Cities We Serve
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Austin Cooling
A Cooling Season That Runs From May Into October
In Austin the air conditioner is not a summer appliance; it is the house’s main system. It runs from the first 90-degree day in April or May until the last one in October, and in a bad year it runs on Thanksgiving. That changes how you should think about it. Repairs are urgent, not optional. Maintenance is a necessity, not a luxury. And a replacement is a decision about the next 15 summers, each of which will be hotter on your equipment than almost anywhere else it could have been installed.
Radiant has handled the cooling side of Austin homes since 1999, from the pier-and-beam bungalows of Hyde Park and Tarrytown to the slab subdivisions of Round Rock and Kyle to the acreage places past Dripping Springs. That is 25-plus seasons of learning what a Central Texas summer does to a condenser, which parts to keep on the truck, and how to size a system for a west-facing wall of glass. It is also why the same company handles your heating, indoor air and plumbing: one crew that already knows your house.
The full description of our cooling services, for both Austin and San Antonio, is on the air conditioning page. Below is what those services look like from an Austin driveway.
- Licensed in Texas Austin HVAC license TACLB138285E. Technicians licensed, trained, background-checked and bonded.
- No surprise fees The price you approve is the price you pay, weekends and holidays included.
- 10,000+ homeowners Served across Austin and San Antonio, with thousands of five-star reviews.
Which Service Do You Need?
Match What Your House Is Doing to the Right Call
Not sure whether this is a repair, a tune-up or the end of the road? Start here.
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It stopped cooling, or never catches up
That is a repair call. Warm air, ice on the lines, a silent outdoor unit or a house stuck at 80 all point to Austin AC repair.
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It works, but it has not been looked at in years
A tune-up. Coil cleaning, capacitor testing and a drain flush before the heat is the cheapest thing you can do for it. See AC maintenance.
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It is old, loud and expensive to run
A replacement conversation, with the numbers on paper. Our AC installation page covers sizing and options.
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One room has no vent at all
Garage conversions, casitas and sunrooms are ductless territory. A mini-split cools the space without touching the main system.
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You want one system for summer and winter
A heat pump does both, and Austin winters are mild enough to make it the efficient choice. See heat pumps.
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The house is cool but clammy or dusty
Humidity and air quality, not temperature. Dehumidifiers, filtration and duct work fix what a bigger AC cannot.
Cooling Services
Everything on the Cooling Side of an Austin Home
One licensed company for the outdoor unit, the attic, the ducts and the thermostat.
- AC repair 24/7 diagnosis and repair of central, split and ductless systems, with the parts that fail in Austin heat on the truck.
- AC maintenance Spring tune-ups built for Central Texas: coils, capacitors, charge, drains and attic ducts.
- AC installation and replacement Load-calculated, permitted and manager-reviewed on installs over $3,000. Financing available.
- Heat pumps Cooling and heating in one unit, well suited to a climate with five months of heat and a few weeks of cold.
- Ductless mini-splits For rooms the ductwork never reached, and for older Austin homes without any ducts at all.
- Air handlers and condensers The indoor and outdoor halves, repaired or replaced separately when that is the sensible fix.
- Smart thermostats Installed and configured for your equipment, with schedules that match an Austin afternoon.
- Insulation A hotter attic means a harder-working AC. Added insulation cuts the load before the equipment ever sees it.
How It Works
What to Expect From Radiant in Austin
The same approach whether it is a capacitor or a whole new system.
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Reach us any hour
Phone or online, 24/7. Tell us the symptom and the neighborhood; we book the soonest window.
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A licensed tech diagnoses
Measurements first. You get a plain explanation of what is wrong and what the options are.
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Price in writing, honored 72 hours
No work until you approve it. If a repair is smarter than a replacement, or the reverse, we say so.
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Backed by the Home Comfort Guarantee
If we cannot resolve the issue, the guarantee includes a 10% inconvenience refund, up to $1,000.
Current Specials
Save on the work your home needs most.
Cooling Trouble in Austin?
Repair, tune-up or replacement, we will tell you which. Available 24/7.
What Our Customers Say
Don't just take our word for it — hear from our satisfied customers
★★★★★
Alex performed the winter service on my unit. This business along with Alex, are very professional and upfront about everything. To be transparent, this is the maintenance included with the purchase of a unit from them. I was informed about everything to include pictures as proof. I was told that my unit is 100% and very clean and again pictures to prove it. I was reccomended this business by a friend and glad he did. The initial purchase experience was also amazing. I had contacted 5 other businesses to get quotes about a new unit as my upstairs unit failed. 2 were outrageous quotes and I am technically still waiting on the other 3. On every instance of getting a quote, I waited about 1 week. Luckily my house has two units but still, un acceptable especially during the summer. I guess they all had so much business they did not care for mine. When I called this business not only did they come out the same day, I had the new unit installed with in 48 hrs. Oh and let's not forget the quote they gave me was the lowest of all. I can say enough good things about this business. Keep up the great work.
★★★★★
We needed a new air conditioning system because ours was over 15 years old. I decided to get several estimates from different companies here in San Antonio. Each company seemed to have outrageous prices and wanted to put me into something that was above what I needed. I decided to try one more company, Schmidt Mechanical. I went on their website early in the morning and filled out my information asking for someone to contact me. By the end of the same day, Jared was sitting at our table. I told him specifically what I wanted and what I did not want, since I had gained quite a bit of information from my interaction with other companies. We had a lot of fun sitting at the table and talking about many things, but when he put pen to paper, and gave us three choices of product, service, warranties, etc., we knew right away that Schmidt Mechanical was far superior to other companies in town. We sealed the deal and decided that the following Monday would be installation day. Keeping in mind, that would be one week from the day that we sat down and closed. The very next night, our old unit decided to call it quits and we still had six more nights to go until we get the new system. I called the after hours service line and they sent someone out by 10 o’clock that night, but unfortunately the unit couldn’t even carry electricity to be repaired. They didn’t even charge me for that service call. The next morning I called the company to ask if they had any suggestions on what we could do in the meantime. They put their heads together to come up with a solution. We were very thankful to Keith when he called to tell us they were able to rearrange schedules and carve out time in order to have our new AC unit installed two days later. Schmidt Mechanical - professional, honest, dependable, excellent customer service -- a company you will not regret doing business with. Thank you Team Schmidt!
★★★★★
I would highly recommend Radiant Plumbing. After our 17 year old system broke we bought a new AC unit from Radiant. All the people I dealt with were highly professional, explained everything well and were thorough in their inspection. They were very easy to contact, including a number customers can text with concerns or questions. They kept me well informed through the whole process. They even installed at no cost a portable AC to keep us cool before the installation. The installers, Arturo and Rene, were prompt; they arrived at the exact time we were told, and were very respectful of our home.
Radiant helped us quickly; the AC broke Thursday evening, we scheduled the repairman to come Friday, and Saturday they installed the new unit. I know it isn't always able to happen that fast but it was an extra bonus and relief to finally find an AC company that is actually available and answers the phone, unlike A US Air Conditioning, and is efficient and thorough with no high pressure salesmen, unlike ARS.
Thank you Radiant!
11/4/2020 - update
Had CJ out for the system check and he was very professional, informative, and respectful. He had some recommendations and was able to get us a replacement part for free even though we were just outside the 2yr warranty. It was a very unexpected blessing and I greatly appreciate him and the whole Radiant team.
Radiant helped us quickly; the AC broke Thursday evening, we scheduled the repairman to come Friday, and Saturday they installed the new unit. I know it isn't always able to happen that fast but it was an extra bonus and relief to finally find an AC company that is actually available and answers the phone, unlike A US Air Conditioning, and is efficient and thorough with no high pressure salesmen, unlike ARS.
Thank you Radiant!
11/4/2020 - update
Had CJ out for the system check and he was very professional, informative, and respectful. He had some recommendations and was able to get us a replacement part for free even though we were just outside the 2yr warranty. It was a very unexpected blessing and I greatly appreciate him and the whole Radiant team.
Maintenance Membership
Join the Care Club
Home maintenance for $9.99 a month.
Care Club members get two HVAC tune-ups and a plumbing safety inspection every year, priority scheduling, no dispatch fees — ever — and 5% off every repair.
- Priority scheduling
- Seasonal HVAC tune-ups
- Annual safety inspection
- Exclusive member discounts
- Free dispatch on repairs
- No long-term contracts
Austin Cooling Questions
What thermostat setting is realistic for an Austin home in August?
A properly sized, well-maintained system should hold whatever you set within reason, but there is a practical limit. On a 105-degree afternoon, residential systems are generally designed to hold the house roughly 20 degrees below the outdoor temperature, so a house that holds 75 is doing its job and one that holds 72 is doing better than designed. If your system cannot get below 80, something is wrong: a dirty coil, low charge, leaking ducts or an undersized unit. Setting the thermostat lower does not make it cool faster, it just runs longer. Ceiling fans, closed west-facing blinds and a clean filter do more than most people expect.
Why do Austin homes get two AC units?
Most two-story homes in Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville and the newer subdivisions in Kyle and Leander were built with one system per floor. It is not a luxury; it is the only practical way to keep an upstairs comfortable when heat rises and the attic above it is 130 degrees. If your two-story has a single system and the second floor is always hot, the fix is usually ductwork, added return air or zoning rather than a bigger unit. If you are replacing anyway, splitting into two systems is worth pricing. We will run the numbers both ways.
Does Radiant service homes with ductless or mixed systems in older Austin neighborhoods?
Yes. A lot of central Austin housing, in Hyde Park, Crestview, Tarrytown, Bouldin and Travis Heights, was built without ductwork and has been cooled over the decades by some combination of window units, a retrofitted central system and ductless heads in additions. We repair and maintain all of those except window units, and we are used to the closet air handlers, tight attics and creative duct routing that come with older houses. If you are thinking about consolidating a patchwork into one system, our installation team can lay out the options.
How does Care Club help with cooling costs in Austin?
Directly, in three ways. The two annual tune-ups keep the coil clean and the charge correct, which is where most of a system’s efficiency lives; a neglected unit simply burns more electricity for the same cooling over a five-month season. Members get 5% off any repair and never pay a dispatch fee, so calling about a small problem early costs less than waiting. And emergency service is available 24/7 at standard rates with no after-hours trip fee, which matters when the system quits on a Saturday in July. Membership is $9.99 a month; details are on the Care Club page.
*Offers cannot be combined with other promotions or applied to dispatch fees. No cash value. Must present offer at time of service. Call for details.
