HVAC MAINTENANCE · Pasco, WA
Twice-a-year HVAC maintenance for Tri-Cities furnaces and air conditioners
Two inspections a year from the shop at 619 N 3rd Ave, with priority service, no overtime rates and a 5-year parts warranty for as long as you are enrolled.
Chapter 01
What two visits a year actually look at
Each visit follows a checklist, not a quick glance at the outdoor unit. It starts at the thermostat, making sure the system turns on and off at the temperatures you set, then moves to tightening electrical connections and measuring voltage and current on the motors. Loose connections make a system run unsafely and shorten the life of its biggest parts, and a meter finds them before they fail.
Moving parts get lubricated, because dry bearings add friction and push up your electric bill. The condensate drain gets checked, since a plugged one can put water in the house and breed mold. Controls and the starting cycle are watched through a full start, run and shut-off, so a part that hesitates shows itself while it is still cheap to fix.
On the heating side, the flue piping is checked for rust, loose joints and signs of back drafting, along with gas connections, gas pressure, burner combustion and the heat exchanger. On the cooling side, the indoor and outdoor coils are cleaned, the refrigerant charge is checked against the manufacturer's spec, and the blower is cleaned and adjusted so air moves over the coil properly.
Condenser interior packed with pine needles before a maintenance cleaning
What members get beyond the inspections
Enrolled customers get two HVAC system inspections per year, and they get priority service when something breaks. In a Tri-Cities heat wave or the first hard freeze, every shop's phone lights up at once, and members are the customers the schedule bends around. That is the real point of the program: you are a known customer with a known system.
Members do not pay overtime rates for after-hours or weekend calls. Emergency service outside business hours is by appointment, so call the shop at (509) 205-1592 to set it up, but you will not be charged a premium for the hour. Members also get 15% off any repairs, which adds up fast in the year a part finally gives out.
The program carries a 5-year parts warranty on motors, capacitors, relays, thermostats and contactors, as long as you stay enrolled. Those are the parts that most often quit when the weather is at its worst. Carlos Garcia, who has more than 20 years in HVAC, owns the shop, and the program covers all brands and models.
Chapter 03
Why spring and fall are the right months
Dirt and neglect are the top causes of heating and cooling system failure. The photo above shows a condenser packed with pine needles before cleaning. A coil in that shape cannot shed heat, so the system runs longer, costs more to run and wears out sooner. Clean coils and a clean filter are the cheapest way to keep a unit alive.
Contractors get busy in summer and winter, so the cooling check belongs in spring and the heating check in fall. A handy rule is to plan the visits around the start and end of daylight saving time. Booked early, any repair the inspection turns up gets done before the weather turns, not in the middle of the rush.
Between visits, check your air filter every month in the heaviest-use months and change it whenever it is dirty, or at least every three months. Total Quality Air looks after systems in Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, and there is no posted price for the program, so ask the shop what enrolling looks like for your equipment.
"Carlos explains everything and he keeps doing our maintenance." Shirley Brooks, Google review.
Members still call when something breaks, and that is where AC repair and furnace repair come in, with the member discount applied.