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Austin Heating and Air
Two Seasons, One Set of Equipment
Most Austin homes heat and cool with the same machine. The blower in the attic or the hall closet pushes air across a cold coil from May through October, then across gas burners or electric heat strips for a few weeks of real winter. On a heat pump, the outdoor unit that dumps heat all summer is also the heater. One filter, one set of ducts, one drain line and one thermostat serve both jobs. That is why a blower motor that limped through August quits in December, and why a furnace cabinet rusts from the condensate of the air conditioner sitting on top of it.
It also means the two seasons are not equal. Cooling runs long and steady and wears things out. Heating runs rarely, starts cold after months of attic dust and dirt-dauber nests, and has to work the one night a norther drops Travis County into the 20s. Radiant has looked after both sides for Austin homeowners since 1999, from Leander and Round Rock down to Buda and Kyle, and from Spicewood out to Manor, Elgin and Taylor.
The full explanation of every heating and cooling service we offer, for Austin and San Antonio alike, lives on our heating and air conditioning page. What follows is how that work plays out in an Austin house, and where to go for each piece of it.
- Whole-system thinking A summer call includes a look at what winter will need, because the parts are shared.
- Written price before work Honored for 72 hours with no hidden fees, on a capacitor or a complete system.
- Vetted technicians Licensed, trained, background-checked and bonded before they climb into your attic.
Season by Season
A Year in the Life of an Austin HVAC System
The calendar decides what breaks. Here is what we see on the trucks month by month.
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April: the first 90-degree week
Weak capacitors and low refrigerant charge show up the first time the system runs for hours. A spring tune-up finds them a month earlier.
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July: ceilings and compressors
Condensate drains clog and attic air handlers overflow. Compressors that ran fine at 95 fail at 105. This is the season we are busiest.
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October: the quiet window
Nothing runs hard, so it is the best month for a replacement or a fall furnace check, and the easiest month to get the window you want.
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November: the first norther
Every furnace in the county lights for the first time on the same evening. Dirty flame sensors and cracked igniters make it a long night.
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January: the hard freeze
Heat pumps lean on backup strips, old heat exchangers get their real test, and no heat becomes a plumbing problem within hours.
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February: cedar and the filter
Mountain cedar pollen loads the filter and coats the coil right before cooling season starts again. A clean start matters.
Where to Start
Repair, Install and Maintain, on Both Sides of the System
Pick the piece that matches your problem. Each one goes deeper into how we handle it in the Austin area.
- Cooling The summer side of the house, start to finish. Begin with Austin cooling services if you are not sure which call to make.
- Heating Furnaces, heat pumps and everything that has to work the night a front comes through. See Austin heating services.
- AC repair Warm air, ice on the lines, a silent outdoor unit. Austin AC repair, around the clock in the hot months.
- AC installation Load-calculated replacements with a manager quality review on installs over $3,000. Austin AC installation.
- AC maintenance The spring visit that catches the July failure. Austin AC maintenance, included twice a year with Care Club.
- Furnace repair Igniters, flame sensors, blowers and safeties, fixed at the same price on a freeze night. Austin furnace repair.
- Furnace installation Gas, electric or heat pump, sized from the house and matched to the AC. Austin furnace installation.
- Furnace maintenance A fall check of combustion, venting and safeties before the first cold front. Austin furnace maintenance.
- Heat pumps The both-seasons system that fits a long summer and a short winter. Repair, service and installs on Austin heat pumps.
- Indoor air quality Filtration, purification and humidity control for a city with cedar, oak and caliche dust. Austin air quality.
- Duct cleaning The ducts carry both seasons’ air. Austin duct cleaning for attics full of years of dust.
How It Works
One Call, Either Season
A capacitor in July and a furnace in January go through the same four steps.
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Describe the symptom
Warm air, cold air, a noise, a smell, a bill that doubled. We book the window and bring the parts that match the season.
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Check the whole system
The half that is complaining gets diagnosed, and the shared parts get a look, because the blower, ducts and thermostat serve both seasons.
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Approve a written price
Good for 72 hours, no hidden fees, no surprise weekend or holiday charges. Repair and replacement priced side by side when both make sense.
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Work done and proven
A full cycle in the current season before we leave. Installs over $3,000 get a manager quality review under the Home Comfort Guarantee.
Current Specials
Save on the work your home needs most.
Hot House or Cold House? Just Call Radiant.
The same Austin technicians handle both, 24 hours a day, with the price approved before the work.
What Our Customers Say
Don't just take our word for it — hear from our satisfied customers
★★★★★
Our 18 year old HVAC system finally gave out this past week, so we reached out to Radiant to see what could be done. They sent a tech out named Bryan the same day, and he did a great job looking over the entire HVAC system. He was friendly and helpful in explaining everything that he saw, and our options moving forward. We decided to replace the entire system, so we met with Jacob (same day thankfully) to find the best HVAC system for our needs. Jacob was friendly, professional, and did a great job explaining the different options on offer. Radiant was able to set-up next day install, which was much appreciated, because the temps were still going to be cold in the coming days.
The install team consisted of Carlos and Pablo, who were very courteous and professional, and were kind enough to answer any questions I had regarding the install. They did a great job installing our new HVAC system, and were tidy which is always appreciated! Before they left, they explained everything that had been done, and showed me photos of the work.
Our entire experience from start to finish was great. I appreciate that they send photos of who is coming to your home too. Friendly, kind, professional team members, and good work all the way around. Thanks Radiant!
The install team consisted of Carlos and Pablo, who were very courteous and professional, and were kind enough to answer any questions I had regarding the install. They did a great job installing our new HVAC system, and were tidy which is always appreciated! Before they left, they explained everything that had been done, and showed me photos of the work.
Our entire experience from start to finish was great. I appreciate that they send photos of who is coming to your home too. Friendly, kind, professional team members, and good work all the way around. Thanks Radiant!
★★★★★
This is the first time I’ve used radiant my neighbor recommended them…. I called them today and they set me up an appointment on the same day. I was totally shocked at that and the service call was only $39!!…. Highly recommend them Danielle showed up and he was a great guy and he put up with all my wishy-washiness and I had to hurry him because I was heading to church and he got caught in a lot of traffic getting here he even would’ve installed the part that broke but I Didn’t have the time tonight….. He was patient with me and just told me to call the office first thing in the morning and get a service call set up…. Thank you so much Radiant!!….
With another cold front coming in tomorrow now I just hope they can get me scheduled for a separate call tomorrow but I have a feeling they will. They are such a great company!!😊😊
With another cold front coming in tomorrow now I just hope they can get me scheduled for a separate call tomorrow but I have a feeling they will. They are such a great company!!😊😊
★★★★★
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.
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 Heating and Air Questions
Can the same technician work on my furnace and my air conditioner?
Yes. In Texas, heating and cooling fall under one air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license, and Radiant holds it for the Austin area as TACLB138285E. Our technicians are trained on both sides because the equipment is shared: the furnace or air handler in your attic is also the blower for the AC, and on a heat pump the outdoor unit does both jobs. That matters on a service call. A technician diagnosing a summer airflow problem can see a blower motor that will not survive the winter, and a fall furnace check includes the coil and drain that sit on top of the burners. Gas line work on a furnace is covered by our plumbing license, so the whole job stays with one company.
How do I tell whether my Austin home has a heat pump or a furnace and AC?
Three quick checks. First, look at the thermostat: a setting labeled Emergency Heat, Em Heat or Aux means a heat pump. Second, turn the heat on and step outside; if the outdoor unit is running while the house is heating, it is a heat pump, because a straight-cool system leaves the outdoor unit off in winter. Third, look at the indoor unit. A gas furnace has a gas line and a metal flue pipe going up through the roof; an air handler with a heat pump or electric furnace has neither. Newer all-electric subdivisions in Leander, Hutto, Manor and Kyle are mostly heat pumps, and older central Austin homes and 1990s suburbs are mostly gas furnaces paired with an AC. If you are still not sure, tell us the model number and we will know.
Why did a summer AC problem turn into a winter heating problem?
Because the parts are the same. The blower motor and its capacitor run for the air conditioner from May to October and then have to run again for the furnace; a motor that overheated in a 130-degree attic all summer often fails on the first cold night. The condensate from the AC coil drips onto the furnace below it, so a drain that clogged in July can rust burners and the heat exchanger by December. A thermostat miswired for the AC will misbehave in heat mode. Leaky attic ducts lose cold air in summer and warm air in winter. Fix the shared part properly once and both seasons benefit, which is why our repair visits look past the season in front of us.
Which Austin-area cities do you cover for heating and air?
All of them within the metro. From our Austin office on Reinli Street we serve Austin itself, including Mueller, Crestview and Tarrytown, plus Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill, Georgetown, Hutto, Taylor, Coupland, Manor, Elgin, Del Valle, Manchaca, Buda, Kyle, Dripping Springs, Driftwood and Spicewood. Service is 24/7 in every one of those communities, with no surprise fees on nights, weekends or holidays, and Care Club members get priority scheduling wherever they live. If your address is outside that list, call anyway; the answer is often yes. Our Austin service area page has a page for each city.
*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.
