Handling refrigerant requires federal certification and venting it is illegal, which is not a formality a contractor can waive for you. And refrigerant is not consumed — a system that is low has a leak, so adding more without finding it buys you the same repair every year. Charge is also measured by weight and against the manufacturer’s target for that model at that condition, not by a gauge on a can, and overcharging damages a compressor as reliably as undercharging.
Which filter should I buy?
The size printed on the edge of the old one, and the rating we write on your sheet. A more restrictive filter captures more and costs airflow, and on a system already short of airflow that trade is real — it can freeze a coil in summer and trip a furnace in winter. If nobody has measured your static pressure, a mid-range pleated filter changed often will beat a high-rated one left in for a year. Check it monthly and change it when it looks blocked, whatever the box says.
Is it safe to hose down the outdoor unit?
Yes, with two conditions. Kill the power at the disconnect beside the unit first — the thermostat is not enough and this is the part people get wrong. Then use an ordinary garden hose rather than a pressure washer, and rinse from the inside out where you can reach, because spraying from outside pushes the dirt further into the fins. Leave the fins themselves alone; they bend easily and bent fins block airflow. Two feet of clear space all round makes a real difference.
The breaker keeps tripping. Can I just keep resetting it?
No, and this is the one thing on the whole site we would ask you not to do. A breaker trips because something is drawing more current than it should, and the causes — a failing compressor, a seized motor, a shorted wire, a burnt contactor — all get worse and some start fires. Reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and ring somebody. There is no version of this where the third reset is a good idea.
We rent. Can we just book you ourselves?
Not on the landlord’s equipment without their authority, and we will tell you that on the phone rather than take the booking and sort it out afterwards. Work arranged by a tenant on somebody else’s equipment can end up being work the tenant pays for. What is far more effective is a written record: report it by email or text so there is a date on it, describe what it is doing to the home, and keep every reply. The exception is a smell of gas or a carbon monoxide alarm — leave the building and call from outside immediately, whoever owns the equipment.
Do you charge for a filter change?
No. It is a filter. We will fit one while we are there and show you what size it takes, and if that genuinely turns out to have been the whole problem we will tell you so rather than find something else. A blocked filter can freeze a coil, trip a furnace and produce symptoms that look exactly like an expensive fault, and it is the first thing we check every time.
Which areas do you cover?
Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Chatsworth, Santa Susana, Oak Park, Newbury Park and Somis.
2916 Tapo Canyon Rd
Simi Valley, CA 93063. Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
We cover Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Chatsworth, Santa Susana, Oak Park, Newbury Park and Somis.