Guides
The rules, rebates and choices behind a heating or cooling job, explained.
Written for homeowners on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. Every guide quotes its sources and says when we last checked them.
The reading list
Pick the question you're stuck on
Grouped by what you're trying to work out: the money, the rules, the choice, or living with the system once it's in.
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The money
Rebates, costs, and what a new system can mean for your electrical panel.
- Heat pump rebates, program by program Which rebates are still open, which are spent, and who pays what where you live.
- What HVAC work costs What goes into the price of a repair, a tune-up or a replacement.
- Heat pumps and your electrical panel Whether a heat pump means a panel upgrade, and the rebates that cover one.
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The rules
What the state, the Air District and your city require when equipment is replaced.
- HVAC permits by city Which jobs need a permit in each city we serve, and how to get one.
- The energy code and a change-out The duct test, the refrigerant check and the paperwork a replacement brings.
- The Air District's zero-NOx rule What it means for gas furnaces and water heaters, and when.
- The new refrigerants, and older systems What changed for new equipment, and what it means for the system you have.
- SEER2 and the efficiency minimums The numbers on the label, and the minimum a California install must meet.
- Carbon monoxide alarms and gas heat What state law requires in a home with gas appliances, and where the alarms go.
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The choice
Which system, what size, and who to hire to put it in.
- Heat pump or gas furnace How they compare here, with the local rules that tip the choice.
- Sizing a heat pump Why the load calculation matters, and what the code asks of it.
- Ducted or ductless When ducts make sense, when mini-splits do, and what each one costs you in lost air.
- How to check an HVAC contractor The license, the insurance and the questions to ask before you sign.
- Replacing a rooftop unit What the energy code asks of a commercial rooftop replacement.
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Living with it
Keeping a system running well once it's in.
- A maintenance checklist by season What to do yourself, and what a tune-up covers.
- Filters for wildfire smoke Which filter to use, how to run the fan, and what your system can take.
- Smart thermostats with a heat pump How to set one up so it saves energy rather than wasting it.
- Heat pumps in a cold snap How they keep up on the coldest nights here, and when backup heat runs.
Tell us what it's doing. We'll take it from there.
Call and describe the problem: the noise, the smell, the room that never warms up. Or book a visit online.
