AC MAINTENANCE · 31-POINT PRECISION TUNE-UP · $189

AC Maintenance and Tune-Ups for Homes in Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida

AC maintenance is scheduled preventive work on a system that is still running, as distinct from repairing one that has failed. TLS Air Conditioning maintains residential systems across ten Florida counties. The 31-Point A/C Precision Tune-Up and Cleaning is $189, and static pressure is measured on every visit — a measurement most maintenance calls never take.

Call 941-269-3433 and ask for Courtney. She books maintenance onto the schedule while you are on the phone, and the technician who arrives is a TLS employee who leaves you a written report of every value he measured.

Florida State Certified contractor, licence CAC1822364.

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BOOK A 31-POINT TUNE-UP
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31-point tune-up — $189
Static pressure on every visit
Written record of every reading
Two visits a year, Florida cadence
Licence CAC1822364
The tune-up

What Is Included in a 31-Point AC Tune-Up?

A 31-point AC tune-up is a measured inspection of the refrigerant circuit, airflow, electrical components, condensate system, coils and controls, finishing with a written record of every reading. TLS charges $189 for the 31-Point A/C Precision Tune-Up and Cleaning. It takes roughly ninety minutes on a single system, longer if the coils need real cleaning.

We work all thirty-one in the same order on every visit, and every one of them lands on the written report you are handed before the technician leaves your driveway — the reading where there is a reading, the condition where there is not. That report is what you are buying for $189. The ninety minutes is how it gets made.

Six of those thirty-one points are measurements with a number attached, and those are the ones that decide whether the visit was worth paying for. A technician who looks at an air conditioner and pronounces it fine has told you nothing you could check later. A technician who writes down that the capacitor read 43.1 microfarads against a printed rating of 45 has told you the system will probably need a capacitor before next August.

Refrigerant circuitPoints 1 – 6
  • 1The refrigerant circuit’s operating pressures are read at the suction and liquid service ports with gauges, against the manufacturer’s chart for the outdoor temperature on the day.
  • 2Superheat is calculated at the evaporator to confirm the metering device is feeding the coil correctly rather than approximately.
  • 3Subcooling is calculated at the condenser and compared to the target printed on the equipment’s own data plate.
  • 4Temperature split across the evaporator coil is measured between the return and the supply, typically 16°F to 22°F, with a high indoor humidity load legitimately pushing it toward the bottom of that band.
  • 5The line set insulation on the suction line is checked along its accessible run, because bare copper in a Florida attic sweats, drips and quietly costs capacity.
  • 6Accessible joints, service valves and Schrader cores on the refrigerant circuit are inspected for oil traces, which is where a slow leak shows itself first.
Airflow and air distributionPoints 7 – 12
  • 7Total external static pressure across the air handler is measured with a manometer and compared to the blower’s rated design, in inches of water column.
  • 8The return-side and supply-side split of that static reading is recorded separately, because it tells us which half of the duct system is causing the restriction.
  • 9The air filter in the return is checked for size, condition and pressure drop, then replaced or specified — a filter chosen for its MERV number alone can strangle a system that was never designed for it.
  • 10The blower wheel inside the air handler is inspected for dirt loading on the blades, which reduces the air it can move long before anybody notices.
  • 11The blower motor’s amperage draw is measured against its nameplate rating while the system runs.
  • 12Accessible supply and return ductwork, the plenum and the duct insulation are inspected for disconnections, crushed flex, open seams and wet insulation.
ElectricalPoints 13 – 19
  • 13Line voltage at the outdoor disconnect is measured under load, not at rest, because a voltage that sags under starting current shortens the life of every motor in the system.
  • 14The compressor’s running amperage is measured against nameplate and compared with its rated locked-rotor figure.
  • 15The condenser fan motor’s amperage draw is measured against nameplate, since a motor climbing above rating is a motor with months left.
  • 16The run capacitor’s microfarad value is measured with a meter against the rating printed on the can, and the reading is written down rather than described as fine.
  • 17The contactor in the outdoor unit is inspected for pitted and burnt contacts and for ant intrusion, which is a Florida failure mode rather than a national one.
  • 18Wiring terminations and the equipment ground across the air handler and condenser are checked for tightness, heat discolouration and corrosion.
  • 19The disconnect, the breaker and any surge protection on the outdoor circuit are inspected, because Florida’s lightning season is the reason surge protection exists.
Condensate systemPoints 20 – 24
  • 20The primary condensate drain line is cleared and flushed, then observed running to confirm it actually drains.
  • 21The primary drain pan under the evaporator coil is inspected for standing water, rust-through and biological growth.
  • 22The secondary or auxiliary drain pan and its own drain line are inspected, since that pan is the last thing between condensate and your ceiling.
  • 23The safety float switch is tested by lifting it and confirming the system shuts down, not by looking at it and assuming it works.
  • 24The condensate trap, vent and line slope are checked, because a badly trapped line will not drain properly however clean it is.
Coils, cabinet and outdoor unitPoints 25 – 29
  • 25The outdoor condenser coil is washed through, and the fins are inspected for salt corrosion and for flattening — both coasts of this service area sit in salt air.
  • 26The indoor evaporator coil is inspected for fouling and biological growth on the face that a filter never fully protects.
  • 27The outdoor unit’s clearances, pad level and surrounding debris are checked, since a condenser breathing its own hot air runs high head pressure all summer.
  • 28The cabinet panels, gaskets, screws and internal insulation on the air handler are checked for gaps that pull humid attic air straight into the return.
  • 29The compressor’s sound, vibration and mounting grommets are assessed while it runs and again at start-up.
Controls and handoverPoints 30 – 31
  • 30The thermostat is checked for calibration against a measured room temperature, for correct cycle response, for fan settings and for battery condition.
  • 31A written report records every measured value with the date, the equipment model and serial numbers and the technician’s name, which is the document a manufacturer’s claims department asks for later.
Points 4, 7, 8, 14, 15 and 16 are the ones to look for on any maintenance invoice, from us or from anyone else. If the paperwork has no numbers on it, no measurements were taken.
The visit

What Happens on a TLS Maintenance Visit?

A TLS maintenance visit takes about ninety minutes. A TLS employee arrives inside a booked window, works the 31 points in order with a manometer, a clamp meter and gauges, washes the condenser coil, clears the condensate drain, then hands you a written report of every value measured before he leaves.

  1. You book the visit with Courtney. The office is staffed Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm on 941-269-3433, and she puts the tune-up on the schedule while you are still on the phone. She asks which system it is and where it sits, so the technician arrives knowing whether he is working an attic air handler, a garage unit or a wall-mounted mini split.
  2. A TLS employee arrives, not a subcontractor. Every person who reaches your door is on our payroll, background checked, live scanned and drug tested, and completing 150 hours of training a year. Shoe covers and drop cloths go down before the toolbag does, which is the Better Than We Found It guarantee rather than a courtesy.
  3. The refrigerant readings are taken first, while the system has been running long enough to settle: gauges on the suction and liquid ports, superheat calculated at the evaporator, subcooling at the condenser, and the temperature split measured across the coil. Points 1 to 6.
  4. The manometer goes on before the panels go back. Total external static pressure is read at two test ports either side of the air handler, the return and supply halves recorded separately, and the filter checked for the pressure drop it is actually causing. Points 7 to 12.
  5. Every electrical value is measured against its nameplate rather than eyeballed: capacitor microfarads with a meter, compressor and condenser fan amperage under load, line voltage at the disconnect while the system starts, and the contactor opened up and looked at. Points 13 to 19.
  6. The condensate system is cleared and then tested. The primary line is flushed and watched running, both pans are inspected, and the float switch is physically lifted to confirm the system shuts down. Points 20 to 24.
  7. The condenser coil is washed through and the fins inspected for salt corrosion, the outdoor clearances checked, and the air handler cabinet closed with its gaskets and panels seated so it is not pulling attic air into the return. Points 25 to 29.
  8. The handover. The thermostat is checked against a measured room temperature, and then you get the report — every number, on paper, with the technician’s name on it. Points 30 and 31.
If a reading is out of range, you are shown the number and told what it means before anything is quoted. Anything beyond the tune-up is priced in writing first, and under the No Change Order guarantee that price does not move afterwards. Where a reading needs a second opinion, it goes to Thomas Hoerig, who co-founded TLS and still makes the technical calls. All seven written TLS guarantees apply to a $189 tune-up exactly as they apply to a full installation.
Book a 31-Point Precision Tune-Up — $189
Ask for Courtney in office hours and she will book it while you are on the phone. Prefer to be rung back? Request a free estimate.
941-269-3433
What you keep

What Do You Get in Writing After the Tune-Up?

You get a written report listing every measured value from the 31-point tune-up — pressures, superheat, subcooling, temperature split, static pressure, amperage draws and capacitor microfarads — with the equipment model and serial numbers, the date and the technician’s name. TLS keeps a copy, and the invoice carries the readings.

The measured report

The thirty-one points with a value beside each one, not a tick beside each one. It is the document that lets you compare this February’s capacitor reading to last February’s and see a part drifting before it strands you.

The invoice

$189 for the 31-Point A/C Precision Tune-Up and Cleaning, with the static pressure reading on it and any parts fitted itemised separately. No line appears on it that was not agreed with you first.

The file we keep

Every report is filed against your address in Pinellas Park, so when a manufacturer’s claims department wants seven years of service history you ring the office instead of searching a drawer.

A homeowner who has had three tune-ups from three different companies usually has three pieces of paper that say “system operating normally” and nothing else. That is the difference this page is arguing for: a number you can check, held by a company that still has it years later.

Cadence

How Often Should You Service Your AC in Florida?

Twice a year in Florida, not once. Tampa records about 3,928 cooling degree days annually against a US figure of 1,633, so a system here carries 2.4 times the seasonal load. Five months of Florida run time equals a full northern year, which is why once-a-year-in-spring advice is written for somebody else’s climate.

TLS books both visits in one call. Courtney puts the February-to-April tune-up and the wet-season visit on the schedule together rather than leaving the second one to be remembered in September, which is the month it never is remembered in.

Every national maintenance article is written for a climate with a winter. In Pinellas Park, Cape Coral and the barrier islands the cooling season does not end; it thins out for a few weeks in January and starts again.

3,928Cooling degree days a year in Tampa
1,633US average — 2.4 times less seasonal load
71%Average relative humidity across this service area
Salt air

This service area has coastline on both sides. Salt attacks aluminium condenser fins and the copper behind them, and corrosion is progressive — it does not wait for your annual appointment.

Humidity

Average relative humidity here runs about 71%, so the system spends much of its working life pulling water out of the air. A Tampa air conditioner in August produces gallons of condensate a day, and every gallon of it goes through a narrow PVC line that stays warm, wet and dark for months.

The wet season

The rain runs from roughly June through September, which is exactly when condensate volume, biological growth in the drain line and lightning activity all peak together.

When should the two maintenance visits happen?

Book the first visit between February and April, before the cooling load climbs, and the second between June and September, in the middle of the wet season. The first visit is the full 31 points. The second is weighted toward condensate, drainage and coil condition, which is what Florida summer actually attacks.

1February – April
Full 31-Point Precision Tune-Up

Why this windowThe system has just finished a year of salt and run hours, and the load is about to climb. Anything found here is repaired in a cool week rather than a hot one.

2Between visits, monthly
You change the filter, keep two feet clear around the condenser, and flush the drain line

Why this windowThe three jobs that need no tools and prevent a real share of summer failures.

3June – September
Second visit, weighted to condensate, drain, pan, float switch, coil cleanliness and refrigerant readings

Why this windowWet season. This is when drain lines block, pans overflow and coils grow biological film.

4After a named storm or a power event
Outdoor unit, disconnect, breaker and surge protection checked

Why this windowLightning and grid surges kill control boards and capacitors, and the damage is often silent until the next start-up.

Systems on the water in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties, and seasonal homes that sit empty for months, are the two cases where more than twice a year is genuinely justified rather than sold.

Money

How Much Does AC Maintenance Cost in Florida?

AC maintenance in Florida costs $89 to $295 for a single tune-up visit, and $109 to $299 a year for a maintenance plan covering one or two visits. The TLS 31-Point A/C Precision Tune-Up and Cleaning is $189. The TLS Comfort Club is $99 a year and includes two of those visits. National cost guides quote $70 to $200, which sits below what the Florida west-coast market actually charges.

Our number is $189, and it is $189 in Naples and $189 in Tarpon Springs — one price list across all ten counties, whatever the drive. Anything the tune-up finds is quoted in writing before it is done, and under the No Change Order guarantee that quoted price does not move.

What Florida contractors charge. Benchmarked against five current west-coast Florida providers in August 2026, not against a national average. These are ranges, not quotes — your exact price is confirmed in writing after diagnosis and does not move after that.

ServiceTypical Florida rangeNotes
Single AC tune-up or precision maintenance visit$89 – $295The TLS 31-Point A/C Precision Tune-Up and Cleaning is $189. The spread reflects how many points are genuinely inspected
Two tune-up visits bought separately$178 – $590Which is why a plan usually costs less than paying twice
Maintenance plan, one visit a year$109 – $199The entry tier at most Florida contractors
Maintenance plan, two visits a year$159 – $299The tier that matches the Florida cadence. The TLS Comfort Club is $99
Premium plan, two visits plus larger repair discounts$299 – $499
Each additional system in the same home$89 – $139Nearly every plan in this market is priced per system
Standalone condensate drain line clearing$145 – $450TLS charges $189, or $89 for Comfort Club members
Float switch fitted or replaced$145 – $295A system without a working one has no protection against an overflow
Drain pan replacement$399 – $799What a drain clog becomes when it is ignored for a season

Three figures on that list are ours rather than the market’s: the $99 Comfort Club, the $189 tune-up and the $189 / $89 drain cleaning. All three are on the page so that a homeowner comparing three quotes can put us in the comparison without ringing us first.

Our tune-up is not the cheapest number in this market and it is not meant to be. A $89 tune-up buys somebody looking at your air conditioner; the extra buys the manometer, the meter readings, the coil wash and the written record of what was measured.

Is an AC maintenance plan worth it in Florida?

Yes, in Florida specifically. The TLS Comfort Club is $99 a year, against a Florida market of $159 to $299 for the same two visits — visits that would cost $178 to $590 bought separately. Comfort Club members also pay nothing for a diagnostic call that otherwise costs $125. One avoided capacitor failure in July, at $180 to $450, has already covered the difference.

The arithmetic changes if your system is over fifteen years old and already needs a decision rather than a plan. In that case book a single tune-up, get the measured readings, and use them to work out whether AC replacement makes better financial sense than another year of maintaining a system that is losing capacity. We will tell you which one we think it is.

Ask Courtney what your system needs
A single 31-point tune-up at $189, or the Comfort Club at $99 a year with two visits and no diagnostic fee. She will tell you which is cheaper for your system on the phone. Request a free estimate.
941-269-3433
The value argument

What Does AC Maintenance Actually Prevent?

AC maintenance prevents the failures that announce themselves without warning: a capacitor that drifts under its rating, a drain line that fills with biological growth, a condenser coil that loses heat transfer to salt corrosion, and a slow refrigerant leak. Each of those is measurable months before it strands you, and each is cheap to catch.

Every row below is a value a TLS technician reads with an instrument and writes on your report. A capacitor sitting 12% under its printed rating is a line on a $189 tune-up in February; the same capacitor is a $180 to $450 call-out on the first Saturday in July. You see the microfarad number either way and decide which one you would rather have.

What the tune-up measuresWhat that catches earlyWhat it costs once it fails
Run capacitor microfarad valueA capacitor reading 10–15% under its rating$180 – $450, and it fails on the hottest day because that is the day it works hardest
Total external static pressureDuctwork restricting the blower it was matched to$450 – $1,300 for a blower motor, plus a compressor that has been running hot for years
Condensate line, pan and float switchBiological growth building in a warm wet line$189 to clear, or a ceiling and a drywall claim
Condenser coil and fin conditionSalt corrosion and rising head pressure$2,500 – $5,500 for a compressor once the parts warranty has gone
Superheat and subcoolingA slow refrigerant leak, before the charge drops far enough to freeze the coil$350 – $1,500, and rising every year as R-410A production steps down
Contactor contact conditionPitting, arcing and ant intrusion in the outdoor unitA silent outdoor unit in August and an after-hours call-out
Motor amperage against nameplateA blower or condenser fan motor drawing above rating$450 – $1,300, usually with the failed capacitor that caused it

Those failure prices are the same ranges published on our AC repair page, where the diagnosis side of each fault is covered properly. Maintenance and repair are different jobs: maintenance measures a working system on a schedule, repair finds a fault in a system that has already stopped doing its job.

Why do Florida AC drain lines keep clogging?

A condensate drain line clogs in Florida because it is warm, wet and dark for most of the year, which is ideal for algae and biological growth. An air conditioner here removes gallons of water a day during the wet season. That water leaves through one narrow PVC line, and biology colonises it.

1
What happens when the bore narrows

Growth narrows the bore, water backs up into the primary pan, and from there the outcome depends entirely on whether the float switch works. A tested switch gives you a hot afternoon and a service call. An untested one gives you a restoration company, an insurance excess and a ceiling that never quite matches again.

2
What clearing it costs

Clearing a drain line is one of the cheapest jobs in this trade. TLS charges $189 for a standalone clearing and $89 for Comfort Club members, and it is included inside every 31-point tune-up rather than added afterwards. Point 23 matters as much as point 20: a drain line that has been cleared but sits above a float switch nobody has tested is only half-protected.

The differentiator

Why Does TLS Measure Static Pressure on Every Maintenance Visit?

Static pressure is the load a duct system places on the blower pushing air through it, read in inches of water column at two test ports. Residential equipment is generally designed around 0.5 in. w.c., and past roughly 0.8 in. w.c. blower efficiency falls and blower life shortens. TLS takes the reading on every visit.

Every TLS van carries a digital manometer, and the technician takes the reading at two test ports either side of the air handler on every call we run — a fifteen-minute service call included. The number is compared against the external static pressure your blower is rated for on its own data plate, and it goes on your report and on your invoice. Most maintenance calls in this market never take it at all.

A tune-up that never measures airflow is checking half a system. Contractors who do measure static pressure routinely report that the large majority of the homes they enter are running higher than design — restricted returns, crushed flex, undersized duct, or a filter chosen for its rating rather than for the blower behind it. None of that is visible. All of it is measurable in about ten minutes with two test ports and a manometer.

The consequence of not measuring it is that the same equipment fails twice. A compressor sitting behind ductwork that cannot move air runs hot for years and then fails in a way that looks like a compressor problem. A coil freezes, gets thawed, gets a refrigerant top-up, and freezes again next month, because the cause was airflow. When our readings show the restriction is in the duct system rather than the equipment, we say so and price duct replacement and sealing as its own job — which is a smaller job than the compressor it prevents.
Florida law

Does AC Maintenance Protect Your Manufacturer Warranty?

Yes. Manufacturer warranties cover defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and maintenance, and exclude failures caused by neglect or improper maintenance. A dated professional maintenance record is what turns a parts claim into a paid parts claim. In Florida the coverage itself is stronger than most homeowners think, under two statutes passed in 2024.

We file a copy of every maintenance report against your address, so the service history exists whether or not you kept your copy. Point 31 is on the checklist for exactly this reason, and it is the only point on it that pays for itself years after the visit.

Fla. Stat. § 559.957
Registration is not what starts the clock here

Florida Statute § 559.957 took effect on 1 July 2024 and ties the warranty term to the installation date on a Chapter 489 licensed installation, and it bars a warrantor from conditioning coverage on product registration.

The manufacturers’ own paperwork shows it working: Goodman’s published terms cut parts coverage from ten years to five if the owner does not register within sixty days, then exempt California, Florida, Georgia and Quebec from registering at all. So the coverage is usually longer than the homeowner assumes — and the maintenance record is what makes the length worth having.

Fla. Stat. § 559.956
Maintenance records are a closing asset

Florida Statute § 559.956 carries the remaining coverage across to a purchaser at no charge, and forbids a transfer fee.

Before 2024 a stack of tune-up invoices was housekeeping. Now it is documentation the next owner inherits alongside live warranty coverage, and it is worth putting in the same folder as the survey and the roof paperwork.

Point 31 of the tune-up
What a claims department asks for

Model and serial number, the installation date, and dated invoices showing professional maintenance with measured readings on them.

Point 31 of the tune-up exists for that reason, and we keep a copy of every report so you do not have to find yours seven years later.

Warranty wording varies by brand and by product line, so read the certificate that came with your own equipment. What does not vary is that “we have never had it serviced” is a poor sentence to say to a claims adjudicator on a $3,000 coil.

Membership

What Is the TLS Comfort Club?

The TLS Comfort Club is a residential maintenance membership that covers two 31-point precision tune-ups a year, a free diagnostic call, priority scheduling, and reduced pricing on drain cleaning at $89 instead of $189. Membership is free for veterans, active military, police and firefighters under the Veteran Giveback Program. Call 941-269-3433 for current membership pricing.

Courtney sets memberships up over the phone and will tell you the current price. It is not printed on this page because it changes, and a figure on a web page that does not match the one you are quoted is worse than no figure at all.

Two 31-Point Precision Tune-Ups a year

Timed to the Florida cadence rather than to a national calendar.

No diagnostic fee

A diagnostic call is $125 for a non-member and free for a member, so the first fault of the year has already returned a meaningful part of the membership.

Condensate drain line clearing at $89

Rather than $189.

Priority scheduling

In the weeks when everyone in Pinellas County calls at once.

Membership transfers with the home

Which matters in a market with as much turnover as this one.

Your annual membership fees credit toward a new system

When you eventually replace, alongside the existing rule that 100% of repair spending in a twelve-month period credits toward a new system.

Free membership for veterans, active military, police and firefighters. No qualifying period and no partial discount — the membership is free. Tell Courtney when you call and she will set it up.

Membership pricing is confirmed when you call, and the benefits above are the ones we will put in writing. Anything a member is told is guaranteed appears on the membership agreement with its limits stated in the same paragraph as the promise, which is where consumer law requires them to be and where an honest company would put them anyway. A maintenance visit is covered by the same seven written TLS guarantees as an installation, including the one about leaving your home cleaner than we found it.

Honest limits

Can AC Maintenance Fix an Oversized System?

No. An air conditioner that is too large for the house short-cycles — it starts, satisfies the thermostat quickly and stops before it has removed enough humidity — and no amount of maintenance corrects it. Oversizing is a sizing fault, fixed only by replacing the system with one calculated correctly for the house.

When our readings say a system is oversized we write it on the report and we do not sell you a maintenance plan for it. Thomas Hoerig, who co-founded TLS with his brother eleven years ago, makes the call on these: a correctly sized replacement now, or another season of managing it, with the measured numbers in front of you either way.

Short cycling is the failure homeowners most often bring to a maintenance visit expecting a cleaning to solve. It will not. The house feels cold and clammy at the same time, the compressor wears out early because starting is the hardest thing it does, and the electricity bill stays high. Every one of those symptoms traces back to a system chosen by rule of thumb rather than by load calculation.

Maintenance also cannot undo a duct system that was never large enough, restore a compressor already damaged by years of running hot, or make a fifteen-year-old R-410A system as efficient as it was new. It can slow all three down and it can tell you exactly where you stand, which is what the measured readings are for.

Telling you a tune-up will not fix your problem costs us a tune-up. Selling you one that we know will not work costs you more, and costs us a customer.
Equipment

Which AC Brands Does TLS Maintain?

TLS maintains every major residential air conditioning brand — Trane, American Standard, Carrier, Bryant, Lennox, Rheem, Ruud, Goodman, Amana and York on ducted systems, and Mitsubishi Electric, Daikin, Fujitsu and LG on ductless — and is a dealer for none of them. A tune-up here is a tune-up, not a sales call.

Ducted and central systems
Trane
American Standard
Carrier
Bryant
Lennox
Rheem
Ruud
Goodman
Amana
York
Ductless mini splits
Mitsubishi Electric
Daikin
Fujitsu
LG

Being nobody’s dealer matters more on a maintenance visit than anywhere else, because the maintenance visit is where the replacement conversation usually starts. A contractor carrying a brand’s dealer agreement has a target and a margin attached to the system in your attic. We have neither, so when the readings say your fifteen-year-old system has years left, that is what the report says.

Your equipment’s make, model and serial number go on the report at point 31, which is what makes the next visit a comparison rather than a fresh start. Filters, capacitors and contactors differ by brand and by age, and the ones we stock cover the list above. Not seeing your make? We still maintain it. Ductless mini split systems are covered on their own page, including what maintenance on a wall cassette actually involves.

Service area

Where Does TLS Maintain Air Conditioning?

Ten Florida counties: Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier and DeSoto, covering 151 communities. Every maintenance visit is dispatched from one building in Pinellas Park, so the technician arriving in Naples carries the same tune-up checklist and the same $189 price as the one arriving in Tarpon Springs.

One building at 6210 44th St N runs every van. The technician who reaches Cape Coral is a TLS employee on the same payroll as the one who reaches Tarpon Springs, carrying the same manometer, the same 31-point checklist and the same $189 price.

  • Pinellas County, FL
  • Hillsborough County, FL
  • Pasco County, FL
  • Hernando County, FL
  • Manatee County, FL
  • Sarasota County, FL
  • Charlotte County, FL
  • Lee County, FL
  • Collier County, FL
  • DeSoto County, FL

Tell us at booking if the property is a seasonal home. A house closed up from May to November grows biological film in a drain pan nobody is watching, so those visits are timed to the shoulder months and weighted toward condensate and indoor humidity rather than cooling output.

Questions

Questions Homeowners Ask About AC Maintenance

These are the questions homeowners in Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida ask most often before booking maintenance — what the different names mean, how long it takes, what a new system needs, and what you can safely do yourself.

What is the difference between AC maintenance, AC service and an AC tune-up?

They describe the same visit. “AC service” is the broadest term and is sometimes used for repair calls as well, “AC tune-up” usually means a single scheduled visit, and “AC maintenance” usually means the ongoing arrangement. At TLS all three book the same thing: the 31-Point A/C Precision Tune-Up and Cleaning at $189, or two of them a year as a Comfort Club member.

How long does an AC tune-up take?

About ninety minutes for a single system done properly, and longer where the condenser coil needs a genuine wash rather than a rinse. A twenty-minute visit has not measured static pressure, has not tested the float switch and has not read a capacitor with a meter. The time is the work.

Does a brand new air conditioner need maintenance?

Yes, and earlier than most homeowners expect. A new system’s first year is when installation faults surface — charge slightly off, a duct connection that has worked loose, a drain trap that does not clear. It is also the year that starts the maintenance record your manufacturer warranty will be judged against for the next decade.

Does AC maintenance lower your electric bill?

It protects the efficiency you already paid for rather than adding new efficiency. Airflow restriction, a fouled coil and an incorrect refrigerant charge each cost capacity, and a system working harder for the same cooling costs more to run. The larger savings in Florida come from the failures maintenance prevents, not from the monthly bill.

How often should you change your air filter in Florida?

Every thirty to ninety days, at the short end if you have pets or the system runs most of the year — which in this state it does. Check it monthly and change it when it looks loaded rather than when the calendar says so. Use the size and rating your system was designed for, because a filter too restrictive for the blower is its own problem.

What can you do yourself between maintenance visits?

Three things, safely. Change the filter, keep two feet of clearance around the outdoor unit and hose the leaves off it with the power off, and flush the condensate drain line. Stop there. Refrigerant work is restricted by law to technicians holding EPA Section 608 certification, and a capacitor stays charged after the breaker is off.

Do you maintain ductless mini splits?

Yes. Mini splits need maintenance more often than most homeowners are told — the indoor blower wheel and the drain pan are compact, easy to foul and awkward to reach without disassembly. TLS started as a mini split specialist, and ductless mini split systems are covered on their own page.

Is duct cleaning part of AC maintenance?

TLS does not do duct cleaning. We inspect accessible ductwork on every tune-up, measure the static pressure across it and seal, repair or replace duct where the readings show a genuine problem. Cleaning a leaking duct system does not fix the leak, and it is not a service we sell.

What happens if you skip AC maintenance for years?

Nothing visible, for a while, which is what makes it expensive. Efficiency falls gradually as coils foul and airflow drops, small faults compound into large ones, and the manufacturer’s warranty position weakens with no maintenance record behind it. Systems that have never been maintained rarely reach the lifespan they were sold with.

Book a 31-Point Tune-Up

Call 941-269-3433 and ask for the 31-point tune-up. In office hours that reaches Courtney, who books maintenance visits directly onto the schedule. The office is staffed Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm.

Prefer to be called back? Send the form and we will ring you with a date and an arrival window.

The 31-Point A/C Precision Tune-Up and Cleaning is $189. Ask about the Comfort Club when you book if you want two a year and a diagnostic call that costs nothing.

TLS Air Conditioning · Licence CAC1822364 · 6210 44th St N, Pinellas Park, FL 33781

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