Before & After Gallery - Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco

HVAC Before & After in San Francisco, CA

Anyone can claim their techs do clean work. Plenty of companies talk about professionalism without ever showing a single job site. We’d rather let the work speak for itself. Below are real project narratives from typical San Francisco homes, from Sunset District furnace swaps to Richmond District AC overhauls. Photos are being added as we complete new jobs, but the stories explain exactly what we encountered, what we did, and what changed for the homeowner. No stock images, no staged sets.

Call (559) 245-8807

Recent Transformations

Carrier Furnace Replacement in a Sunset District Utility Closet

The old Carrier unit had been in that closet since the late 1990s. The heat exchanger was cracked, but more importantly, the blower motor drew so much current on startup that it dimmed the hallway lights whenever the thermostat clicked on. We pulled the old furnace, rebuilt the return plenum to stop the vibration against the closet wall, and installed a properly sized replacement on isolation pads. The homeowner later told us she kept checking the hallway lights out of habit for the first week because the new unit fired so quietly.

Goodman AC Condenser Rescued from a Richmond District Side Yard

This one is a favorite because the before photo tells the whole story. The condenser sat behind a fence line where years of eucalyptus debris and marine layer moisture had caked the coil into a blanket. The unit ran nonstop and the upstairs bedrooms never got below 78 degrees on warm afternoons. We pulled the fan assembly, chemically cleaned the coil, straightened dozens of bent fins, and sealed a loose refrigerant line fitting that was causing a slow leak. After the repair we measured a 14-degree temperature drop across the coil. For the cost of a maintenance visit plus a few hours of coil work, the owner avoided a full replacement.

Attic Furnace Quieted in Noe Valley

Noe Valley homes have a way of putting furnaces in the worst possible places, and this one sat directly above the main bedroom. The old unit had a warped blower wheel that created a low-frequency hum every time it spun up, and the return duct was connected with a crimped flex run that whistled on high fire. We replaced the blower wheel, rebuilt the return connection with rigid elbow fittings, and added a vibration dampener between the furnace cabinet and the ceiling joist. The noise dropped from “wake you up at 6 a.m.” to “barely notice it running.” That is the realistic outcome of a correctly performed blower repair on an older Trane unit.

Refrigerant Recharge and Leak Repair on a Lennox System in the Marina

Systems in the Marina deal with salt air, and this Lennox heat pump had a pinhole leak in the evaporator coil that had been misdiagnosed twice by other contractors. The homeowner had been told she needed a full coil replacement. We pressure-tested with nitrogen, found the leak location, and applied a proper braze repair on the aluminum line, followed by a full refrigerant recharge, which means refilling the fluid that moves heat out of your home. We rechecked pressures after 30 minutes of run time and again on a follow-up visit. It held. She spent under $500 instead of the $2,100 coil replacement she had been quoted elsewhere.

Rheem AC Tune-Up and Airflow Correction in the Excelsior

You would be surprised how many “broken” AC systems in San Francisco are just starved for air. This Rheem unit in the Excelsior had a plugged 1-inch filter that had collapsed into the return duct, along with a return grille that was undersized for the blower. Static pressure was nearly double what it should have been. We pulled the filter debris, cleaned the return plenum, and replaced the grille with a larger unit matched to the system’s airflow. Not only did the system stop short-cycling, but the cooling output on the first floor improved enough that the owner called back to ask what had been replaced. Nothing was replaced. That is what proper maintenance work looks like.

Daikin Mini-Split Head Restored in a Victorian Flat in the Castro

Victorian flats in the Castro often rely on mini-splits because running ductwork through a 100-year-old building is simply not happening. This Daikin wall unit had not been deep-cleaned in years, and the blower wheel was so coated that air barely registered at the register. We removed the wheel, cleaned it with a coil-safe degreaser, sanitized the drain pan, and reinstalled everything. Airflow recovered to nearly its original spec, and the smell that had been coming from the unit, which was a mix of dust and mildew, disappeared completely. The owner said it felt like a new system for the cost of a maintenance visit.

Want Results Like These?

Every job above started with a written price before any work began, and every repair came with a written guarantee stating exactly what it covers and for how long. If a repair fails within 365 days, we return at no charge under the 365-Day Done Right Promise. Call (559) 245-8807 and a live person answers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will know the technician by name and photo before they knock on your door.

Written by Devin Marlowe, Owner at Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco.