If you are searching for AC repair in Garland, TX, one detail sets the city apart from most of Dallas County: the electricity often comes from a utility the city owns. That changes who you call during an outage, which rebate programs might apply to a new system, and whether you can shop for a power plan at all. Below is what matters for a Garland home's cooling and heating, and how the free line fits in.
The line itself does no HVAC work. Dial (469) 649-7066 and an automated assistant notes your name, phone, ZIP and a quick description, then hands you off to an independent Garland-area HVAC business. The company you are put through to inspects the system, quotes its own price and bills you directly.
Garland: a hat-making town that became a big suburb
Garland began in 1887, when a congressman settled a fight between the rival settlements of Duck Creek and Embree by placing a post office between them. It stayed small for decades: about 2,233 residents in 1940. Factories changed that. Hat makers, food plants and wartime aircraft plants set up here, and the state named Garland the Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas in 2013.
Housing followed the jobs. Census counts went from 10,571 in 1950 to 81,437 in 1970 and 138,857 in 1980, then slowed to 180,650 in 1990. The 2020 count was 246,018, and federal estimates for 2025 put Garland just under 250,000. Newer construction filled the northeast, around Firewheel Town Center, which opened in 2005. Lake Ray Hubbard forms the eastern edge of the city. The result is a lot of 50 to 70 year old houses alongside some built in the last twenty years, with very different needs.
GP&L or Oncor? Sorting out a Garland outage
The City of Garland started its own electric utility in 1923 with a single diesel generator serving 300 customers. A 2023 Texas House resolution describes Garland Power & Light as the fourth-largest municipal electric utility in the state, with more than 73,000 customers.
- Much of GarlandBuys power from GP&L. There is no retail provider to pick, and GP&L restores service after storms.
- Some addressesMay sit on Oncor's lines instead, where residents choose a retail electric provider and report outages to Oncor.
- Either wayThe electric utility does not repair air conditioners, furnaces or heat pumps. If the house has power and the AC does not, that is an HVAC call.
- GasNatural gas in Garland comes from Atmos Energy, which lists the city in its Mid-Tex Division.
The EnergySaver credits and a new system
Because GP&L is the utility, Garland homeowners have had access to a program most of DFW does not: EnergySaver bill credits. Local coverage of the program has described it as credits for qualifying efficiency upgrades, including central air conditioners, heat pumps and window units, along with insulation and other improvements. The most recent central air and heat pump terms posted on the Garland Economic Development site required a complete system replacement rated at least 16.0 SEER and 12.0 EER, or 15.3 SEER2 under the 2023 rating method, and ran until September 30, 2026, or until money ran out.
Programs like this run by the year and change their terms, so treat those figures as history rather than a promise. Before you sign for a new system, call the GP&L energy advisor at 972-205-2929 or email energyadvisor@gpltexas.org and ask what is open now. Then ask the HVAC company to quote equipment that meets the current rule, and to give you the paperwork the program asks for.
Expect a new system in Garland to need a city mechanical permit as well; a permit guide from PermitFlow lists one for installing or replacing air conditioning, heating and ventilation equipment. The city's Building Inspection department takes inspection requests at 972-205-2300. The company doing the work normally applies, but it is your house, so confirm the permit with the company and make sure it is on the quote.
Check the license yourself. In Texas, air conditioning and refrigeration contractors are licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), and the license number belongs on the company's quotes and invoices. Ask for it and look it up with the TDLR license search (opens in a new tab) before work starts. It is also fair to ask for a certificate of insurance.
Garland is also a city of homeowners. Census Bureau figures put the owner-occupied rate near 62 percent, with an average of three people per household and a median home value of about $270,800. A larger household runs the system harder, opens doors more often and makes a breakdown in August harder to wait out, so it pays to know your options before something fails.
After the December 2015 tornado
On the evening of December 26, 2015, an EF4 tornado tracked about 13 miles through Sunnyvale, Garland and Rowlett. The National Weather Service estimated peak winds of 170 to 180 mph and a path up to 550 yards wide, and most of the deaths came near Interstate 30 and the President George Bush Turnpike. It was on the ground for about 17 minutes and destroyed or damaged homes across southeast Garland.
Many houses in that part of the city were rebuilt or repaired afterward, often with new outdoor units, new ducts and sometimes whole new systems. A home that went through that rebuild may have equipment that is now around ten years old, younger than its neighbors but old enough for capacitors, fan motors and drain issues to show up. Any time severe weather hits, look at the outdoor unit before running it. Bent fins, a unit pushed off its pad or debris inside the cabinet are reasons to switch it off and have it checked.
Quick checks before you call about a Garland AC
- Set the thermostat right. Cool mode, a setting several degrees below the room, and working batteries.
- Try one breaker reset. A tripped AC breaker gets one reset. A second trip means stop and call.
- Look at the filter. A filter packed with dust starves the indoor coil of air and can make it freeze.
- Clear the condenser. Cottonwood fluff, leaves and grass clippings smother the coil in late spring and summer.
- Check for water. Many indoor units have a safety switch that turns the system off when the drain backs up. Mention any water you see.
Why Garland homeowners call the line
Skip the outage confusion
GP&L fixes power lines, not air conditioners. When the lights work and the AC does not, one call to the line reaches an independent HVAC company that serves Garland.
Ask about credits before you buy
The company you are connected with quotes the equipment. You can ask it to match whatever EnergySaver rule GP&L has open, and check the terms with GP&L yourself.
Day or night, free
Calls are taken around the clock at no charge to you. Payment goes straight to the HVAC business for whatever it fixes.
Check the license yourself
Ask for the company's TDLR license number and look it up before anyone opens the unit. This site shows you how.
Services Garland homes call about
Hot-weather calls are mostly AC repair: a system that runs nonstop without cooling, ice on the copper lines or a condenser fan that will not spin. Older Garland homes that heat with gas need furnace repair when the first cold front arrives, and a fall check is worth more than a January breakdown. If your equipment dates from before the 2010s, read AC installation and replacement before you have to decide in a hurry. A yearly HVAC tune-up keeps drains clear and catches worn parts early.
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Furnace and Heating Repair
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HVAC Tune-Up and Maintenance
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How a Garland call works
- Call any hourAn automated assistant answers (469) 649-7066 and asks whether it is about cooling or heating.
- Describe the problemGive your name, a callback number, your city or ZIP and what the system is doing.
- Get put throughThe call goes to an independent, locally owned heating and air conditioning company, which hears a short summary before it picks up.
- Deal with them directlyThat company diagnoses, quotes, does the work and is paid by you. If it cannot answer, it gets your details to call back.
How this line works: Dallas Air & Heating is a free phone line, not an HVAC company. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local heating and air conditioning company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. The line holds no HVAC license and does not repair, install or schedule anything itself. Those companies may pay Dallas Air & Heating a referral fee. You never pay the line. How it works.
Comparing quotes for a new system? The contractor selection guide covers what a written quote should list.
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