HVAC Emergency Services: Your Complete Guide to Urgent Repairs and Prevention

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Episode Description

In this episode of HVAC Answers by Aircall Services, sit down with HVAC expert Ariel Englender to discuss everything you need to know about HVAC emergencies. From identifying what constitutes an emergency to understanding costs, response times, and prevention strategies, this comprehensive guide covers all the essential information homeowners and property managers need when facing urgent HVAC issues. Ariel shares insights from years of experience in the field, including real-world examples and practical advice for emergency situations.

Top Questions Answered in This Episode

1. What constitutes an HVAC emergency that requires immediate professional response?

HVAC emergencies typically involve extreme weather conditions where your system fails—especially dangerous for elderly residents whose health can be affected. Other emergencies include system failures that cause water damage or leaking, which can later produce mold. These are the main situations that warrant immediate emergency service calls.

2. How quickly should I expect a technician for an emergency HVAC repair?

Most HVAC companies, including Aircall, provide a 24-hour response time as an industry standard. However, during heat waves in California, companies can become overwhelmed and response times may extend to 2-3 days. Emergency calls are always prioritized over regular maintenance and scheduled projects.

3. How much do emergency HVAC repairs cost compared to scheduled maintenance?

Emergency repairs are significantly more expensive than preventive maintenance. While scheduled maintenance involves routine tasks like changing filters and checking refrigerant, emergencies typically result in costly repairs ranging from a few hundred dollars for minor issues (fuses, wiring) to thousands for major component replacements (motors, compressors). Preventive maintenance can save substantial money by preventing these emergencies.

4. Should I attempt temporary fixes while waiting for emergency HVAC service?

Homeowners can safely check basic items: dirty filters, unplugged units, tripped breakers, and thermostat settings (many calls result from thermostats not set to cooling). Those with electrical experience might check fuses, but beyond that, professional help is recommended. Attempting complex repairs can cause additional damage to the system.

5. What safety threats should I be aware of with HVAC emergencies?

The most serious concern is carbon monoxide from gas furnaces, especially older units with cracked heat exchangers. Install carbon monoxide sensors in your home for protection. Other safety issues include fire hazards from improper furnace clearances, water damage leading to mold growth, and code violations that can pose various risks.

6. How can I prevent HVAC emergencies and major repairs?

Prevention comes down to regular maintenance, just like car maintenance. HVAC systems need routine care—cleaning, lubrication, filter changes, and component checks. Many homeowners go 5-10 years without service, not realizing these systems require regular attention. Proper maintenance significantly reduces the chance of system failure, which typically occurs on the hottest days of the year.

7. What should be included when I call for emergency HVAC service?

Emergency service should start with thorough troubleshooting to identify the problem. Minor issues may be included in the service call fee, while major repairs requiring parts will typically involve a separate proposal with the option to deduct the service call fee if you approve the repair. You should receive honest recommendations about repair versus replacement options, especially for older systems.

Full Episode Transcript

Stephen Enloe (00:00) Alright guys, it looks like we are all on. This is another episode of HVAC Answers from Aircall. So, Ariel, how you doing today?

Ariel Englender (00:10) doing pretty good.

Stephen Enloe (00:12) Nice. Okay, so today we have a series of questions that are going to be mostly regarding a lot of questions that you guys get about emergency services and urgent repairs. I know a lot of people are looking for that kind of thing. So what we want to do is just give people a guide of kind of what they should be looking for and how they can go about that as just a way to kind of help people through that process.

which I know will be a lot from you guys, but just to everyone everywhere as well. So the first one is going to be what constitutes an HVAC emergency and requires immediate professional response.

Ariel Englender (00:55) So typically, extreme weather, if it’s hot outside, it’s cold outside, your system is failing, especially with older people, can affect their health. Also, sometimes a failure in the system could be cause some water damage, leaking systems, can produce later on mold.

Those are the main calls we get as an emergency. Yeah.

Stephen Enloe (01:26) Okay.

Okay, cool. So how quickly should somebody, once they actually do find somebody in their area, expect to have a technician out to take a look at that emergency?

Ariel Englender (01:39) So just like in our company Aircall, most companies out there provide a 24-hour response time. This is a common industry standard. So you would expect now when you have a heat wave, most companies in California get overwhelmed. And I’ve seen days where it will take two to three days to reach a customer. Obviously, we prioritize emergency over services, regular maintenance and projects we have out there. We’ll try to get somebody there as soon as possible.

Stephen Enloe (02:08) Yeah, and I think that that’s what makes so much sense with your guys’ service as well is that you guys have your regular calls that are to help mitigate those emergencies. yeah, that’s good to know. And then what are the typical costs associated with an emergency HVAC repair compared to, I guess, the scheduled maintenance and more of what you guys do?

Ariel Englender (02:41) So schedule maintenance is also preventive maintenance. It’s the kind of work you do on an HVAC system to prevent a failure of components. Changing filters, checking the refrigerant charge, lubricating motors. This is stuff we like to do before a season, before the summer or before the winter, preparing the system for those extreme conditions.

They obviously are much cheaper and can save a lot of money. If you are able to prevent an emergency, typically an emergency, there’s the service call fee, it typically results in a repair. Repair could be a few hundred dollars replacing fuses and wiring issue, but it also can end up in replacing major components like motors and compressors that are much more expensive. definitely maintenance, preventive maintenance will save a lot of money.

Stephen Enloe (03:51) So compared to your normal client who has a kind of subscription plan with you guys that has their normal preventative maintenance, do those people generally save a lot of money compared to the people who are calling you on emergency instead?

Ariel Englender (04:05) So it’s kind of interesting, our preventive maintenance and our air call customers, we have maintenance programs that also cover repairs, especially for multifamily buildings. We have building owners that will hire us to service a hundred unit building, 200 unit building. Our crews are ready.

First of all, we’re going to schedule maintenance every six months, every three months, really depends about what the customer adjusts to this program or what his needs are. Also, the repairs themselves, some of our programs will cover repairs. That means the customer doesn’t need to deal with quoting and getting pricing from other customers. We jumped right away to ordering the parts needed and to finish the job.

the cuts also lead time between failure to repair.

Stephen Enloe (05:07) That makes sense. So, and you guys are, I’m sure, prioritizing as well, because you have to, prioritizing your own current clients when things go wrong rather than outside calls for emergencies. if people are already clients of yours, they’re getting their help quicker, basically. Or no.

Ariel Englender (05:23) I won’t say that any emergency is an emergency. Even if we have a thousand unit building and he has a maintenance call, I will still send my technician first to deal with emergencies. So it’s not exactly first come first serve. We treat all our customers the same. If you are a residential single unit or if you have a thousand units, we try to take care of everybody.

Stephen Enloe (05:27) Okay, that’s awesome. So, a big question that I think a lot of people are bringing in with, coming in with is, should I attempt a temporary fix while waiting for an emergency HVAC service? Is there anything you can do for that?

Ariel Englender (06:09) There’s minor stuff that I would recommend a homeowner to do. Basic stuff. One is filter, dirty filter. Two is we have a lot of calls where we show up and there’s some sort of a unit unplugged or breaker that is off or a thermostat that was never actually set on a cooling position. Believe it or not, that happens to us too. So those are minor stuff that any homeowner can check.

before calling for an emergency call or having us come over. People with a little bit more knowledge, maybe people with some background with electricians, maybe they can check fuses and other basic stuff. But beyond that, I would recommend getting a professional. We’ve had calls that our technician showed up and besides troubleshooting, they had to find out that the owner tried to rewire the system or actually cause additional damage to the system because it couldn’t wait for us. So definitely basic stuff, fuses, filters, make sure the system is calling for cooling. Those are the things I would recommend checking.

Stephen Enloe (07:23) Okay, cool. So in the case of one of those emergencies though, how would you recommend as somebody who’s been in this industry for a long, long time, how would you recommend people actually go about looking for an emergency HVAC company or technician?

Ariel Englender (07:41) So one of the main things is if you have any recommendation from friends, family, somebody they use, somebody that has a good experience with, today you can get on all kinds of websites and read some reviews, backup reviews. I do recommend making sure your contractor’s license and his license is valid. You can get on the contractor’s state license board and you get all the information on every contractor out there.

Those are the main things that I would check before I call anybody Once you make that phone call you you want to get the pricing for the service you will have a feel of how the customer services the people in the office typically Mirrored the people who will show up at the at your house, so if you’re getting a good vibe with you know they’re Office people, I’m sure their technicians are as you know, will treat you well too.

Stephen Enloe (08:45) Okay, sweet. If somebody has an HVAC emergency, where do you service? Where can people call Aircall for that?

Ariel Englender (08:54) We cover LA County, Orange County, and up to Ventura County. Those are the areas that we mainly work in. If you live in that area, we’re available.

Stephen Enloe (09:19) So what information when that call gets made for an HVAC emergency, what information are they going to be expecting from, let’s say, a homeowner or even a property manager?

Ariel Englender (09:19) So we don’t need information besides, you know, property address and location. However, when homeowners, building owners, tenants give us some information of what happened, that does cut the troubleshooting time for us. Is it blowing air? Is it blowing warm air? Is it not blowing any air? Is it making noise outside?

Is it dripping water? Those little information kind of give us direction before we even get there on what we should expect to deal with. Also physical information. Where’s the equipment? Is it on the roof? Do I need access to the roof? Is it in the basement? Is there a dog I need to be careful when I come up to the property? Small information that we try to take out of the or retrieve from the customer when we call.

when we set the appointment is helpful. It’s not necessary. Even if you have no information, I’m sure our guys can collect that information when they get to the job site.

Stephen Enloe (10:44) Okay, cool. And so with that being said, are there any kind of specific HVAC emergencies that could pose any sort of safety threat to the tenants or anything that people should be aware of?

Ariel Englender (10:44) So the first one that comes into mind is on the heating aspect. We get once in a while a call, hey, I’m using my heater and I feel like headaches. don’t feel something’s wrong. I don’t know. Our biggest concern is carbon monoxide. Furnaces that use gas, especially old ones, could have a issue with fluven.

If there’s a crack in the heat exchanger and gases mixes with the air flowing into your house that could bring carbon monoxide, I do recommend having a sensor in the house just to protect yourself. We do get those calls. Those are the, I guess, the most concerning. Also, when our guys are out there, we inspect the system to see if there’s any code violation that could cause safety issues.

furnaces get really hot and there’s some clearances that have to be inspected to make sure that it’s not a fire hazard. Water damage, units that start dripping, overflowing, some broken pipe, could be dripping for quite some time and mold can grow there. are the kind of, most of the concern we have with HVAC.

Stephen Enloe (12:05) Would it be possible for a homeowner or building owner to research these codes perhaps in advance to see if their system is up to code?

Ariel Englender (12:16) So you could search up code online, you can search up everything, but the actual technical eye, when you have a technician who is knowledgeable, comes in and can spot the installation itself and I guess some of the equipment and how it was installed and if there’s a violation, it’s something that a mechanical contractor has a better eye for.

Stephen Enloe (12:45) Okay, so I think we kind of mentioned this before, but I think just in a more direct sense, how can people prevent these HVAC emergencies or major repairs?

Ariel Englender (13:01) So that goes back to preventive maintenance. Just like your car, if you don’t change your oil, if you don’t check air in your tires, if you don’t make sure you have fresh brake pads, you’re slowly, slowly getting to a point where your car is going to fail, right? With HVAC, it’s harder. It’s up in the attic, it’s on the roof, you don’t see it, you switch a button. Most tenants, most homeowners,

are not aware that those systems actually need maintenance. There’s so many times our guys go to a property and the owner says, hey, I haven’t had the service done in five years, 10 years. Those systems do need to be treated, checked, cleaned, lubricated. So just by maintaining those systems, you reduce the chance of the system breaking by quite a bit. And typically those units break on the hottest day of the year. That’s where we get, you know, overwhelmed with the calls.

Stephen Enloe (14:28) So when somebody comes out for an emergency HVAC servicing, what should be included in that? What should people be looking for in their contract? What should people be making sure that those HVAC emergency services are offering them?

Ariel Englender (14:38) So the first part will be troubleshooting. See, we don’t know what’s wrong with your system until we put our hands on it. So it might be something simple, know, a damaged cut wire, burned fuse, dirty filter, system iced up, maybe we need to defrost it, maybe need to refrigerate. It could be a minor issue. It could be a major issue.

There’s a failure in a module, a control board, a condensing fan motor, a compressor. Typically, if it’s a minor thing, it would be included into the service call. If it’s an expensive repair that will require ordering parts, we typically provide a proposal for the repair with an option to deduct the service call if they approve the repair.

They’re not going to be, you know, the worst thing is to feel like your back is against the wall and somebody wants to charge you thousands of dollars to make a repair. No, we want to let the homeowner decide how to repair the system. Sometimes there’s options. Sometimes the system is too old and the customer has to decide, do I put, you know, $3,000 to replace a compressor on a system that is 25 years old or do I just replace the system?

That’s the decision that we would give our recommendation, but it’s a eventually it’s a homeowner decision if he wants to take the risk and repair an old system or if he wants to spend more money and get into a new system.

Stephen Enloe (16:21) Typically how much is a new system these days?

Ariel Englender (16:25) So if we talk about residential units between two ton to five ton, a change out when you replace all the equipment.

I would say it depends also on efficiency and what type of installation and do you need a crane. But I would say the range is somewhere between six to, could go all the way to $20,000. I would say the average change out is somewhere between 10 to 14.

Stephen Enloe (17:35) do you guys do any sort of like after hours kind of servicing or how do you guys handle emergency HVAC kind of calls when there’s after hours or weekends or holidays or anything like that? What’s your guys’ policy on that?

Ariel Englender (17:35) So, emergency is an emergency call. Emergency is when you might have a schedule, my technician might have a schedule, and we get a call and they want to get it as soon as possible. It could be a weekend, it could be at night. What we do is we accommodate as much as we can. Typically when we see that the weather is going to get hot over a weekend, for example, we know it’s going to be triple digits.

We put technicians on standby. We already know the calls are gonna come. You know, our technicians can’t work more than 10 hours a day. You know, at some point it becomes dangerous. You climb on roof, you carry a lot of weight, you work in the heat. We leave your house only after the AC starts working. So we never get to enjoy our own work. So we really try to accommodate the customer, but there’s also, you don’t wanna climb on a roof at night.

and try to troubleshoot a system when you can’t see. So when I say 24 hours, that means we put guys on standby for Saturday, Sunday, knowing that we’re gonna get calls and we’re gonna have to send guys out.

Stephen Enloe (19:00) And is that a common practice or is that something that you guys specifically do? Because it seems like you guys go a little bit above and beyond.

Ariel Englender (19:00) So it is common practice. I know in commercial, for example, I used to service a bunch of clubs in Hollywood. We had an agreement with them where we had people on standby at night and they paid for that. They wanted a technician to be ready. They can’t have a club that has, you know, 600 people dancing and ACs crashing on them and they’re losing customers. So we would have to have somebody on standby. So it really, we fed ourselves to the customer.

Residential, it’s typically during the day. It’ll be morning till five, six, seven.

Stephen Enloe (19:38) What’s the craziest emergency call you’ve ever done?

Ariel Englender (19:41) Well, if you go back in history, I had to call once from a club. One of the club manager called me, said, hey, Kobe Bryant is here and he’s complaining it’s too hot. And I’m a Laker fan. So while I send one of my technicians there, I said, I’m coming too. I gotta come. So that was a club in Hollywood and we got there in time to fix it. We did not get to meet him. We jumped on the roof.

We got it fixed, so that was a little bit of a disappointment. We didn’t have a chance to meet him.

Stephen Enloe (20:12) But you made Kobe Bryant happy.

Ariel Englender (20:14) We made sure Kobe Bryant was comfortable. Yes. Yeah.

Stephen Enloe (20:29) So when should somebody identify an HVAC issue as more of an emergency call versus something they can schedule further out? How do you guys take that?

Ariel Englender (20:38) So you have to understand, HVAC system is comfort, right? Some people see comfort as an emergency, especially here in California. If your system breaks and it’s hot, that’s an emergency. That’s, know, that most of those calls, they want somebody right away.

I’ve had customers who call and you can come next week. It’s not urgent. It’s not that hot. Yeah, that happens sometimes. But most people, the minute they’re uncomfortable, that’s an emergency call. Another emergency call is water damage. Start leaking from the ceiling. Their concern could develop into water damage. You want to respond as fast as possible. The example I gave you about the heater, for example.

People can tell them turn it off right away. That’s already a safety issue. Those situations, typically when we get there, the furnace needs to be replaced. So they’re stuck without heat. We had incidents where the homeowner or the tenant had to move into a hotel because it was too cold and they couldn’t use the heater. So those do happen, yes.

Stephen Enloe (22:19) So when you guys are servicing as Aircall, I know you can’t necessarily speak for other companies, but are there sometimes quick fixes that can be made or is it a lot of time full repairs that can be made? Are there any stop gaps or band-aids?

Ariel Englender (22:19) So yes, there are situations where we lose a component that is not a crucial component, but is an important component in the operation of the system. It might be a sensor, a certain sensor that goes off, and its job is to detect, let’s say, refrigerant pressure, some sort of an overflow sensor for drainage, where

Maybe we have the part, maybe we don’t have the part we’re able to bypass temporarily that system so it works until we get the parts in and correct the issue. That does happen to us. try to get, you know, there’s some issues where you know the compressor is not going to last. You know, it’s its last leg. You add some sort of a booster in there to just have that system running. You notify the customer, hey, you’re on your last leg.

I don’t know if that system is going to fail by tomorrow or another month, but get ready. You need to replace that system. So those things happen. We notify the customer, let them know what they’re going to deal

Stephen Enloe (24:00) You’ve seen a lot of things comparatively to when somebody is doing regular preventative maintenance with you guys versus when somebody is just calling seasonally or maybe forgetting to even. How much of a cost benefit do you end up seeing for those customers or over the years have you had people who have come back to you guys and told you that it was a huge savings or anything like that?

Ariel Englender (24:20) So it’s hard to say, and for many years I couldn’t tell. I knew it’s correct. I knew that just maintaining equipment, mechanical equipment, just like a car, will reduce the chance of having a system break. But over the years, when I started servicing a lot of buildings, we got accounts that got on the air call program that covered all the repairs and all the service.

and comparing to other buildings, similar sized buildings, that only called us when they had an emergency. And I noticed that at the end of the year, when I looked at the cost and the money that building A, with the air call program, spent versus building B, who just called us for emergency, building B was spending more money. So that’s where I saw the comparison.

And a lot of times when we have building owners, we show it to them. We ask them, hey, show me your expenses for 2022, 2023 on repairs. Show me what you got. And I show them my program and I can show them, hey, here’s you have a hundred unit building. Here’s your cost to do maintenance and repair coverage. I present it to them. And then I tell them, pull out your budget or what you spent.

The year before 2022, 2023. And in most cases, I think in all cases, their number is higher than my number, which shows exactly how much the cost difference is and how much they save. Now there’s another aspect to it. When you just repair, when you have a building and you’re just doing repairs, when you get the calls, you are also spending money on putting the customer on up in a hotel, right?

That’s not included into the cost. When they’re showing me the cost is only what they paid the heating and air conditioning contractor. What they’re not seeing is sometimes is that the headache of having to find a place for that tenant to stay, the time it takes for that company to repair. Why? Because that company, after they troubleshoot, now they have to provide a quote, price out the repair.

A lot of times those buildings are required to go get another pricing, a second option or a third option before they make a decision. And then they hire that guy and then he has to order the parts and then come back and install. That could take three, four, five weeks. Right? With our program, it’s already covered. So when my technician gets to the job site and let’s say he lost the AC, the compressor or lost the motor. My technician, before we even talk to the landlord,

We’re already ordering the parts. That’s time saving element here. We’re already ordering the parts and we’re already putting into the schedule, right? My office is ordering the parts and once they get the answer when the part is available, they’re already entering into our schedule to send the technician back for a follow-up repair. So we’ve had situation where mortars or compressor went out and we were there in day three or day four with the part. Sometimes the next day.

So also the service is better because you reduce the repairs, you reduce the cost for the building owner to deal with the tenant and putting up an hotel and it’s a better experience.

Stephen Enloe (28:06) Yeah, I mean, I’m sure even just customer service wise, that makes everything better for them down the road as property managers dealing with those tenants in the future, being much happier. Yeah. No, that’s really cool. Well, I think that that is pretty much kind of covers all of our topics that we wanted to talk about and questions that we wanted to.

Ariel Englender (28:24) You leave some more things for episode two. There you go.

Stephen Enloe (28:26) Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, I think this was a great start.

Ariel Englender (28:28) Awesome, guys.

Stephen Enloe (28:29) Awesome.

Ariel Englender (28:32) Thank you guys. Thank you.

Ariel Englender (28:34) Yeah All right. Have a wonderful day. Bye. Bye.