Commercial HVAC · Light commercial
Commercial HVAC service and installation in Austin, TX.
Offices, retail bays, restaurants, shops and small industrial buildings. Rooftop units get diagnosed on the roof, not from the lobby thermostat.
Who this is for
Property managers, small business owners, retail and restaurant operators, offices, shops and light industrial buildings along the I-35 corridor and out into the smaller Central Texas towns.
The detail
What this work actually involves.
Most light commercial buildings in Central Texas are conditioned by packaged rooftop units — a single cabinet on a curb containing the compressor, condenser, evaporator, blower and, in a gas/electric unit, the burner. They are practical, serviceable and completely exposed: full sun on a flat roof, no shade, and in a strip centre they are typically as old as the last tenant improvement. A rooftop unit ages faster than the equivalent residential equipment because of where it lives.
The failure pattern reflects that. Condenser coils packed with debris because nobody has been on the roof since the last service. Economizer dampers seized open or closed, which either drags 100-degree outside air into the building or blocks free cooling in February. Belts, bearings and blower wheels on units old enough to still have them. Curb and duct connections that have opened up over time, dumping conditioned air into a plenum ceiling. Condensate drains that overflow into the roof deck rather than to a drain. And economics that differ from a house: for a restaurant or a retail bay, being down for a day is not a comfort issue, it is revenue.
The other commercial reality is scheduling. A rooftop unit that fails at 11am in July on a retail bay needs somebody up there quickly, and a building with four units needs somebody who knows which one serves which suite. Scheduled maintenance is worth more in commercial than residential for exactly that reason — it is the difference between a planned $300 visit per system and an unplanned closed sign. We work with owners and property managers on both: reactive repair when something goes down, and a maintenance rhythm so it goes down less.
What's included
Commercial HVAC, line by line.
- Packaged rooftop unit diagnosis and repair — gas/electric and heat pump
- Commercial split systems and light commercial air handlers
- Ductless mini-splits for offices, server rooms and IT closets
- Economizer inspection and repair — dampers, actuators and controls
- Belt, bearing, blower wheel and motor service on belt-drive units
- Condenser and evaporator coil cleaning on roof-mounted equipment
- Condensate drains, pans and roof-deck protection
- Preventive maintenance at $300 per system, per visit
- Replacement and changeout planning for property managers and owners
The work
Commercial HVAC in detail.
Photographs from our own Central Texas jobs — a closer look at the equipment, the install detail, and the parts that decide whether a system lasts.
Questions about this work
Commercial HVAC — straight answers.
Do you work on rooftop units?
Yes — packaged rooftop units are the majority of light commercial equipment in this market, both gas/electric and heat pump. They get diagnosed on the roof with gauges and meters, which is the only place a rooftop unit can actually be diagnosed.
Can you handle a building with several units?
Yes, and mapping them properly is part of the value. Knowing which unit serves which suite, and keeping a record of each one's age and history, is what turns four anonymous boxes on a roof into something a property manager can actually budget for.
How does maintenance pricing work for commercial?
The same way it does for residential: $300 per system for one comprehensive preventive maintenance visit. It is priced per visit, not as an annual contract. A building with four rooftop units is four systems. Repairs and replacements are quoted per job.
Our tenants complain that the front of the building is hot and the back is cold.
Very common in strip retail and open offices, and usually a distribution or zoning problem rather than a capacity one — plenum-ceiling returns, unbalanced supply, or an economizer stuck open on one unit. It gets diagnosed by measuring, not by adding equipment.
Related services
Service call · $100
Get a technician out to look at it properly.
Call or text (512) 840-8112. The service call is a flat $100 — a technician comes out, evaluates the system and identifies the issue. If you approve the repair, the $100 is credited toward it. If you decide against the repair, the $100 stands as the fee for the visit. Repairs, replacements and installations are quoted from what we actually find.
ATX Clima LLC · Austin, TX