Frequently Asked Questions

The SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) is how the efficiency of your heating and cooling equipment is measured. The SEER is the amount of cooling your system will deliver per dollar spent on electricity, as compared to other systems. For example, a 3-ton unit may have a SEER efficiency rating of 13, 14, or 15. The higher the SEER the more efficient the system will be. The SEER rating of any given unit can range anywhere from 13 to 21.

Your heating and cooling systems work incredibly hard to perform their functions for your home every day. The constant stopping, starting and continual operation can wear down any machine if the proper care and maintenance is delayed. However, by performing regular maintenance, you can maximize the lifecycle of your heating or cooling unit and guard against many common equipment failures. Preventive maintenance inspections performed on a regular basis can uncover leaks, rust, rot, soot, frayed wires and corroded electrical contacts. You should have maintenance completed on your system regularly to ensure maximum efficiency and prevent possible problems that may occur in the near future. Check out our Comfort Protection Club to see how we can help with this!

Heat pumps, air conditioners, furnaces and air handlers require a professional tune-up twice a year; in the spring and fall. Inspections on boiler and furnace systems should include ductwork, pipes, dampers, valves, the chimney, registers, radiators, pumps, blowers, fuel lines, oil tank and every part of the actual furnace and boiler. Meanwhile, heat pump and air conditioning unit inspections should also include inspections of the fan, compressor, indoor coils, outdoor coils, and refrigerant lines.

There are many factors that affect the sizing and specifications of your system, including square footage, insulation, window surface and configuration, geographic location of your home, duct sizing and arrangement, and many others. We can perform an in-home load analysis to determine which equipment combinations will perfectly suit your home and your family’s needs. Depending upon the construction of your home, one (1) ton of air conditioning can cool anywhere from 300 to 800 square feet of home. The only way to ensure the size of the system you purchase will be large enough to heat or cool your home, but not any larger than you need, is to have your home’s individual heating and cooling needs to be evaluated by a licensed professional.

Under the standard factory warranty, Trane covers parts that fail during the warranty period due to defect in the part. The warranty does not cover labor. A warranty certificate was included with your homeowner information packet and is specific to the model numbers, serial numbers and installation dates of your products. All Trane equipment that we install is registered with Trane Corporation to ensure your 10-year parts warranty. If you cannot find your warranty certificate, we will also be able to provide you with that information. With a Total Comfort Plan, you’ll have a ten-year parts and labor warranty on your Trane equipment.

Each home is a little different. You only need to change the filter when it’s too dirty to let air through. Pets, dirt, and dust can cause you to need to replace your filter more often. If you are unsure how often to replace your filter, take it out and hold it up to the light. If you are not seeing light through it, you are not getting enough air through it. At a minimum replace your filter at the beginning of a new season, during the spring and fall. When you replace it, if it is very dirty, try replacing it every 3 months. The purpose of the filter is to keep dirt and debris from damaging the internal components of your cooling system while still allowing enough air to move through the system. A dirty filter causes more strain on the electrical components causing them to fail sooner and your energy bill to be higher than it needs to be.

There are a couple of different levels of troubleshooting. Basic troubleshooting that anyone can do if they know what to check, and advanced troubleshooting that most people are not trained to do. Be careful how much you attempt on your own, it is easy to get in over your head and do more damage than good. We made this video to show you some easy air conditioner troubleshooting steps you can try before paying a technician to come to your home. These are the most common, preventable things our HVAC service technicians come across.

Ask yourself these 4 questions and then, based on your answers, make a decision.

How broken is it? This can range from “ok” to “it won’t turn on”. After you have an HVAC technician look at it they should be able to tell you if it is minor or major.
How old is your air conditioner?10 is the magic number, that is what they say the life expectancy is for air conditioners, give or take a few years. The closer you get to that age, take that into consideration.
How often is it breaking down? Frequency matters. If you have an 8 year old air conditioner that is breaking down every year, it is probably only going to get worse.
How much do the repairs cost? This is where personal preference comes into play. You have to weigh the costs of repairs and how often you’re having to make those repairs vs what it would cost to replace your air conditioner.

According to energy.gov, 6% of the electricity we generate goes to cooling our homes, costing consumers $29 billion a year. So the best way to reduce your cooling bill is to use your AC less, here are a few suggestions.

Adjust your thermostat up a few degrees. Most of us use our air conditioners to beat the heat but it would cost a little less if, maybe, we used them to take the edge off. The feeling of hot and cold is all relative. So in the hottest parts of the summer when it’s 100 outside, maybe you don’t need to cool the house to 68 to feel comfortable, maybe 75 or 80 would feel a lot cooler than 100 but cost less.
During the hottest parts of the day, cover the windows that the sun is shining into. Sometimes our windows can act as a magnifying glass and superheat those rooms. Draw the shades or find something to block those rays.
Turn on ceiling fans. Turning your ceiling fans on can create a breeze that evaporates the moisture from our skin and gives you a cool feeling. It doesn’t really change the temperature in the room but it feels like it does.
Don’t add a lot of humidity into the room. Humid air retains heat more than dry air. If you have a whole home humidifier, turn it off for the summer. If you have a room humidifier or defuser, use it less.
Upgrade to a high-efficiency air conditioner. Once it’s time to replace your air conditioner, ask the technician that meets with you show you more energy efficient models. They cost a little more upfront but same you more on your electric bill. You may even qualify for rebates and incentives from the manufacturer or the utility company.

If you have the fan setting on your thermostat set to “on” or “run”, causing it to run all the time, it may just be that the compressor has cycled off and there is nothing wrong. You can try adjusting the thermostat down and see if the air conditioner kicks on.

The other option is that something is not broken and it needs to be diagnosed to figure out what is causing the problem. It could be a lot of different things; frozen coils, refrigerant, bad compressor, a capacitor that has gone out, etc.

Before you pay a company to come to look at it, try these simple troubleshooting steps. You might be causing your own problem and not even realize it.

It depends. It is possible your problem is a lack of insulation in the attic or uninsulated windows. It is also possible that your air conditioner is undersized or the ductwork in your home is undersized. You could also need more return air vents.

If you suspect the issue is with your air conditioner, the first step would be to have a technician come to your home and make sure everything is sized properly, the air conditioner and the ductwork. They will also check things like the refrigerant levels to make sure they are not too low or too high.

If the problem is with the ductwork, it can be fixed. Many times it is messy and requires a lot of drywall patching and repainting. It may be that the best solution is a new ductless technology called a mini-split system. One of our HVAC supervisors can show you what options are available and the price of each option. This visit is free and there is no obligation to buy.

It only cost $59 to get a certified HVAC technician to your home to diagnose and troubleshoot your air conditioner. They will find out why your air conditioner is not working and then give you options to repair it. Check out our Specials page to find all of our current offers!

They will arrive in a truck stocked with all the parts and tools to start your repair while still at your home, unless the situation is unusual. Once you approve the work, your HVAC technician will begin. Most of the time your air conditioner repair is completed the same day we arrive.

The magic of how your air conditioner works are the refrigerant and the coils inside and outside of the home that remove heat and moisture from the air. Airflow is key in the whole process. We made this video to explain the basics of how an air conditioner works. Our hope is that with a little information and understanding you will be able to make better-informed decisions when it comes to repairing and replacing your air conditioner when the time arrives.

Whenever mold grows, wherever it grows, it releases spores up and into the air. Nearly 50% of the air your family breathes each day first originated in the crawl space. This means that those mold spores are in the air. When your family breathes them in, it can cause a wide variety of serious health problems, including: respiratory problems, asthma attacks, skin rashes, eye irritation, allergies, coughing, sneezing, or cold/flu-like symptoms.

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What Our Customers Are Saying

Fast and efficient! Polite and respectful.

Gina B

3 days ago

During a review of our HVAC a serious problem was found with one of our units. We worked with the team to find the best replacement alternative and purchased it and had it installed by SoGood... they did an excellent job in removing the old unit and replacing with the selected unit. We were pleased with the speed and care the inhalation team did

Jef Fuller

3 days ago

Silas is always very professional and informative. Over the years he has earned my trust by being informative in the needs of the system without being a pressuring salesman. I appreciate that.

Donnie Newton

3 days ago

So good came out to install a gar age disposal for us and did a great job. Johnny was polite and professional. He got the job done quickly too! We’ve had nothing but good experiences with them!

Joshua Brent

3 days ago

On time, friendly, easy explanation. Great job

Donna Lewter

4 days ago

Technicians were efficient and professional

Earl Bishop

4 days ago

Excellent service and highly recommended.

Debbie Taylor

4 days ago

These guys are great. I purchased an AC unit and they service it annually. Always on time. Always pleasant. Always diligent. Highly recommended. Brandon and Daniel had to crawl around under the house. That deserves a medal.

The Liberal Cartographer

4 days ago

Very knowledgeable and professional, Silas did an excellent job with servicing our system and explaining everything that is recommended. Great job, Silas

Stuart Blackwell

5 days ago

My experience with your technician Silas was excellent he explained everything in great detail and he was very professional i would recommend him to all my friends and associates

Simon Howard

5 days ago

Mr. Dwayne Gail is the Service Technician who visited to do a maintenance checkup on my heat pump system, which had originally been installed by Southern Goodman in January 2018. Prior to his inspection, Mr. Gail explained that he would be looking at both the indoor and outdoor units, and would take pictures to show me to explain his findings and describe the tasks he would do to check the unit. He did a very thorough examination and an excellent job of sharing this information with me, making sure I understood and had no questions. He also gave me their new brochure which describes the VIP membership program. I was pleased to hear that my system is in good shape; he had only one recommendation for a replacement part. He calculated the cost for this work, both as a member and nonmember, showing me the potential savings. Mr. Gail was knowledgeable, thorough and very pleasant, and this was without a doubt, one of the best interactions I’ve ever had with a Service Provider.

Patricia Kincheloe

5 days ago

If I could give this company a score of twenty I would. They are very professional, extremely informative and thorough which helps us to make the best decision for our needs. This is the 3rd time doing business with them and we have a monthly plan now. Our experience just keeps getting better. The technicians are very personable, knowledgeable, and make you feel like a part of the entire process instead of a cold, unfriendly, automated & scripted process. Dewayne who was our technician today was a joy to work with and we’re requesting him as our preferred technician. The company reminds me of the old days when the merchant understood that treating the customer fairly, the customer would always return. SoGood (formerly Southern Goodman) is the only company we'll ever use! Those other guys with all the fancy ads & commercials & stand ready to charge you $500 to change a light bulb don't come close to SoGood services!

Debi Gomez

6 days ago

Dwayne G. did an amazing job inspecting my heating and air conditioning unit. Thank you!!!

Eben Kojo

7 days ago

I had a 16 year old waterheater and was worried it might start giving me problems, so I wanted to change it out before that happened. SoGood Plumbing sold me a new electric hybrid waterheater with a 30 year lifespan for a fair & reasonable price. The installation was done quickly, by one of their well trained, personable and professional technicians (who didn't charge me extra for watching him work). I highly recommend SoGood Plumbing - Heating & Air to anyone needing work done in a timely and highly professional manner.

Ronald Perkins

1 week ago

Tech seemed knowledgeable and patient

Derek Vaughan

1 week ago

The tech, Yovani, was on time and very courteous. I appreciate the time he took to explain the condition of my unit and his availability to answer questions in the future. I recommend Southern Goodman for all HVAC services.