A free line for air conditioning service in Austin
When the air conditioning quits in Austin, most people do the same thing: search, scroll, call three numbers and leave two voicemails. Austin AC Service is one number that answers every time, day or night, and gets you to a local company that can actually help.
The line is not an HVAC company and never sends anyone out itself. It is a free connection. You say whether it is a cooling or heating problem, give your name, number, city or ZIP and what the system is doing, and the call is transferred to an independent, locally owned HVAC company serving your area. That company hears a short summary before it picks up, so you do not have to start from scratch.
How the call works
Four steps, and only one of them involves you doing anything. The full walkthrough is on the how it works page.
- Call any hourAn automated assistant answers (737) 378-9016 and asks whether it is about cooling or heating.
- Describe the problemGive your name, a callback number, your city or ZIP and what the system is doing.
- Get put throughThe call goes to an independent, locally owned HVAC company, which hears a short summary before it picks up.
- Deal with them directlyThat company diagnoses, quotes, does the work and is paid by you. If it cannot answer, it gets your details to call back.
Heating and air conditioning services the line covers
Each page explains what the work involves, what a careful technician should do, and what to ask before you say yes.
AC Repair
Warm air, a unit that hums but will not start, ice on the lines or water in the ceiling. What a proper diagnosis covers and what to ask before a repair.
Emergency AC and Heating Repair
No cooling in a 100-degree week or no heat in a freeze. What counts as an emergency, what is safe to check first, and when to leave the house.
Heating and Furnace Repair
Gas furnaces, heat pumps and emergency heat. Why Austin heating systems fail on the first cold night and what a good technician checks.
AC Installation and Replacement
Repair or replace, sizing by load calculation, the R-454B refrigerant change, permits, and Austin Energy rebates.
HVAC Maintenance and Tune-Ups
A spring cooling check before the heat and a fall heating check before the first freeze, and what a real tune-up includes.
Commercial HVAC
Rooftop units, split systems and server rooms for Austin-area shops, offices, restaurants and churches.
Air Duct Cleaning
When duct cleaning is worth paying for, what the EPA and NADCA say, and how to spot a too-good-to-be-true offer.
HVAC Inspection
Buying or selling a home, the Austin Energy ECAD audit, and what an HVAC inspection looks at that a general home inspection may not.
What Austin asks of a heating and cooling system
Most advice about Texas air conditioning is written as if summer were the only season. Austin systems have two jobs. From May into October they cool against long runs of triple-digit afternoons. Then, for a handful of nights most winters, they have to heat through a hard freeze after sitting idle for months.
- 80 days at 100+Camp Mabry's record total in 2023, including 45 straight days in July and August (KXAN).
- About 29 days a yearAustin's 1991 to 2020 normal for 100-degree days, roughly double the long-term average (KXAN).
- 144 hours below freezingCamp Mabry during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, bottoming out at 6 degrees (Austin Water).
- 170,000+ customers darkAustin Energy's peak outage count in the February 2023 ice storm (KUT).
Those two extremes break different parts. Heat finds weak capacitors, dirty outdoor coils and clogged drains. Cold finds heat pumps that lean on expensive backup heat, furnaces with dirty sensors, and anything that was quietly wrong all summer. A spring check and a fall check, covered on the maintenance page, catch most of it early.
Austin houses are not all alike
The right fix often depends on the house as much as the equipment. The company you are put through to should ask about this, and it helps to know which group your home falls into.
| Home type | Typical setup | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Older central Austin homes (Hyde Park, Travis Heights, Bouldin Creek and similar) | Built before central air was common; ducts added later in crawl spaces, closets or attics | Undersized returns, rooms that never cool, duct leaks. Ductless mini-splits are sometimes the better answer. |
| Suburban homes from the last 30 years | Air handler and ducts in the attic, outdoor unit on a pad | Attic heat, drain overflows into ceilings, leaky flex duct, systems oversized for the house |
| Larger homes in the hills west of town | Two or more systems or zoning, long duct runs, big west-facing glass | Uneven upstairs cooling, zone dampers, heat gain through windows |
| Rural and Hill Country homes | Heat pumps or propane furnaces where there is no natural gas line | Propane supply in a freeze, heat pump backup heat costs |
What the line promises, and what it does not
A referral line is only useful if it is honest about itself. Here is exactly what you get.
- An answer at any hour. The automated assistant picks up every call, weekends and holidays included.
- A licensed local company. Every company the line connects callers with holds an active Texas air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license from TDLR, which you can check yourself at tdlr.texas.gov.
- No charge to you. You never pay the line. The line may be paid a referral fee by the company.
- No middleman on the work. The company quotes, does the work and answers to you directly. The line does not quote, schedule, supervise or guarantee any of it.
Three things to ask any HVAC company
Whoever you end up talking to, through this line or any other way, these three questions protect you more than any review score.
- What is your TDLR license number? Then look it up. Texas contractor licenses start with TACLA or TACLB.
- Can I see the diagnosis and the price in writing before you start? The quote should name the part, the labor and the total.
- Is repair an option? Ask before anyone prices a replacement, and ask for both numbers side by side.
The full checklist is in the guide to choosing an HVAC company in Austin.
Replacing a system in 2026? Read this first
Two things changed recently that a lot of sales pitches still get wrong. The federal deadline that would have stopped installation of older R-410A systems after January 1, 2026 was removed by the EPA in a 2026 final rule, so nobody should push you to replace a working system because of it. And the federal 25C tax credit for heat pumps and air conditioners ended for equipment installed after December 31, 2025. If your power comes from Austin Energy, its rebates still apply. Start with the free refrigerant guide (a straight PDF download, no sign-up) and the Austin Energy rebates guide.
Guides for Austin homeowners
Austin Energy HVAC Rebates
Which heating and cooling upgrades Austin Energy customers can get rebates for, who qualifies, and how the rebate is claimed.
How to Choose an HVAC Company in Austin
Check the TDLR license, get the diagnosis and price in writing, and ask whether repair is an option before replacement.
Free Guide: The AC Refrigerant Change
R-410A to R-454B explained for homeowners. Download the free PDF guide, no sign-up.
Areas the line covers
The line takes calls from across Travis, Williamson and Hays counties. Each area page covers what is different there: who supplies the power, how old the houses are, and where permits come from.
- All Austin-area service areas
- South Austin
- Round Rock
- Cedar Park
- Pflugerville
- Georgetown
- Leander
- Kyle
- Hutto
- Buda
- Lakeway
- Manor
- Dripping Springs
How this line works: Austin AC Service is a free phone line, not an HVAC company. It does not repair, install, quote or schedule work and holds no license. Calls are transferred to independent, locally owned HVAC companies that hold Texas air conditioning and refrigeration contractor licenses. Those companies may pay Austin AC Service a referral fee. You never pay the line. How it works.