Quick answer
- A real tune-up measures and documents — it doesn't just look.
- Cooling visits center on refrigerant performance, coil condition, electrical components, and condensate drainage.
- Heating visits center on the heat exchanger, burners, flame sensor, gas pressures, and safety controls.
- You should receive readings and findings, not just a “all good.”
The cooling-side checklist
- Measure supply/return temperature split and verify it's in the expected range.
- Evaluate refrigerant charge via superheat/subcooling — not by “topping off.”
- Inspect and clean the outdoor condenser coil; check the indoor evaporator coil where accessible.
- Test capacitors, contactor, and motor amp draws against nameplate ratings.
- Flush and treat the condensate drain — the #1 source of summer water-damage calls.
- Verify thermostat calibration and system cycling.
The heating-side checklist
- Inspect the heat exchanger for cracks or corrosion — the critical safety check on a gas furnace.
- Clean burners and the flame sensor; verify ignition sequence.
- Check gas pressure and combustion performance.
- Test high-limit and safety controls.
- For heat pumps: verify defrost cycle, reversing valve operation, and auxiliary heat staging.
What separates a precision tune-up from a drive-by
The difference is measurement. Anyone can eyeball a system and declare it fine. A precision tune-up produces numbers — temperature splits, amp draws, gas pressures, capacitor readings — compared against manufacturer specifications. Ask for the readings. A good technician is happy to walk you through them.
That's also why we call ours precision tune-ups: two of them per year are the core of the Family Maintenance Plan, and every visit ends with straightforward findings — never manufactured urgency.
When you're ready