AC repair in Pasadena

Anyone who installs, repairs or maintains air conditioning or heating for hire in Texas needs a TDLR license, and an HVAC company must employ a licensed contractor at each permanent location. A license can be assigned to only one office of one company, so the number on your quote should belong to the company in front of you.

The number tells you more than you'd think. A format like TACL/A/000000/C shows the class (A or B) and the endorsement. Class B covers cooling systems of 25 tons or less and heating up to 1.5 million BTU per hour; Class A has no size limit.

Technicians at your door

The person who shows up may be a registered or certified technician working under the contractor. Technicians must register with TDLR and can't advertise HVAC services on their own, so a flyer from an individual with no contractor named doesn't fit the rules. Search both names on TDLR's License Data Search.

HomeGuide's 2025 national figures put AC repair at $150 to $650 on average, with technicians at $75 to $150 an hour and big out-of-warranty repairs at $650 to $2,500 or more. Replacing a standard-efficiency central system runs $5,000 to $8,300 nationally.

If you replace, the floor is set for you. Texas is in the federal Southeast region, so a split-system central air conditioner installed since January 1, 2023 must be at least 14.3 SEER2 under 45,000 Btu/h, or 13.8 SEER2 at 45,000 Btu/h and up. New systems since January 1, 2025 must use refrigerants with a global warming potential of 700 or less, though equipment whose parts were all made before that date can still go in.

Texas rules bar licensees from misrepresenting the need for service to win a contract. If one company says the whole system must go, get a second diagnosis.

Ask the city's Permit Department (713-475-5575) whether your replacement needs a permit, and ask the contractor to show it in the EnerGov portal. Licensed contractors must give cities a list of the agents allowed to pull permits under their license, so whoever files should be on it.

CenterPoint Energy maintains the wires across the Greater Houston area; check which company delivers power to your address, and where the market is deregulated, pick your retail provider. Summer load is real: ERCOT set an all-time peak demand record of 91,089 megawatts on July 22, 2026, topping the 85,508 MW record from 2023 (the new record is unofficial until final settlement), so book a tune-up before the summer peak.

For licensing tiers, insurance minimums and the full checklist, see the Texas HVAC guide. A new condenser circuit is electrician work, and you can compare AC repair in Pearland or go back to the Pasadena guide.