When the AC quits in a Los Angeles heat wave, the first question is what it will cost. The honest answer depends on what failed — and on a few things about your system that are easy to know in advance.
The diagnosis comes first
The $69 service call covers the diagnosis: the technician checks the electrical parts, airflow, pressures and temperatures, finds the fault and gives you the price before any work. If you go ahead, the $69 is applied to the repair.
The part that failed
- Capacitors and contactors — small electrical parts that heat is hard on, and the most common summer repair.
- Fan and blower motors — bigger parts, more labor.
- Control boards and wiring.
- A refrigerant leak — finding it, repairing it, then evacuating and recharging the system.
- The compressor — the largest repair, and on an older system the point where replacement is worth pricing too.
The refrigerant your system uses
- R-22 — usually systems installed before 2010. R-22 has not been produced or imported in the U.S. since 2020, so recharging relies on recovered stock, which is scarce and expensive.
- R-410A — most systems installed before 2025. Still serviceable; supply is being phased down nationally, and California ends new bulk sales of virgin R-410A in 2030.
- R-454B or R-32 — newer systems built for the lower-impact A2L refrigerants.
Access and age
A rooftop package unit, an attic air handler or a tight side yard adds time. On an older system with a major failure, you get the repair price and an honest view of whether a replacement makes more sense; our installations carry a 1-year warranty on the installation.
Warranty
Repairs carry 90 days on parts and labor; sealed-system repairs — refrigerant leaks, compressors, coils — carry 6 months.
How to keep repairs small
A tune-up before summer — clean coils, a tested capacitor, a clean filter — prevents many heat-wave breakdowns.