Find Houston-area hvac contractors — and see which ones we've confirmed with the business.

Hiring an HVAC contractor in Houston

Unlike roofers, HVAC contractors in Texas are licensed — by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and the licence number starts with TACL. It is public and searchable, and it takes about a minute to check on the TDLR website. Ask for the number, then look it up. Any legitimate company will give it without hesitation; most print it on the truck.

That single check removes a large share of the risk in this trade.

The Houston-specific part

Houston runs its air conditioning harder and longer than almost anywhere in the country, and humidity is the reason systems here fail differently. An air conditioner does two jobs — it drops temperature and it removes moisture — and a unit that is oversized does the first well and the second badly. It cools the air fast, shuts off before it has pulled the humidity out, and leaves you with a house that is 72 degrees and clammy.

So when a contractor quotes a replacement, ask how they sized it. The right answer involves a load calculation on your actual house — square footage, insulation, window orientation, ductwork. The wrong answer is "same size as the old one" or "a ton per 500 square feet." Oversizing is the most common mistake in Houston residential HVAC, and it is baked in on the day of install.

Repair or replace

Two useful things to know before the conversation:

• Get the diagnosis in writing before you approve the fix. "Your compressor is going out" is not a diagnosis; a pressure reading and a stated fault is.
• A free second opinion is normal here. Several Houston companies advertise it. On any quote over a couple of thousand dollars, take one.

Ask about maintenance plans too, but read what is actually included. In this climate a spring and autumn service visit is genuinely worth it, mostly because it catches drain line clogs before the pan overflows into a ceiling.