Licensed Maryland HVACR contractor · 41 years in Montgomery County 24/7 emergency service
Poteete HVAC · since 1985

Maryland · Whole system · 24/7 emergency

HVAC Repair in Maryland

One number for heating, cooling, heat pump and control faults — diagnosed by measurement, with the readings written on your invoice.

Heat pumps, furnaces, air handlers, thermostats, zone boards, condensate systems and control wiring all fail in ways that look similar from the thermostat. A house that will not hold temperature might have a refrigerant leak, a stuck reversing valve, a failed zone damper motor, a tripped float switch, a miswired common wire on a smart thermostat, or a duct that came apart in the crawlspace. Only measurement separates them.

We diagnose in a fixed order, we test rather than swap, and we write the readings on the invoice so that the next person who works on your system — including us, two winters from now — starts from data instead of from scratch. If we cannot fix it on the first visit because a part must be ordered, you will know the part, the price and the date before we leave.

Where we work
The refrigerant cycle A closed loop moving through compressor, condenser, metering device and evaporator, with refrigerant changing between high-pressure hot vapour and low-pressure cold liquid. Compressor Heat rejected outdoors Condenser Metering Evaporator Heat absorbed indoors High pressure vapour Low pressure liquid
Air conditioners and heat pumps do not create cold — they move heat. Diagnosis follows the same loop: superheat at the evaporator and subcooling at the condenser tell us where the charge and the metering device actually stand, which is why we measure both rather than reading pressure alone.

Scope

What the job actually includes

  • Complete system diagnosis across heating, cooling and controls
  • Heat pump specifics: reversing valve, defrost board, auxiliary heat staging and balance point
  • Refrigerant circuit measurement with electronic leak detection where indicated
  • Static pressure and airflow measurement — the most-skipped diagnostic in the trade
  • Thermostat, zone panel and low-voltage control troubleshooting
  • Condensate system, float switch and drain clearing
  • Combustion analysis and CO testing on any fuel-burning equipment

Maryland specifics

Code, permits and rebates

Refrigerant handling requires EPA Section 608 certification and recovery is mandatory. Montgomery County does not require a permit for repairs, though equipment replacement and gas or electrical alterations do. One market-specific note worth planning for: the industry transition to A2L refrigerants such as R-454B means systems installed from 2025 onward use different refrigerant, different service equipment and different handling requirements than R-410A systems — we are certified and equipped for both, and for the legacy R-22 systems still running across older Montgomery County housing.

Licensing

MD HVACR Contractor License #01-XXXXX. All refrigerant handling is performed by EPA Section 608 certified technicians, and equipment replacement is permitted and inspected through the county.

Process

How we run a hvac repair job

  1. Reproduce the fault

    Intermittent problems are the hard ones. We start by getting the system to misbehave while we are watching it, and by reading any stored fault codes on modern control boards.

  2. Measure airflow first

    Static pressure and temperature split are the two numbers that reveal the most for the least time. A restricted system masquerades as almost every expensive failure in the catalog.

  3. Isolate the subsystem

    Refrigerant circuit, combustion, electrical or controls. Each has its own test sequence, and we do not move to the next until the current one is cleared.

  4. Repair, verify, document

    Full cycle run after the repair, readings recorded, and a plain explanation of what failed and what caused it — because a capacitor that failed from heat stress in a blocked condenser will fail again if we do not address the condenser.

Pricing

What moves the price

We do not publish a single number, because a number without your house attached to it is marketing rather than information. These are the variables that actually decide what a job costs, and we itemise all of them in writing before any work begins.

Diagnostic time

A clear single fault is quick. An intermittent problem across a zoned multi-system home takes longer, and we quote diagnostic time honestly rather than pretending every call is the same visit.

Part and equipment tier

Universal parts for conventional equipment are inexpensive and stocked. Inverter boards, communicating thermostats and OEM-specific modules on premium systems cost considerably more and sometimes must be ordered.

System accessibility

An air handler in a 130-degree Germantown attic in August, or a condenser on a Bethesda flat roof, takes longer to work on safely than a basement unit.

Questions

HVAC Repair questions

Do you charge a diagnostic fee?
Yes, and we tell you the amount before we dispatch. It covers the technician's time to actually diagnose rather than guess. If you proceed with a repair, or with a system replacement within 30 days, the fee applies toward that work.
My heat pump is blowing lukewarm air in winter. Is it broken?
Possibly not. Heat pumps deliver air around 90–100°F, which feels cool against 98.6°F skin even though it is heating the house perfectly well. It is worth checking whether the house is actually holding temperature before assuming a fault — though a heat pump running constantly with auxiliary heat engaged on a mild day is a genuine problem.
Can you work on a system another company installed?
Yes, including systems still under another contractor's warranty. We will tell you if a repair should be a warranty claim with the original installer rather than a bill from us.
What can I check before calling?
Thermostat mode and batteries, the breaker, the furnace service switch, the filter, and whether the condensate pan float switch has tripped. Those five account for a real share of service calls and cost nothing to check.

Talk to a technician

Tell us what the house is doing.

Describe the problem and we will tell you what it usually means, what it typically costs to diagnose, and when we can be there. No obligation, no scripted sales call.

Call (301) 555-0182 Request a quote

Mon–Fri 7:00am–6:00pm · Saturday 8:00am–2:00pm · 24/7 emergency service