Preparing Your Home's HVAC for a Texas Summer

The hardest working machine in a Texas house is not the one in the garage. It is the air conditioner, running through a San Antonio summer that starts early and ends late, keeping a house livable when the pavement is baking at a hundred degrees. When that system quits in July, the repair line is long and the wait is hot. That is why an AC inspection before summer in Texas is worth doing while the weather is still polite, whether you are buying a house or keeping the one you own.

Why an AC inspection before summer in Texas matters

An air conditioner does not usually fail all at once. It fails slowly: a capacitor that has been struggling, a coil caked with dust, a refrigerant charge that leaked down over the winter. Each one is a small thing that gets worse in the first heat wave, when the unit runs longer and harder than it has in months. A checkup before the season catches those small things while they are still cheap to fix, and it gives you a straight answer about the unit's age and condition before you need it most.

What I check on your HVAC

On every inspection, whether it is a full home inspection or a seasonal look at the system, I run the HVAC through its paces and read the parts that tell the truth. Here is what gets checked:

• The condenser outside: fins clean and straight, the fan spinning freely, the unit sitting level with clearance around it
• The refrigerant lines: insulation intact, no oil stains at the connections, no signs of a slow leak
• The air handler and filter: a clean filter that fits, and a drain pan that is not rusted through
• The condensate drain: clear and flowing, because a clogged drain is the fastest way to turn a working AC into a water leak
• The electrical: the disconnect, the breaker, and the wiring at the unit, for loose or overheated connections
• The thermostat and ductwork: a thermostat that actually controls the system, and ducts that are connected and sealed where you can see them

Problems we see most in San Antonio homes

The list changes with the neighborhood, but the theme is the same. Older homes in Alamo Heights and the inner loop often run original or near-original systems, and the question is how much life is left in a unit that has earned its keep for twenty summers. Newer builds in Stone Oak and the master-planned communities usually have younger equipment, but new does not mean perfect: I still find undersized units, ducts that were never sealed, and condensate lines routed the wrong way. Out in the Hill Country, in Boerne, Bulverde, and the houses around Canyon Lake, the systems work just as hard, often on bigger homes with more glass and longer duct runs. And along the I-35 corridor in Schertz and Cibolo, and down by the rivers in New Braunfels, the same story: an AC that runs all summer deserves a look before summer starts.

What you can do yourself this weekend

You do not need to be a technician to keep your system honest. A few habits, done twice a year, catch most of the small stuff before it becomes a service call:

• Change or clean the filter. A dirty filter makes the whole system work harder, and it is the single most common avoidable problem I see
• Clear the area around the condenser. Trim plants back a couple of feet, and hose the fins off gently if they are caked with dust and cottonwood
• Check the condensate drain. If the line is slow or the pan is wet, clear it before it backs up into the house
• Run the system before it is hot. Turn the AC on for a real cycle in spring and listen for anything odd, so a problem shows up on your schedule, not in July
• Know the age of the unit. The date is on the nameplate, and knowing it tells you whether you are maintaining a system or nursing it

When to call in a professional

If the unit is old, the coils are dirty, the air is not cooling like it used to, or the system already had a rough season, that is the moment for a professional look. And if you are buying a house, the inspection is that professional look: a full Rodeo inspection runs the HVAC, reads the age and condition, and puts the straight answer in your report, inside your option period, while you can still do something about it. That is the difference between learning about the AC before you buy and learning about it in the first July heat wave.

Buying this summer? Our 15-point buyer's checklist covers the same systems we inspect, room by room. The buyer's 15-point checklist

The takeaway

The air conditioner is the one system in a Texas house that cannot take a day off, and it is the one most likely to quit at the worst possible moment. A little attention before summer, and a professional inspection when you are buying, keeps you ahead of the heat instead of behind it. If you are under contract on a house in San Antonio, Stone Oak, Boerne, New Braunfels, Schertz, Cibolo, or anywhere across the metro, get the AC checked while the option period is still open.

Ready to get the straight story on your HVAC before the heat arrives? One click and your inspection is on the books. Book your inspection