The HVAC questions homeowners actually ask.

A diagnostic visit is $99. That covers the drive out, the time at your house, and a real diagnosis of what's actually going on with your system, not a guess from the driveway. It's the same $99 whether we come out Tuesday afternoon or Sunday at midnight, with no after-hours surcharge. If you're looking at a brand-new system instead of a repair, that estimate is free.

There's no honest flat number for that one, and anybody who quotes you a repair price before they've looked at the system is guessing. What it costs comes down to the part that failed, how old the unit is, and whether refrigerant is involved. Once we've diagnosed it, you get a real number and the reasoning behind it before any work starts. For the bigger repairs, financing through Momnt is there if you want it. There's more on the AC repair page.

Here's the math we walk people through: take the age of the unit in years and multiply it by the cost of the repair. If that number climbs past $5,000, you're usually better off putting the money toward a new system than pouring it into an old one that'll need the next repair soon after. Age matters, and so does how often it's been quitting on you. We give you the honest read either way, including the times when the honest read is that your unit has plenty of life left. The AC installation page breaks down what a replacement actually involves.

No. If your unit can be fixed, we fix it. Steven once drove a full hour outside our normal area to look at a system two other companies had condemned, both saying it needed a new compressor and a TXV. The actual problem was a clogged filter. He swapped the filter, the system ran fine, and that was the bill. Replacement only comes up when the numbers genuinely point there, and even then it's a straight conversation with no fear talk and no pressure.

Yes, through Momnt. It's there mainly for installs and the larger repairs, so a comfortable home doesn't have to wait on the whole cost landing at once. Ask us and we'll walk you through what's available.

We do, and we keep them simple. Three plans: the HVAC plan at $199 a year with two visits, spring and fall; a Mini Split plan at $149 a year per unit; and a Generator plan at $299 a year. All three knock your $99 service call down to $49 and take 15% off any repairs while you're a member. We don't bundle them into one big package or pad them with stuff you don't need. The maintenance page lays out exactly what each visit covers.

Yes, and it's worth understanding why that matters here. South Carolina only requires one licensed holder per company, so plenty of the techs out on Upstate roads aren't personally licensed. At ECS, owner Steven Tibball holds the South Carolina HVAC contractor's license himself (CLM. 118737), our work is NATE certified and EPA Universal, and ECS carries a bond and a million dollars in liability insurance. The license isn't a name on a wall somewhere; it's the standard every ECS job is held to.

ECS works on every major residential brand: Trane, Carrier, Lennox, Goodman, Rheem, Mitsubishi, Daikin, York, Bryant, American Standard, Amana, and Ruud. For new installs we lean toward the lines that hold up best in Upstate heat and humidity and back their warranties properly. For generators, ECS is Generac-authorized for service.

Our workmanship carries a one-year warranty, and we stand behind 100% of our repairs and installs. The equipment itself is covered by the manufacturer's warranty, which we pass through to you (major brands typically run ten years on parts when the unit is registered). If something we touched isn't right, we come back and make it right.

A clean truck, a uniform, and a person who treats your home like it's theirs. The truck in the driveway matches the shirt matches the name on the invoice. On the lake homes especially, that means shoe covers on and no oil on the driveway. The ECS rule, for every tech who works a job under our name, is that the homeowner feels comfortable before a word gets said.

Yes, and it's a real person, not an answering service reading off a script. Call and you get a real person from ECS. If whoever you reach is out on a call, you'll still get someone who can help, and anything that lands in voicemail gets a callback the same day, usually within the hour. When your heat quits at 11 on a cold night, that's the whole point of calling a family shop.

Yes, within a specific scope. ECS services, maintains, and replaces existing standby generators, and we're Generac-authorized for that work. What we don't do is brand-new from-scratch installs, since running gas and power for a fresh unit takes separate plumbing and electrical licensing. If you're after a new install, call us anyway and we'll point you in the right direction. The generator page covers the details.

We're based in Pickens and cover a good stretch of the Upstate: Pickens, Easley, Greenville, Greer, Seneca, and Oconee County, including Walhalla, Westminster, Mountain Rest, and Salem, plus the Lake Keowee communities. Lake Jocassee is too far for us to promise a fair response time. Not sure about your address? Call and ask, or see all the areas we serve.