A full tune-up is about 15–20 line items, takes 60–90 minutes per system, and should come with a written checklist showing actual readings — not just check marks. Here's the spring AC visit, the fall furnace visit, what you do in between, and how to tell if your technician actually did the work.
Booked in late February or early March, before cooling season. Covers everything that runs during the cooling cycle plus the systems shared between heating and cooling.
Booked in late August or early September, before heating season. Covers the combustion side of the system — the most safety-critical of the year.
Two professional visits a year, plus a few short tasks each quarter, covers almost everything a residential HVAC system needs. None of these require tools more complex than a garden hose and a screwdriver.
Pull the filter, hold it up to a light. If you can't see through it, replace it. Standard 1-inch filters every 1–3 months. The single highest-impact thing you do.
Two feet of clear space on all sides of the condenser. Trim back shrubs, clear leaves and grass clippings, sweep away debris. Do this when you mow.
Once a year in early spring. System off, rinse the outside coils gently from inside out. Don't use a pressure washer — bent fins cost efficiency.
Look for water pooling near the air handler. If draining is slow, pour a cup of distilled vinegar down the cleanout port. Catches clogs before they trigger a safety shutoff.
A new clicking, humming, or grinding sound is the system telling you something. Don't normalize it. The earliest warnings are the cheapest to fix.
Replace once a year, even if not warning. A dying thermostat causes erratic cycling and missed temperatures, often diagnosed as system problems.
The "$29 tune-up special" advertised in spring mailers is almost always a sales call disguised as service. Real tune-ups cost $80–150 and take time. Here's how to tell what you actually got.
Knowing what should happen at each tune-up is half the picture. The other half is making sure those tune-ups actually get scheduled — late February for the AC visit, late August for the furnace visit, year after year.
See why the visits split spring and fall, review the recommended cadence, or set the reminder right now from the HVAC service reminder page:
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A real tune-up covers about 15–20 points: refrigerant level check, coil cleaning (indoor and outdoor), drain line clearing, electrical connections, capacitor and contactor testing, blower motor inspection, refrigerant line insulation, thermostat calibration, and filter replacement. The fall furnace visit adds heat exchanger inspection, ignition system check, gas pressure verification, and burner cleaning.
At a minimum: filter change, coil inspection, refrigerant level check, electrical connection tightening, thermostat calibration, and a temperature split test (the difference between supply and return air should be 18–22°F on cooling). If your invoice doesn't mention these, you got a quick courtesy visit, not a tune-up.
A thorough single-system tune-up takes 60–90 minutes. A combined visit covering both the AC and furnace takes 90–120 minutes. If a technician is in and out in 30 minutes, they almost certainly did a visual check and a filter change — not a real tune-up. Ask for a written checklist of what was inspected.
Yes — on three counts: efficiency (a clean, calibrated system uses 5–15% less energy), warranty preservation (most manufacturer warranties require it), and early detection (a $20 capacitor caught at a tune-up beats a $2,000 compressor failure mid-summer). The visit costs $80–150 and pays for itself in the first season.
Change the filter every 1–3 months, keep the outdoor condenser clear (2 feet of clearance on all sides, no grass clippings or leaves), rinse the outdoor coil with a garden hose every spring, clear the condensate drain line if you see slow draining, and listen for changes in noise or airflow. These take maybe 20 minutes a quarter and prevent the most common service calls.
Ask for a written checklist with the readings — temperature split, refrigerant pressures, capacitor microfarads, amperage. Real numbers, not just check marks. Take a photo of the air filter before they arrive and compare to the new one. Watch the work if you can — most honest technicians welcome it. A vague invoice that just says "tune-up performed" is a warning sign.
A basic check is inspection plus minor adjustments — about an hour. A deep clean adds chemical coil cleaning (indoor evaporator and outdoor condenser), full drain line flush, and blower wheel cleaning. Most homes need a basic tune-up annually and a deep clean every 3–4 years, sooner if you have pets or live in a high-pollen area.
A free email reminder ensures you book the visits. The checklist on this page ensures you get a real tune-up when you do.
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