Nearly everything that matters here is above the ceiling
Prescott works on heating, cooling and ventilation across McKinney and Collin County. In this housing stock the equipment is rarely the problem — the ductwork sitting in a 130-degree attic usually is, and almost nobody measures it before quoting.
Six things, in houses and in premises
Cooling
The long season. Central air, heat pumps and ductless, with the charge measured against the conditions and the plate rather than topped up on sight.
Heating
Gas furnaces combustion tested with an analyser and the readings written down, and heat pumps checked on defrost and auxiliary heat.
Ducts
Tested rather than looked at. Leakage is a number, and in an attic it is the number that decides what your system can actually deliver.
Condensate
Pan, trap, secondary pan and float switch. In this market it is the difference between a small job and a ceiling.
Ventilation
Extract for kitchens, salons and workshops, and the make-up air that has to replace what is thrown out.
Maintenance
Annual on houses, twice a year on premises, with readings recorded so the file shows a trend rather than a stack of invoices.
The attic, and what it costs you
Three arrangements — everything up there, ducts only, or nothing at all — crossed with five things people notice. What is up there decides the physics; what you noticed decides where to start.
Why it is the whole argument
A Texas attic in August is far hotter than the outdoor air, and in most houses here every part of the cooling system is sitting in it. A return-side leak pulls that air straight into the system and you pay to cool it, every hour it runs.
And what the page refuses
It puts equipment last, every time. It hands insulation and attic ventilation to another trade. And it tells you not to go up there yourself — in a Texas summer that is genuinely dangerous and there is nothing worth doing.
Homes
Houses across McKinney, Allen, Frisco and the newer developments north of them — mostly two-storey, mostly with the plant in the attic, and mostly never balanced after handover. Cooling, ducts, condensate and the upstairs that is unusable by four in the afternoon.
Businesses
Retail units, restaurants, salons, professional suites, clinics and light industrial across Collin County. Surveyed before anything is scheduled, maintained against the survey, with a record kept per unit.
What this website will not tell you
Each one would be a number we invented.
| Not stated | Why |
|---|---|
| A price | A capacitor and a full duct rework are not the same visit. You get a fixed figure on the phone once we know what is installed. |
| A response time | We will not promise two hours on a July afternoon when half of Collin County has lost cooling. |
| A saving | “Cut your bill by a third” depends on the house, the ductwork and the tariff. Nobody can know it from a web page. |
| How long it will last | Two identical systems on the same street last very different lengths of time. The plate gives you the age; nothing gives you the future. |
Upstairs is unusable every afternoon. Do I need a bigger system?
Almost certainly not, and a bigger one would make part of it worse. It is nearly always airflow and duct leakage — how much air actually arrives at those registers, what the return path looks like with the bedroom doors shut, and what the ducts lose crossing a 130-degree attic. All three are measurable in under an hour, and an oversized system short-cycles, never dries the air and leaves the same room hot.
Why do you keep talking about the attic rather than the equipment?
Because in this housing stock the equipment is rarely the problem. A Texas attic in August is far hotter than the outdoor air, and in most houses here the air handler, the ducts or both are sitting in it. A return-side leak pulls that superheated air straight into the system and you pay to cool it, every hour it runs. A high-efficiency system on leaking attic ducts does not deliver its rating and never could.
What is a float switch and do I have one?
It is a small safety switch that shuts the cooling down when condensate starts to back up, before water reaches a ceiling. In an attic installation it is the cheapest insurance in the building. Ask whether you have one and whether it is actually wired — a water stain on a ceiling very often means there was not one, or somebody bypassed it to keep the cooling running.
Can you just look at my ducts?
We can, but looking is not the test. Leakage is a measurement, and a visual inspection from the attic hatch tells you about the two feet somebody could see. A duct test produces a number, and that number is what decides whether sealing is worth doing and whether your ductwork could carry what a new system would need.
My system runs constantly in July. Is it failing?
On the hottest afternoons a correctly sized system running continuously is normal and is not a fault — that is what design conditions mean. The question is whether it is also happening on an ordinary day. If it is, the candidates are charge, a blocked condenser coil, airflow, duct leakage, or a house that got bigger when somebody enclosed a patio. Measuring separates them.
Which areas do you cover?
McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Prosper, Melissa, Princeton, Fairview and Plano.
Find us
8880 State Hwy 121, McKinney, TX 75070. Monday to Friday, 7am to 4.30pm.
We cover McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Prosper, Melissa, Princeton, Fairview and Plano.