AC repair in Reston.
AC and heat pump repair in Reston’s 20190, 20191 and 20194, from 1970s cluster heat pumps to Town Center condos, priced from the book before work starts.
The diagnostic visit is $99, and a run capacitor replaced is $240 to $370 from our published price book.
- Prices in writing, first
- Common parts on the truck
- Dedicated HVAC team
Get your AC repair priced
In Reston, the ZIP code says a lot about what’s cooling the house.
Around Hunters Woods and South Lakes, in 20191, about six in ten owner homes run on electric heat, which makes the box behind the house a heat pump more often than not. Nearly half of 20191’s homes date from the 1970s, so the one against the back wall of a cluster row is rarely the first.
In 20190, from Lake Anne to Reston Town Center and the Wiehle station, about seven in ten owners heat with gas, and the cooling is often an air conditioner paired with a gas furnace. More than half its homes are in condo and apartment buildings, and about two in ten were built in the 2000s. A system from before 2010 may hold R-22, out of production since 2020, which makes even a small leak worth pricing against a new system.
ZIP 20194, around North Point, went up almost all at once: more than eight in ten homes in the 1980s and 90s, about two thirds of them heated with gas. By now most have replaced the first outdoor unit at least once, and past 15 years is when capacitors, contactors and fan motors start to fail.
Whatever the ZIP, the outdoor unit answers to Reston Association too. In clusters and condos, RA’s guidelines put units against the house wall as a rule. Fixing the one you have keeps all of that settled. A replacement brings a Fairfax County permit, and an RA application if the new unit is taller or louder, or moves somewhere RA’s placement rules don’t allow.
What’s cooling the houses across Reston.
Census figures for each place, and what that usually means for the air conditioning. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What the cooling usually is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reston | 1981 | condo and apartment buildings, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | 1980s and 90s houses, most on their second or third system. |
| Great Falls Crossing | 1993 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | 1980s and 90s houses, most on their second or third system. |
Reston houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Reston
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 3 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 5 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 4 in 10 Census
- Electric heat here usually means a heat pump, so the outdoor unit works all year and an AC problem is often a heating problem waiting for January.
What AC repair costs in Reston.
The same price book as our AC repair page. The diagnostic visit is $99, and the common parts ride on the truck, so most of these get fixed on the first visit.
- Run capacitor replaced$240 to $370
- Contactor replaced$290 to $425
- Condensate drain cleared$175 to $420
- Refrigerant topped up$190 to $740
- Blower wheel pulled and cleaned$300 to $440
- Refrigerant leak found and repaired$1,850 to $2,700
- Repair diagnostic visit$99
Often same-day, and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
With Comfort+ membership, $20 a month or $199 a year, the diagnostic visit is included, any service is 15% off, and the cooling and heating maintenance visits are part of the membership.
What a failing AC in Reston usually does.
A screened unit that quits on hot afternoons
RA can ask for a fence or shrubs to hide an outdoor unit, and its own guideline says the screen shouldn’t block service access. Built or planted too tight, it does worse: the unit breathes its own hot exhaust, the refrigerant pressure climbs, and the safety switch shuts it down on the hottest days. Trim the shrubs back, and call if it keeps quitting.
The heat pump is icing up in summer
Ice on the outdoor lines in July means low refrigerant or starved airflow. Shut it off to thaw and call; running it iced can take out the compressor.
The air coming out is warm
Usually the outdoor unit has stopped running. A hum with no fan turning is almost always the run capacitor; silence while the thermostat calls is usually the contactor.
How to pick the best AC repair company in Reston.
Questions worth asking anybody who comes out, us included.
Will they quote a replacement that fits the approved spot?
RA wants no application when a new outdoor unit goes where the old one was approved, is four feet tall or less and is rated no louder. Anyone quoting in Reston should read the new unit’s size and decibel rating against the old one’s before you sign.
Do they publish prices?
A company that prints what a capacitor or a contactor costs has already told you the number. One that won’t say until the tech is in your driveway hasn’t.
Do they measure before they sell refrigerant?
A healthy system drops the air somewhere around 16 to 22 degrees across the indoor coil. Low refrigerant means a leak, and topping it up every summer is the expensive way to find that out.
Will they tell you when it’s the end of the road?
Some repairs aren’t worth doing on a 20-year-old system. The good answer shows you the repair price and the replacement price side by side and lets you pick.
What our customers say.
Fast and efficient! Whole team was respectful of the house and got our ac running in no time!
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
AC repair questions from Reston.
Can I put in a window unit while my Reston AC is down?
In a cluster or condo home, probably not: RA’s guidelines for those homes say window units are generally not approved. The usual failures are small parts, a run capacitor among them at $240 to $370, so fixing the system you have is the better answer.
Is the unit behind my South Lakes townhouse a heat pump or an AC?
In 20191 the odds favor a heat pump, with about six in ten owners there on electric heat. The label on the outdoor unit settles it, and an Em Heat or Aux setting on the thermostat points the same way. If it is one, a summer repair should test its reversing valve and defrost board too.
How much does AC repair cost in Reston?
The diagnostic visit is $99. The common repairs: a run capacitor $240 to $370, a contactor $290 to $425, a condensate drain cleared $175 to $420, refrigerant topped up $190 to $740. A refrigerant leak repair runs $1,850 to $2,700.
Should I repair it or replace it?
Fix the cheap parts on almost anything. Think twice about a big repair on a system over 15 years old, and about any leak on an R-22 system. The HVAC estimator prices a new system in about a minute, so you can put the two numbers side by side.
AC repair in the towns next door.
- AC repair in Herndon
- AC repair in Great Falls
- AC repair in Oakton
- AC repair in Vienna
- AC repair in Sterling
More from SwiftPro in Reston
Tell us what your AC is doing.
Call, or book online and pick a window. The tech prices the repair from the book before starting, and if it’s the end of the road you’ll hear that first.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Reston and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Book online, read our reviews, or see every town we serve.