Hillsborough is a town where most homes were built before central air conditioning was standard, and many of them are still running the original heating equipment. That combination means repair calls, first-time cooling installs, and systems that have gone years between tune-ups are all common. We handle all of it, from a furnace that will not fire on a cold morning to a full heat pump replacement for a home moving away from gas.
Call (650) 955-4592 to get a quote and schedule service.
Property managers and landlords working in and around Hillsborough have the same needs, just on a different timeline. A rental unit without heat or cooling is not an option, and a commercial space with a system down loses more than comfort. We work with both, and the process is the same either way: scope confirmed on the call, price agreed before the visit is scheduled, and the system tested before the visit ends.
Most HVAC calls start with a symptom, not a diagnosis. A system that runs but does not cool, a furnace that cycles on and off without reaching the set temperature, or a heat pump that has stopped switching modes correctly all point to different problems. The job of the visit is to find the actual cause before quoting a fix.
Many Hillsborough homes were built without the ductwork to support central air conditioning, and adding new duct runs through finished walls and ceilings is a significant undertaking. A ductless mini-split system sidesteps that entirely. Each indoor unit conditions the room it serves, the refrigerant lines run through a small wall penetration, and the rest of the house stays intact. A first-time install starts with a room-by-room assessment to size the equipment correctly before anything is ordered.
A pre-season maintenance visit covers the things that fail quietly: refrigerant level, coil condition, electrical connections, filter state, and how the system performs across a full cycle. Catching a slow refrigerant leak or a failing capacitor before the season puts the system under load costs less than a breakdown call in the middle of a heat event. Scheduling a tune-up before the season starts also means shorter wait times than calling when everyone else does.
A burning smell at the beginning of the heating season can be dust burning off the heat exchanger and may clear after the first run. A smell that persists, or one that appears during normal operation, points to an electrical or mechanical issue worth diagnosing before the next cycle. A musty smell from the vents usually means mold or mildew growth on the evaporator coil or inside the duct system, and that is addressed through coil cleaning and, where the system supports it, a UV air purifier installation.
A system that runs for hours without reaching the set temperature is not just uncomfortable. It is expensive. The cause might be a refrigerant charge that has dropped from a slow leak, a coil that has not been cleaned in years, or ductwork that is losing conditioned air before it reaches the rooms that need it. Each of those has a different fix, and the diagnostic visit is how the right one gets identified.
A heat pump that stops heating in cold weather, or one that runs its defrost cycle too often or not enough, is one of the more specific diagnostic calls in this trade. Defrost faults can look like refrigerant problems or control issues, and the two are not the same repair. A visit covers reversing valve function, refrigerant charge, coil condition, and control board behavior so the fault is identified rather than guessed at. We'll confirm the repair with you before it goes ahead.
A retail space, a medical office, or a multi-unit building with a system down is a different kind of problem from a residential repair call. Tenants and customers are affected, and the timeline matters in a way it does not for a house that can be temporarily managed with portable equipment.
We take short-notice commercial calls and work around operating hours where the situation allows. A staged repair, where the immediate failure is addressed first and a longer-term fix is scheduled around business hours, is a realistic option for properties that cannot close. The scope and the price for each stage are confirmed before work begins, and clear notes on what was found and what was done go with every visit so the property manager has a full record.
Leaking or poorly routed ductwork is one of the most common causes of HVAC problems that do not look like equipment failures. A system that runs well but leaves certain rooms consistently too hot or too cold, or one that drives up energy bills without any obvious mechanical fault, is often losing conditioned air through gaps and connections in the duct runs before it reaches the registers.
A ductwork visit starts with an inspection to locate where air is escaping. Leaks at joints, connections that have separated over time, and sections of duct running through unconditioned spaces all contribute to the problem. Sealing and repair address the specific failure points rather than replacing the whole system.
Fixing duct leaks often improves comfort in rooms that have always been difficult to condition, without changing the equipment at all. In older Hillsborough homes where the ductwork was sized for a different system or laid out before additions were made, a duct assessment is worth doing before investing in a new unit. A system that is correctly sized for the space it is conditioning performs differently than one fighting a leaking distribution network.
You do not need to know what is wrong before you call. Describing the symptom is enough to scope the visit on the phone, confirm the price, and get the work scheduled. That applies to a planned tune-up, a repair call, and an emergency situation equally.
When a property has no heat or no cooling at all, those calls are treated as urgent. We are open every day from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and emergency service is available within those hours for both residential and commercial properties. The scope and the price are settled on the call before anything is scheduled, whatever the urgency.
For properties with tenants or operating businesses, the visit can be timed around access and occupancy. That is part of the booking conversation, not an afterthought. Call us and we'll handle the rest.
Filtration and humidity control do different things, and both matter for the people living or working in the space.
Standard residential filters are not rated to capture the fine particulates that wildfire smoke carries into homes across this region. Upgrading to MERV-13 or higher filtration addresses that gap. The visit starts with a compatibility check on the existing air handler, because higher-rated filters restrict airflow more than standard ones and not every system handles that without adjustment. Where the existing unit cannot support the upgrade, a dedicated whole-home air filtration system is the alternative.
Air that is too dry in winter irritates airways and damages wood floors and trim. Air that is too humid in summer encourages mold growth and makes cooling feel less effective. A whole-home humidifier or dehumidifier installed on the air handler addresses both problems at the source rather than room by room. The visit covers an assessment of what the existing system can support before any equipment is recommended.
The rate for the visit is explained when you call, before anything is scheduled. What the visit covers is laid out at the same time, so there is nothing to decode after the fact.
What moves a quote from one range to another is the nature of the fault, how accessible the equipment is, and whether a repair or a replacement is the better answer for the system in front of us. An older unit that has needed repeated attention over a short period is a different conversation from a newer system with a single failed component. Work is carried out to code on every job, and if the diagnostic uncovers something beyond the original scope, the updated price is confirmed before any additional work proceeds.
Getting a straight answer on repair against replacement is exactly what the call is for. A guess is not useful to anyone.
We serve Hillsborough and the communities around it throughout San Mateo County. That includes Burlingame, San Mateo, Millbrae, Baywood Park, and Highlands. Both residential and commercial properties throughout the area are within our service range.
If you are unsure whether your address is covered, a quick call settles it. We do not ask you to figure that out before you reach us. What the work involves is covered on our list of HVAC services.
Older homes can present specific considerations around ductwork condition, electrical capacity for the equipment side of the installation, and whether the existing air handler can support a filtration or humidity upgrade without modification. None of those are reasons to avoid the work, but they do affect what the diagnostic covers and what gets factored into the quote. Describing the home and the existing system when you call helps scope the visit accurately before anyone comes out.
It starts with a room-by-room assessment to size the equipment correctly for each space being conditioned. The visit covers how many indoor units the home needs, where each one should be placed for coverage and airflow, and what the refrigerant line routing looks like before anything is ordered. The price is confirmed before installation begins, and the system is tested through both heating and cooling modes before the visit ends.
Intermittent faults are harder to diagnose on a cold system, and we take that into account. If the symptom only appears under load or after a period of operation, the visit may involve running the system through a full cycle to reproduce the condition before drawing conclusions.
Yes, in most cases. A maintained older system runs more efficiently and is less likely to fail suddenly than one that has been left unserviced. Maintenance also gives a clearer picture of the system's actual condition, which makes the repair-versus-replace decision easier when it comes up.
Not always. If the existing thermostat is compatible with the new equipment and functioning correctly, it can stay in place. If the new system requires a different wiring configuration or a more capable control, we explain the options and confirm the decision before anything is ordered.
If the system is down or showing signs of trouble, the most useful thing we can do is scope the problem on the call and give you a clear picture of what the visit covers before anyone comes out.
Call (650) 955-4592 to get a quote or schedule service with Los Altos HVAC Company. We are open every day from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
Clear answers. Real pricing. Real fast response.
If the question is whether to repair what you have or replace it, that answer comes from the diagnostic, not from a guess made over the phone without seeing the equipment. Call and we will tell you what the visit involves and what it costs to find out.
Nearby, we also cover: Half Moon Bay, North Fair Oaks, Woodside, Atherton, West Menlo Park. Check our full service area.
Whether you are dealing with a system that stopped working this morning or planning a seasonal tune-up before temperatures shift, we cover the full range of residential and commercial heating-and-cooling work across Hillsborough and San Mateo County. The table below lays out what each service covers, who it fits best, and a practical note to help you decide where to start. Call us with any question and we will scope the job on the phone before anything is scheduled.
| Service Type | What It Covers | Common Needs | Things to Know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat Pump Electrification | Load assessment and equipment sizing, Ducted and ductless options reviewed, Installation replacing both furnace and AC where both exist, Full system test before visit closes | Hillsborough homeowners ready to move on from an aging gas furnace and looking for a system that handles both heating and cooling | The Bay Area's mild winters mean heat pumps operate efficiently here through most of the year. A load calculation confirms the right size before anything is ordered. |
| Wildfire-Smoke Air Filtration (MERV-13+) | Compatibility check on existing air handler, MERV-13 or higher filter installation, Airflow assessment after upgrade, Review of filter replacement schedule | San Mateo County households affected by recurring wildfire smoke seasons who want filtration that goes beyond a standard residential filter | Standard one-inch filters are not rated to capture the fine particulates wildfire smoke carries. MERV-13 and higher addresses that gap, but the air handler needs to handle the added resistance without straining the blower. |
| Full System Installation & ReplacementMost Popular | Load calculation for the space, Equipment selection based on actual building needs, Full installation scope breakdown, System tested before visit closes | Homes or commercial spaces where repair costs have climbed or efficiency has dropped enough to show up in energy bills | A load calculation sizes the new system to the building rather than matching the old unit. Oversized equipment short-cycles and undersized equipment runs constantly. |
Call us at (650) 955-4592 to talk through your system, get a straight answer on pricing, and schedule service that fits your timeline.
(650) 955-4592