Furnace & heating
AC repair
Heat pumps
Ductless mini splits
Carrier
Trane
GoodmanSeasonal tune-up and full diagnostic on your Carrier, Trane, or Goodman system - readings shown to you before any repair is proposed
Diagnosis first, numbers second - you approve the repair price before a single part goes in.
Get your free estimateFast, Reliable AC Installation Across Burbank
A new AC Installation in Burbank typically runs $3,500 to $7,500, depending on system size, ductwork condition, and whether you go with a conventional central unit or a ductless heat pump. Most installations take one to two days once equipment arrives, and we give you a written price before any work begins. If you’re in Burbank and need cooling that actually holds up through a 105-degree Valley afternoon, call (213) 531-5904.
We know Burbank’s housing stock the way only a local crew can. The 1940s and 50s tract homes off Verdugo Avenue, the ranchers along Glenoaks, the foothill streets above Kenneth Road – these places have their own quirks. Slab foundations. Low-pitch roofs. Ductwork that predates modern insulation standards. We work around all of it, and we show up when we say we will.
Why Cold Harbour Heating and Air Los Angeles Is Burbank’s Preferred AC Installation Company
Coldharbour Heating & Air has been doing HVAC work since 2003, and we operate as an independently owned and operated member of the Kingswell network. That means every job we run in Burbank follows the same written standards: a price before the work starts, a firm arrival window, a clean job site, and a guarantee that brings us back for free if a repair fails within 365 days. Victor Mancini leads our team, and he holds every install to the Kingswell Guarantee – four promises written down, not just said out loud.
Burbank customers call us because they’ve been burned before. A no-show. A price that jumped at the door. A unit that quit in August. We hear these stories constantly. Our answer is simple: the written price we hand you before a single tool comes out is the price you pay. The written guarantee we leave behind covers the repair for a full year. No asterisks, no “that part isn’t covered” games.
We also answer the phone with a live person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No voicemail trees. No “we’ll call you back tomorrow.” When your AC dies during a Burbank heatwave, you get a human voice on the first ring, and a tech dispatched to your neighborhood – whether that’s Magnolia Park, Rancho Adjacent, or the hills above Brace Canyon Park – without overtime charges.
Styles & brands we work with
HVAC Installation in Burbank
HVAC Installation in Burbank is a different animal than in most of the Valley, because so many homes here sit on slab foundations with original 1940s-era ductwork buried in concrete. When that ductwork rusts, collapses, or fills with debris, you can’t just rip it out and run new flex duct through a crawlspace – there is no crawlspace. We often route new ducts through closets, soffits, or switch to ductless mini-splits altogether. A full HVAC installation in Burbank, including new equipment and ductwork modifications, runs $3,500 to $7,500.
Sizing for Burbank’s Tight Floorplans
Burbank’s tract homes from the 40s and 50s tend to have compact, compartmentalized layouts – small bedrooms, narrow hallways, and a living room that catches direct afternoon sun. An oversized tonnage system will short-cycle, leaving some rooms clammy and others hot. We run Manual J load calculations on every job, not a square-footage guess.
Ductwork Route Planning
Low-pitch roofs on Burbank ranchers mean minimal attic clearance – sometimes 18 inches or less. That constrains duct sizing and forces creative routing. We inspect the attic, the slab, and the existing registers before we quote, so the price reflects what the house actually needs, not what a brochure assumes.
Heat Pump Installation in Burbank
Heat Pump Installation in Burbank makes particular sense for homes where natural gas service is absent or where homeowners want one system for both cooling and heat. Burbank’s winter nights can dip near freezing, but the real demand is summer cooling. A heat pump handles both efficiently, and for homes in the Verdugo foothills or the more rural-feeling sections north of Scott Road, it often eliminates the need for a separate furnace. Heat pump installation in Burbank runs $3,500 to $7,500, depending on capacity and whether you go single-zone or multi-zone.
Ductless Heat Pumps for Slab Homes
For Burbank tract homes with collapsed or asbestos-wrapped slab ductwork, a ductless mini-split heat pump is often the cleanest answer. Multiple indoor heads connected to one outdoor condenser – no ductwork at all. We recently finished a job off Verdugo Avenue where the original slab-embedded ducts had caved in completely. Our crew installed a 3-ton Daikin ductless heat pump with two wall-mounted heads, sized off a Manual J run that accounted for the living room’s heavy western solar gain. The line-set ran outside the stucco, which kept us away from the asbestos entirely.
High-Static and Zoning Options
Sprawling Burbank ranchers with long duct runs often suffer from weak airflow to the back bedrooms. Properly designed ductwork with adequate static pressure handling fixes that. Where ducts aren’t feasible, we zone the system – separate temperature control for the front living areas and back sleeping quarters – so you’re not cooling an empty living room all night.
Trusted Brands We Service in Burbank
Our technicians are trained on nine major residential HVAC brands, and we regularly install and service Rheem, Daikin, and Bryant equipment in Burbank homes. We keep common parts for these systems stocked locally, so if a capacitor or control board fails during a heatwave, we don’t wait a week on a warehouse. Whether you’re replacing an aging York unit or considering a Daikin ductless system for a slab home, we can install it and stand behind it with the same 365-day written guarantee. Brand preference matters less than correct sizing and clean installation – that’s where the real reliability comes from.
Common AC Installation Problems We See in Burbank Homes
- Collapsed slab-embedded ductwork. Many 1940s-50s Burbank tract homes have original galvanized ducts set in concrete slab foundations. After 70 years, they rust, separate at the seams, and leak conditioned air into the ground. We often bypass them entirely with ductless systems or attic-run flex, depending on clearance.
- Undersized static pressure from long duct runs. Burbank ranch homes can stretch 60 or 70 feet from the air handler to the farthest bedroom. If the system isn’t designed for that distance, those rooms get a trickle of air. High-static air handlers and properly sized duct diameters fix it.
- Short cycling from oversized tonnage. Contractors who size by square footage alone oversize Burbank’s tight floorplans. The result is a system that blasts cold air for 5 minutes, shuts off, and never dehumidifies. That’s why we run load calculations off actual window orientation, insulation, and building materials.
- Santa Ana ash clogging condenser coils. In Verdugo foothill neighborhoods above Glenoaks, fine ash from Santa Ana wind-driven wildfires settles on outdoor condenser coils. That raises head pressure and trips high-pressure safety switches – often in late fall, right when homeowners switch to heat. We check for this on every foothill install and recommend coil guards where exposure is worst.
See the difference
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AfterPricing for AC Installation in Burbank, CA
Here’s what you can expect to pay in Burbank, in real dollars:
| Service | Typical Burbank Price Range |
|---|---|
| HVAC Installation | $3,500 – $7,500 |
| Heat Pump Installation | $3,500 – $7,500 |
These ranges assume standard equipment and a straightforward install. If you need ductwork replacement, asbestos abatement coordination, or a complex multi-zone design, the price lands higher. The number we give you is the number you pay – written down before we start, with no door-knock surprises. Call (213) 531-5904 and we’ll come out, look at your Burbank home, and hand you a fixed quote. Estimates are free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Burbank
While this page focuses on AC Installation in Burbank, our crews also handle installs in Glendale, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and South Pasadena. If you’re on the edge of Burbank or commuting from a neighboring city, we can still come out, run the load calculation, and get your cooling sorted.
Serving Burbank, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burbank area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About AC Installation in Burbank
Sometimes yes, sometimes no – it depends on what shape the slab ducts are in. If they’re structurally intact and can be cleaned and sealed, a conventional central system can work. But if they’ve collapsed or separated, as we see regularly in Burbank’s 1940s tract homes, the ducts are a lost cause. In that case, we recommend either re-routing ducts through the attic (if clearance allows) or switching to a ductless mini-split system. The right answer shows up during the site visit, not in a sales brochure. Call (213) 531-5904 and we’ll inspect yours for free.
For Burbank’s climate – long, hot summers and mild winters – a SEER2 rating of 15 to 17 gives the best balance of upfront cost and summer energy savings. You don’t need the 20+ SEER2 units marketed for desert climates, because Burbank cools down at night. But you do need a system sized correctly for your home’s solar gain and ductwork condition, not just a high efficiency number. We can run the numbers for your specific house and show you the payback difference between a 15 and 17 SEER2 unit in real dollars.
We start with a Manual J load calculation that factors in your home’s exposure, window sizes, insulation level, and the wind-driven heat loss that Verdugo foothill homes experience during Santa Ana events. Then we adjust for the ash issue – foothill condensers need coil guards and more frequent cleaning, which affects service access and unit placement. We also account for the fact that many foothill homes lack wind shelter, so the outdoor unit needs proper anchoring and clearance from blowing debris. It’s a different calculation than a flatland Burbank home needs.
Generally no, unless your Burbank rancher has an unusually open floorplan. Ductless mini-splits work best with open air movement between rooms. If you keep bedroom doors closed – as most families do – you’ll typically need multiple indoor heads or a hybrid system with a ducted air handler for the bedrooms. We design multi-zone systems around how you actually live in the house, not how it looks on a floorplan. Tell us which rooms you use and when; we’ll build the system to match.
Burbank’s residential noise code limits mechanical equipment noise at the property line, typically to 50 decibels or less during daytime hours. Modern condensers from Rheem, Daikin, and Bryant run well under that, but placement still matters. We position units away from bedroom windows and property lines, and we can add sound-dampening pads or compressor blankets where a neighbor’s house sits close – common in Burbank’s tightly spaced tracts. The permit office also has setback requirements, which we handle as part of the install.
Get Your Burbank AC Installation Started Today
If your Burbank home needs a new AC system, a heat pump, or a replacement for a failed central unit, call (213) 531-5904. You’ll reach a live person any time, day or night. We’ll schedule a site visit, run the load calculation, inspect your existing ductwork, and hand you a written price before any work begins. No pressure, no games – just the Kingswell Guarantee in writing, and a system that cools every room in your house through the worst Burbank heat.
Written by Victor Mancini, Owner at Coldharbour Heating & Air, serving Burbank since 2003.