Whether it is a century-old Craftsman that has never had ductwork or a postwar home ready for a straightforward system swap, a new AC is only as good as the installation behind it. We size every Pasadena system with a real load calculation, not a square footage guess, and back the work with our installation warranty.
Repairing an aging system is not always the wrong call, but sometimes a new install is the smarter financial decision. These are the clearest signs it is time to stop repairing and start planning a replacement.
Most residential AC systems are built to last 12 to 15 years. Past that mark, efficiency drops and the odds of a major component failure rise sharply, even with regular maintenance.
If you have called for repairs more than twice in the last two summers, or a single repair quote is approaching half the cost of a new system, replacement usually saves money over time.
Many of Pasadena's Craftsman and early-1900s homes were built with no ductwork at all, since central air was not standard when they went up. That is a full retrofit decision, not a simple swap.
R-22 was phased out of production in 2020. If your system still uses it, refrigerant for a leak repair is expensive and getting harder to source, and replacement is often the more practical route.
Some rooms cold, others warm, no matter the thermostat setting, often means the system was undersized or poorly matched to the home from the start, not just a maintenance issue.
A system that short cycles or runs nearly nonstop is either the wrong size for the home or losing efficiency fast. Either way, a proper load calculation on a new install usually resolves it for good.
The San Gabriel Mountains block the marine layer that cools much of the rest of Los Angeles, which means a system sized off a generic citywide LA estimate is often undersized here. Summer highs commonly reach the high 80s to low 90s, with a record of 113 degrees, on days when neighborhoods just a few miles south stay noticeably cooler. We run a full Manual J load calculation for every Pasadena installation built around that real local heat, not a coastal LA average.
Pasadena's housing stock, spanning Craftsman bungalows near the Arroyo Seco built before 1920 to postwar tract homes, makes this a genuinely different job depending on the property. A century-old Craftsman with plaster walls and no existing ductwork often needs a full retrofit, carefully routed around original woodwork, or a ductless mini-split system when preserving the architecture matters most. A postwar home with ducts already in place is a far more straightforward swap. We look at what a home actually is before quoting anything, not just its square footage.
We measure the home, inspect existing ductwork, and run a Manual J calculation to determine the correct tonnage for your specific property.
You get a clear, itemized quote showing the equipment, SEER rating, and total cost before anything is ordered.
Old equipment is removed, new line sets are brazed, and the system is installed to manufacturer and code specifications, typically in a single day.
We verify refrigerant charge with digital gauges, test airflow at every vent, and walk you through the new thermostat before we leave.
Final pricing depends on tonnage, SEER rating, and your home's specific ductwork condition. These are typical ranges for a full installation in Pasadena.
| System Type | Typical Range |
|---|---|
| 2 to 2.5 ton, standard SEER2 | $5,500 – $8,500 |
| 3 to 3.5 ton, standard SEER2 | $6,500 – $9,500 |
| 4 to 5 ton, standard SEER2 | $8,000 – $12,000 |
| High-efficiency upgrade (18+ SEER2) | Add $1,500 – $4,000 |
| New or replacement ductwork | $2,000 – $6,000 |
TOP CLUB members and financing options are available. Every quote is written and itemized before any work begins.
Free load calculation, written itemized quote, and financing options available.
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