HVAC in Nashville pulls humidity out of a basin summer and then gets surprised by ice on the hills. Attic handlers over bungalows and over newer two-stories clog their drains and stain ceilings that get blamed on the roof. Filters load with pollen from hardwoods and cedar. Upstairs in a tall infill house cooks while the lower floor looks fine. Basement equipment, where the hills allowed a basement, is a different access from an attic. This is not the longer delta cooling season and not a mountain winter.
When cooling fails, say if the outdoor unit is quiet, hunting, or iced at the tubing. A weak return in an older bungalow can imitate a major failure. Ask what is eliminated first. If heat will not run on the ice week, say so, and say if combustion is in the air. That week is when neglected furnaces and strips show themselves. Hail and wind bend fins here. Mention a storm-bruised cabinet if the yard says hail. Portable heaters are not the repair. A house on a ridge gets colder than one in the sheltered bottom. Say which you are.
Size new equipment to this floor plan, not to the tag on the old box. Leaky attic ducts are common in both the bungalows and the later slopes. Ask if they will be sealed. Name the indoor and outdoor sections as a pair. A new outdoor unit sitting on an old coil is a compromise to hear described. Clammy air is a miss in this humidity even if the thermostat moved. Shade from cedars does not excuse a system that never dries the hall.
Ask about the pan, the overflow switch, and the line that clogs in July. A lot of basement damp is not the air conditioner, and a lot of ceiling stains are. Separate them on the call. Maintenance should leave notes, including the filter and the condition of the outdoor cabinet after storm season. Hill houses may have the handler in a closet that is miserable to service. Say that before someone plans the visit as a wide attic.
Say cool or heat, dead or weak, and say Nashville. HVAC here is basin moisture with a hill-country freeze. Call the number on this page.