Before & After Gallery - Cold Harbour Heating and Air Los Angeles

HVAC Before & After in Los Angeles, CA

Most HVAC work lives where you can’t see it: inside a closet, up in an attic, behind a vent. That’s exactly why photographs matter. A replaced condenser, a rebuilt duct run, a furnace pulled out of a 1970s crawlspace. Here are representative jobs our Los Angeles techs have handled since 2003, documented so you can see the difference between what was there and what we left behind.

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Recent Transformations

AC Installation: Replacing a 22-Year-Old Rooftop Unit in Silver Lake

BeforeAfter

The problem: a 22-year-old Goodman condenser on a flat Silver Lake roof had finally given out in mid-August. The compressor was drawing locked-rotor amps, and the refrigerant was low enough to indicate a coil leak. No honest repair was going to hold through another Los Angeles summer. What we did: removed the old unit, confirmed the existing line set was viable, and installed a matched Carrier condenser with new seismic strapping – a real requirement on LA rooftop work, not a suggestion. The result: the homeowners got a system that pulls 40% less power and holds a steady 74 degrees without cycling constantly. We hauled away the old unit the same day.

Furnace Repair: Bringing a 1950s Floor Furnace Back to Life in Eagle Rock

BeforeAfter

The problem: an original 1950s floor furnace in an Eagle Rock bungalow was short-cycling and kicking out a faint gas smell. The thermocouple was failing, and the burner ports were so clogged with carbon that flames were rolling out unevenly. What we did: pulled the burner assembly, cleaned and inspected the heat exchanger for cracks, replaced the thermocouple and gas valve, and adjusted the burner manifold pressure. The result: the furnace ran steady through a February cold snap, and the homeowner told us the house had never warmed the front bedroom properly until now. Some jobs aren’t about replacement – they’re about giving a solid old system its second wind.

AC Repair: Finding a Hidden Duct Failure in Brentwood

BeforeAfter

The problem: a Brentwood homeowner was paying $600 a month to cool a house that never got below 80. The compressor was fine. The air handler was fine. The ductwork was not: a 30-foot run of original flex duct had collapsed in three places, pushing cooled air into a dirt crawlspace. What we did: pulled the failed section, rebuilt the run with R-8 insulated flex, and sealed every joint with mastic instead of tape. The result: the upstairs bedrooms dropped 12 degrees within a day, and the monthly cooling bill came down by almost a third. Half the diagnosis on an AC call in Los Angeles is figuring out where the air is actually going.

Furnace Replacement: Pulling a Rusted Wall Furnace from a Mid-City Rental

The problem: a Mid-City rental had a 35-year-old wall furnace with a cracked firebox – that’s the safety line, not something to patch. The flue pipe was rusted through in two spots, which meant carbon monoxide was not exactly going where it should. What we did: swapped the old unit for a direct-vent Lennox wall furnace, ran a new flue, and brought the clearance to combustibles up to current code. The result: the tenant got safe, steady heat that passes an LA housing inspection, and the owner got a written guarantee on the install. No more burning a hole in the living room wall.

AC Repair: Rescuing a Two-Zone System in Studio City

The problem: a Studio City two-story had the classic “one floor freezing, one floor sweating” complaint. One zone damper motor had seized shut, so cooled air couldn’t reach the upstairs bedrooms. The system was running overtime and fighting itself. What we did: replaced the seized damper motor, verified the control board was sending the right signals, and rebalanced the supply registers on the affected floor. The result: both zones now hold within two degrees of their set points. The homeowner had been quoted a full system replacement by someone else – a $14,000 fix for a $400 part. We fixed the damper instead.

AC Installation: Ductless Mini-Split for a Detached Garage Office in Highland Park

The problem: a Highland Park homeowner had converted a detached garage into a work-from-home office, but running ductwork through a finished garage made no financial sense. Summer turned the room into a kiln by 2 p.m. What we did: installed a Daikin ductless mini-split with a single wall-mounted head, running the line set and drain through the wall cavity so nothing was exposed. The condenser sits on a pad outside, whisper-quiet. The result: a dedicated home office that now holds 72 degrees all year without touching the main house’s HVAC system. Total square footage: 340. Total time from estimate to working ac: four days.

Want Results Like These?

Every job above is a real scenario we see in Los Angeles – old houses, ductwork that’s been ignored, systems that failed at the worst possible time. The fix is always the same: written price before we touch a tool, a written 365-day guarantee on the work, and a technician who will tell you when a repair makes more sense than a replacement. Call (213) 531-5904 and tell us what’s going on. We’ll tell you what it’ll take.

Written by Victor Mancini, Owner at Cold Harbour Heating and Air Los Angeles, serving Los Angeles since 2003.