How Do I Pay for a New HVAC System?

September 30, 2026

Replacing a heating and cooling system is a major household purchase, and the price can feel especially difficult when the equipment fails unexpectedly. HVAC costs have continued to rise as equipment technology improves, labor and material expenses increase, and consumers and regulators push for higher-efficiency systems. The good news is that homeowners usually have more than one way to pay. Summit accepts checks, credit cards, and cash. However, about 65% of our customers use some type of financing program. That does not mean financing is automatically the best choice for every household. It means many homeowners prefer to preserve savings,...

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What It Means to Be an Options-Driven HVAC Company

September 15, 2026

We feel that our job is to find issues, educate homeowners, explain every finding, and help families choose with confidence When a heating, cooling, or plumbing problem interrupts your day, you deserve more than a quick diagnosis and a single take-it-or-leave-it price. You deserve to understand what we found, what it means for your equipment and your home, and what choices are available. At Summit Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing, that is what we mean when we say we are an options driven company. Our role is not to pressure you into the biggest repair or the newest system. It’s also...

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The $5000 Rule in HVAC Is Outdated: Why Kansas City Homeowners Should Consider the $12,000 Rule

September 15, 2026

A practical repair-or-replace guide from Summit Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing Quick answer: The traditional $5,000 rule in HVAC says to multiply your equipment’s age by the proposed repair cost. If the result is more than $5,000, consider replacement; if it is less, repair may make sense. Summit Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing believes the formula is still useful, but the threshold no longer reflects today’s HVAC repair costs or equipment and installation costs for new equipment. For many Kansas City homeowners, a $12,000 rule is a more realistic starting point—not an automatic verdict. When your furnace, air conditioner, or heat pump...

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How Airflow Affects Your HVAC System and Your Home’s Comfort

September 1, 2026

Why proper airflow, static pressure, and filter sizing matter more than many homeowners realize Airflow is one of the most important parts of a heating and cooling system. Your HVAC equipment can be the right size, the thermostat can be set correctly, and the refrigerant charge can be accurate, but if the system is not moving the right amount of air, your home may still feel uncomfortable. Poor airflow can cause hot and cold rooms, long run times, weak air from vents, higher energy use, poor humidity control, and even equipment damage. For homeowners, airflow can be thought of as...

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How We Determine the Right Size HVAC System for Your Home

September 1, 2026

Choosing the right heating and cooling equipment starts with understanding your home, your ductwork, and how comfortable you feel today. Why HVAC Size Matters When you are replacing or installing heating and cooling equipment, bigger is not automatically better. A system that is too small may struggle to keep up on very hot or cold days. A system that is too large may turn on and off too quickly, leaving you with uneven temperatures, poor humidity control, higher energy use, and unnecessary wear on the equipment. That’s why we don’t size HVAC equipment by guesswork or simply replace your old...

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Why Is There Ice on My AC?

July 10, 2026

If you notice ice forming anywhere on your air conditioner or on the refrigerant lines connecting your system to your home, go to the thermostat and turn the system OFF and the fan to ON. Like, right now. I’ll wait. Once the system is off and no longer running, you can safely let it thaw while you understand what may be going on. Why Is My AC Freezing Up? Ice on an HVAC system is always a sign that something is not working correctly. A properly functioning air conditioner should never freeze during normal operation. Even if it still appears...

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What Is a SEER Rating?

May 19, 2026

SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. It is a rating that measures the efficiency of an HVAC system over the course of an entire season. Think of it like miles per gallon for your car. It tells you how much energy your system uses to keep your home comfortable. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the system. In 2023, the industry updated how these systems are tested to better reflect real-world conditions. These updated ratings are called SEER2. The idea is simple. Give homeowners a more accurate picture of how their system actually performs, not just how...

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Why Is There a Shortage of the New Refrigerant (R454B)?

July 3, 2025

The HVAC industry has had many new regulations recently and a short review of this history might help understand the current situation. In 2019, manufacturers were no longer able to produce residential furnaces that had traditional AC powered PSC blower motors, favoring instead the more efficient DC powered ones. In 2020 we saw the end of production of R22 refrigerant and the beginning of the reduction in production of R410A. The M1 Efficiency Increase came in 2023, and now in 2025 we have begun the A2L refrigerant transition. This transition marks the end of production of all residential R410A equipment....

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How Long Will R-410A Be Around?

March 4, 2025

There is a lot of confusion today about the laws regulating refrigerants, especially around R-410A, and how it can be used. The confusion is mostly around the specifics of how the refrigerants, sometimes called freon, can be used and how long they are going to be available. In this blog, we’ll explore some common questions and misconceptions. An Overview of the Use and Availability of Refrigerants The reason we have a question about the use and availability of refrigerants is because of the EPA and global agreement’s restriction of harmful chemicals, including refrigerants. The original refrigerant R-12 was determined to...

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What is Staging, and What Does it Mean for Me?

June 28, 2023

Most people who are faced with having to consider replacing their HVAC system are not experts. In an average homeowner’s life, they will likely only have to go through the process of buying a new system once or twice. But there are so many options that make it difficult to understand what the options will really do for them. It is also difficult to understand and decide what’s best for a particular situation at a particular time. Hopefully, if you find yourself in this situation, you decide to have a Summit Comfort Expert come to your home. Our teammates are...

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