Questions New Yorkers ask before they call
I rent my apartment. Can you repair my heat or AC?
Probably not us, and we would rather tell you now. If you rent, your heat and most cooling equipment belong to your landlord's responsibilities and your building's staff. Your first call is your super or managing agent. Empire City Air Care works for the owners of homes and small buildings, and for co-op and condo owners whose systems are their own, such as a PTAC, a through-wall unit, a mini-split, or a heat pump inside the unit.
My co-op's heat comes from the building boiler. Who do I call?
Your building, first. A central boiler, its risers, and the radiators it feeds are the co-op's system, handled by building staff or the building's service contract. Where we help co-op owners directly is the equipment inside their own walls: PTAC and through-wall cooling, in-unit heat pumps, and controls. If you are not sure which side of that line your problem sits on, call Call for same-day help and describe it; the answer takes a minute.
What does the estimate cost?
The estimate is free, hassle-free, and no-obligation. You hear the findings and the planning range for the repair, and you decide. Nothing proceeds on a guess: the contractor confirms the price before work begins.
What will my repair cost?
Typical planning ranges for common work: most AC repairs run $200 to $900, most furnace repairs $150 to $700, and most heat pump repairs $250 to $950. A capacitor runs $150 to $350, a blower motor $450 to $1,200, and a compressor $1,250 to $2,900. These ranges are for planning; the actual price varies by home, equipment, and access, and the contractor confirms it before work begins. Boiler and steam work is priced from the diagnosis, because a vent, a trap, and a boiler section are different jobs that can share a symptom.
My radiators knock all night. Is that normal?
Common, yes. Normal, no. Knocking usually means condensate is trapped where steam needs to travel: a sagging pipe, a radiator pitched the wrong way, a valve half-closed, or a trap that has failed. It is a specific fault, and it is repairable. Note which radiators knock and when in the heating cycle it starts; that account shortens the visit.
One side of my building is cold while the other roasts. Can that be fixed?
Often, yes. Uneven steam heat usually comes down to air that cannot vent, steam that cannot arrive, or traps passing steam into the returns. Balance problems are diagnostic work: which risers run cold, which vents hiss, and how the boiler cycles. A brownstone or small building with this complaint is exactly the call this company was built around.
Do you repair window air conditioners?
No, and any company that offers to is selling you a bill larger than the appliance. Window units are replaced, not repaired. We can talk through sizing a replacement and whether your building allows a through-wall or ductless alternative, but we will not charge to fix a window unit.
How fast can someone come?
Same-week appointments are often available, and in a no-heat call during a cold snap, winter scheduling puts those first. In this city the real variable is access: a doorman's sign-in, a super's hours, a freight elevator that must be reserved. Naming your building's rules when you call does more for your appointment time than any promise we could print here.
Who needs to be there, and who can approve the work?
Someone who can let the crew in, and someone who can say yes to the repair once it is diagnosed. In an owned home that is usually the same person. In a co-op it may be you plus notice to your managing agent. In a small rental building it is the owner or the super. Ask who can authorize the work before anyone books the visit, and the visit ends with a repair instead of a second appointment.
Do you clean ducts?
No. Duct cleaning is not part of this company's work, and much of this city's stock has no ducts to clean. If a caller sold you cleaning as a cure for a heating or cooling fault, get the free estimate first and hear what the system is actually doing.