What You Actually Pay When You Call an HVAC Contractor

I’m Dave Hartzell. I’ve spent 45 years on the tools, I hold a Master HVAC license, and I run Hartzell’s Heat & Air right here in Kingfisher. People call me every week asking what a service call costs before they book. So here it is in plain numbers, no hedging.

What every service call costs

Two charges on every repair call: $99 dispatch and $111 diagnostic. That’s it for the visit itself. The $99 dispatch covers every truck roll, and there are no surprise fuel or trip fees stacked on top. The only exception is a free estimate on a new system install, which I cover further down.

I charge a dispatch fee because the truck itself costs money to put in your driveway: fuel, insurance, parts inventory, the tech’s time, and the office staff who took your call. Hiding that cost in an inflated repair price would be dishonest, and I’d rather you see it on the invoice.

Where the $111 diagnostic goes

The $111 diagnostic pays for the labor to figure out what’s actually broken. That’s testing capacitors, checking refrigerant pressures, reading control board outputs, isolating which part is the failure and which parts are still healthy. It does not cover replacement parts.

Here’s the part most contractors don’t tell you: if you accept the repair quote within 14 days, the $111 comes right off the invoice. You’re not paying twice for the same hour of work. The dispatch stays, the diagnostic credits back.

Typical repair price ranges in Oklahoma

Most calls I run land between $200 and $850 all in. Here’s where the common repairs fall:

• Capacitor swap: about $200 to $300. Most common failure on Oklahoma AC units after a hot summer.
• Blower motor: $450 to $650 depending on horsepower and brand.
• Refrigerant work: $300 to $800. Depends on how much R-410A or R-454B the system needs and whether there’s a leak to find.
• ECM blower control board: $800 to $1,200. These are variable-speed boards on newer high-efficiency furnaces and air handlers.

If your repair quote is north of $1,500 on a system over 12 years old, I’ll have an honest conversation with you about repair vs. replace before you spend the money.

PMA tune-ups: $229, members only as of 2026

I stopped selling the standalone $229 tune-up in May 2026. Here is why. A one-shot tune-up is a transaction, not a relationship. People who booked one tune-up and disappeared got hit with full-price repair calls all summer. People on a Preventive Maintenance Agreement get their system caught before it fails.

Tune-ups now happen only as part of a PMA. Three tiers to pick from:

• Tune-Up PMA: $138/yr. One annual visit, priority scheduling.
• Basic PMA: $189/yr. Annual visit plus a parts and labor discount on repairs.
• Dave’s 360: $360/yr. Spring AC tune-up, fall furnace tune-up, dispatch fee waived on the included visits, deeper repair discount.

For geothermal owners I have a separate Geo 360 plan at $499/yr that includes loop repressurization.

New install estimates are free

If you’re replacing a system, I don’t charge to come out. I’ll measure the home, look at the existing ductwork, ask about hot rooms and cold rooms, and give you a written quote. No dispatch, no diagnostic, no obligation. That’s the one exception to the $99 dispatch rule and it’s been that way since I opened the doors.

Why I publish my pricing

Most contractors won’t tell you a number until the tech is standing in your living room. The reason is simple: once they’re there, you’re more likely to say yes to whatever number they quote. I think that’s backwards.

I publish the dispatch, the diagnostic, the PMA pricing, and the typical repair bands because I lose more business hiding numbers than I lose showing them. Folks who’d never been quoted by an honest contractor have called me back two years later when their furnace died, because they remembered I was the one who didn’t play games.

That’s the whole pitch. Plain pricing, real numbers, no upsell on parts you don’t need.

Frequently asked questions