When your AC breaks down in the middle of a South Carolina summer, you need a team that responds fast. First Class Heating & Air provides professional AC repair in Greenville and surrounding areas with same-day availability and flat-rate pricing. We understand that every hour without cooling in 95-degree heat with high humidity is not just uncomfortable; it can affect your family's health and well-being.
Our technicians diagnose AC problems using systematic testing, not guesswork. We start with a visual inspection, then use diagnostic tools including manifold gauges (to check refrigerant pressures), multimeters (to test electrical components), temperature probes (to measure supply and return air differential), and infrared cameras (to identify airflow issues). This methodical approach means accurate diagnoses and repairs that fix the actual problem, not just the symptoms.
Greenville's humid subtropical climate puts extreme demands on AC systems. Your air conditioner typically runs 8 to 12 hours per day from June through September, accumulating over 1,000 hours of runtime per cooling season. This heavy usage accelerates wear on capacitors, contactors, and compressor components that might last longer in cooler climates. Regular maintenance prevents most breakdowns, but when something does fail, you want a team that shows up fast, diagnoses accurately, and charges fairly.
Common AC problems we fix in Greenville
Four failures account for most of the repair calls our trucks run between May and September. Here is what they are, why they happen here, and what fixing them costs.
Run capacitors
The most common AC repair in the Upstate, period. The capacitor gives your compressor and fan motors the jolt they need to start, and long cooling seasons cook them. The fix runs $150 to $400, we carry them on the truck, and most of the time your system is cooling again the same visit.
Contactors
The contactor is the electrical switch that tells your outdoor unit to turn on. The contacts pit and burn from thousands of cycles per season, and then the unit either will not start or will not shut off. Another parts-on-the-truck repair, usually done within the hour.
Refrigerant leaks and frozen coils
If your AC runs but blows warm air, or you see ice on the copper lines, you are likely low on refrigerant or the coil is starved for airflow. We see both constantly: leaking evaporator coils (Lennox systems are the most frequent offenders in our service records) and coils restricted by dirt because the system has not been maintained. A leak search plus recharge runs $250 to $1,500 depending on how bad the leak is and how much refrigerant the system takes. If your system still runs on R-22, that refrigerant is no longer produced, and we will walk you through whether a recharge is worth it before you spend the money.
Clogged condensate drains
Upstate humidity grows algae in drain lines faster than anywhere we have worked. When the line clogs, the float switch shuts your AC down before the drain pan overflows into your ceiling. Annoying, but it is doing its job. Clearing a clog starts at $129. If the drain line has to be rebuilt, it can run up to $500.
One more pattern worth knowing if your home has a crawlspace: the humidity down there rusts coils and drain pans from the outside in, and we find a lot of older ductwork with insulation that has fallen apart and boots that were never insulated at all. If we spot that during a repair visit, we will show you photos and explain what it is costing you. No obligation to act on it.
Same-day AC repair, no after-hours upcharge
Call in the morning and we can usually get to you the same day. When a July heat wave stacks the schedule, it may be the next morning, but we get to every call within 24 hours.
Nights and weekends cost the same as a Tuesday afternoon. Most companies in the Upstate charge 1.5 to 2 times their standard rate after hours. We do not, and we never have.
Repair or replace?
It depends on three things: the system's age, its repair history, and what it runs on. A quick way to do the math yourself: multiply the system's age by the repair cost. Over $5,000, and replacement usually makes more financial sense. A $1,400 repair on a 6-year-old system is worth doing. The same repair on a 16-year-old R-22 system is like putting a new transmission in a truck with 250,000 miles. The part works, but the truck is still worn out, and the next failure is already coming.
We are seeing this a lot right now with builder-grade systems in the subdivisions that went up around Simpsonville, Greer, and Five Forks in the early 2010s. They are hitting the 12-to-14-year mark and failing on schedule.
Either way, you get the numbers for both paths and you make the call. If the repair makes more sense than a replacement, we will tell you. It costs us a sale sometimes, and we are fine with that. When replacement wins, estimates are free and financing is available.
AC repair service area
We run AC repair calls daily in Greenville, Simpsonville, Greer, Duncan, Inman, Spartanburg, and Woodruff, and cover the rest of the Upstate from our shop at 33 Market Point Dr in Greenville: Mauldin, Taylors, Fountain Inn, Powdersville, Easley, Travelers Rest, Boiling Springs, Reidville, Roebuck, and Wellford.
What We Offer
What it costs
Our diagnostic visit puts gauges on the system, runs a full performance test, and gets you a flat-rate quote before any work starts. Most AC repairs run $150 to $1,500. A run capacitor, the most common fix, is $150 to $400. Clearing a plugged condensate drain is $129 to $500, a condenser fan motor is $600 to $1,300, and a refrigerant leak search plus recharge is $250 to $1,500 depending on which refrigerant your system uses. A compressor, the costliest repair, is $4,000 to $5,500 out of warranty and usually points toward replacement.
These are our own prices, not a national average. They are typical, not caps: size, efficiency tier, and access move the number. Your flat-rate quote comes before any work starts, and estimates on replacements are free.
See the full pricing guideWhat Greenville homeowners say
"First class all around! They were highly recommended by a friend...they did not disappoint. Came out same day...repaired my air and out of here within an hour. Thank you to Cameron and Tommy you are very appreciated being that we are heat advisory. One happy customer."
"First class came out within 24 hours and got me cooled off. Great experience from Tommy the owner and service tech Jonathan Pepper!! Didn't upsell me just solved the problem and corrected it. Thanks for fixing my AC in Easley SC!!"
"I called the good folks at First Class Heating and Air to get a 2nd opinion about my A/C unit... Cameron and Jonathan came out to check on the issue and said the ductwork wasn't the problem, but it was in fact that my unit was wired incorrectly. They corrected it on the spot! ... They saved me thousands of dollars in unnecessary repairs."
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