Commercial AC Installation & Repair in Los Angeles
Rooftop units, VRF systems, split systems, and packaged units for offices, restaurants, retail, warehouses, hotels, and data centers across Greater Los Angeles. C-38 licensed. 40+ years in the field.
Los Angeles hits 115 degrees in the San Fernando Valley every summer. That is not a typo and it is not an outlier — it happens in Woodland Hills, Chatsworth, and Northridge like clockwork. When your commercial AC fails on one of those days, the consequences are immediate. A restaurant without cooling empties out in fifteen minutes. A retail store closes its doors because employees cannot legally work in those conditions. A server room at 95 degrees starts corrupting data within the hour. This is not residential comfort we are talking about — this is revenue, liability, and sometimes health code enforcement showing up with a clipboard.
Arctic Cool Refrigeration has been installing and repairing commercial air conditioning systems in Greater Los Angeles since 1984. We hold a C-38 Refrigeration license from the California Contractors State License Board, and every technician on our team carries EPA 608 Universal certification and NATE credentials. We are not a residential shop that occasionally takes a commercial call. Commercial AC is a different animal — bigger tonnage, three-phase electrical, economizers, building automation tie-ins, rooftop access, crane lifts — and we have been doing this work for over four decades across every building type in LA County.
Common Commercial AC Problems
Commercial systems fail differently than residential units. The loads are heavier, the run times are longer, and the consequences hit your bottom line within hours. Here are the six problems we see most often across LA commercial buildings.
Not Cooling
Low refrigerant from a slow leak in the condenser coil, compressor failure on a 15-year-old Carrier RTU, or condenser coils packed with cottonwood and roofing debris. We check superheat and subcooling first — not just the thermostat.
Rooftop Unit Failure
Economizer dampers stuck open pulling in 110-degree outside air. Belt-driven blower motor seized from heat exposure. Gas heat section igniter cracked. RTUs take more abuse than any other commercial AC system because they live on the roof in full sun year-round.
Short-Cycling
The unit kicks on, runs for two minutes, shuts off, repeats. Usually an oversized system (installed by someone who did not run a Manual J calculation), a clogged filter restricting airflow, low refrigerant charge, or a faulty pressure switch. Kills compressors fast.
Uneven Temperatures
Conference room at 68 degrees, warehouse floor at 84. Ductwork leaks losing 30% of conditioned air into the plenum. Zone damper actuators failed. Or the original system was sized for a different tenant layout and nobody recalculated when the walls moved.
High Energy Bills
A 10-ton RTU with a slow refrigerant leak runs 40% harder to maintain setpoint. Dirty condenser coils raise head pressure and amp draw. A system past its 15-year lifespan with a 10 SEER rating is burning twice the electricity of a modern 16 SEER2 replacement. We find the waste.
Strange Noises
Grinding from a failing blower bearing. Sheet metal panels rattling loose after years of thermal expansion. Belt squeal from a worn or misaligned V-belt. Deep knocking from a compressor with internal valve damage. None of these get better on their own.
Commercial AC Systems We Install & Repair
Every building in LA has different cooling demands. A 2,000-square-foot restaurant kitchen generates more heat than a 10,000-square-foot office. We match the right system type to the actual load — not the square footage on a lease agreement.
Rooftop Package Units (RTUs)
The workhorse of commercial AC in Los Angeles. Self-contained units that sit on the roof, deliver conditioned air through ductwork, and range from 3-ton units for small retail to 25-ton-plus units for warehouses and big-box stores. We install and repair Carrier WeatherExpert, Trane Precedent and IntelliPak, Lennox Energence, York Predator, and Rheem Commercial series. RTU work means rooftop access, sometimes crane lifts for changeouts, and always proper curb adapter sizing. We handle the full scope — structural review, gas piping, electrical, controls, and Title 24 compliance.
Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Systems
The most efficient commercial AC technology available today. One outdoor condensing unit serves dozens of indoor zones, each with independent temperature control. We are authorized installers for Daikin VRV, Mitsubishi City Multi, and LG Multi V systems. VRF is ideal for office buildings, hotels, medical offices, and mixed-use properties where different tenants need different temperatures simultaneously. Installation requires refrigerant piping design, branch selector box placement, and commissioning through the manufacturer's diagnostic software — not something a general HVAC company can wing.
Commercial Split Systems
Outdoor condenser paired with an indoor air handler — the standard setup for medium-size commercial spaces like dental offices, restaurants, and small retail. We install Carrier, Trane, Lennox, and York commercial split systems from 3 to 20 tons. These systems require proper line set sizing, nitrogen brazing (not air), vacuum to 500 microns, and a verified refrigerant charge. Sounds basic, but we see botched installs constantly from companies that treat a 7.5-ton commercial split like a 3-ton residential unit.
Packaged Terminal AC (PTAC)
Through-the-wall units you see in hotels, motels, assisted living facilities, and dormitories. Each room gets its own self-contained unit — simple to replace, but when you have 80 of them in one building and half are failing, you need a company that can handle the volume. We work with Amana, GE Zoneline, Friedrich, and LG PTAC units. We also do sleeve replacements when the original wall sleeve has corroded from years of coastal salt air — common from Santa Monica to Malibu.
Ductless Mini-Splits (Commercial Applications)
Not just for residential additions. We install commercial ductless systems for server rooms that need dedicated 24/7 cooling independent of the building HVAC, supplemental cooling in historic buildings where ductwork cannot be run, add-on zones for tenant improvements, and restaurant kitchens that need spot cooling at the line. Mitsubishi, Daikin, LG, and Carrier are our go-to brands for commercial ductless. Multi-zone systems can serve up to 8 indoor heads from one outdoor unit.
Brands We Install & Service
We are brand-agnostic — whatever is already on your roof or in your mechanical room, we can fix it. For new installations, we recommend based on the building, the budget, and the application, not a dealer incentive.
- Carrier — WeatherExpert RTUs, commercial splits, 50XC series. The most-installed commercial AC brand in LA.
- Trane — Precedent, IntelliPak, Voyager rooftop units. Built for long run times and heavy-duty commercial loads.
- Lennox — Energence RTUs, commercial splits. Highest-efficiency rooftop units on the market at 18+ IEER.
- Daikin — VRV systems, applied rooftop units, Rebel series. Dominant in VRF and rapidly expanding in RTU market share.
- Mitsubishi — City Multi VRF, commercial ductless. Industry leader in variable-speed inverter technology.
- LG — Multi V VRF systems, commercial ductless. Strong in multi-zone applications for hotels and offices.
- York — Predator rooftop units, commercial splits. Johnson Controls brand with deep parts availability in LA.
- Rheem / Ruud — Commercial package units and splits. Reliable mid-market option with fast parts sourcing.
- Goodman / Amana — Budget-conscious commercial units and PTACs. Solid for multi-unit hotel and motel replacements.
- American Standard — Same Trane parent company, commercial-grade RTUs and splits at a competitive price point.
- Bard — Wall-mount and ceiling-mount package units for commercial spaces where rooftop mounting is not an option.
Industries We Serve
Commercial AC requirements vary dramatically by industry. A restaurant kitchen with six burners and two fryers generates a completely different heat load than a medical office with an MRI suite. We size, install, and maintain systems specifically for each application.
- Offices & Corporate — multi-zone comfort, conference room demand, after-hours scheduling, BAS integration
- Restaurants & Bars — kitchen makeup air, exhaust balancing, high-heat kitchen environments, dining room comfort
- Retail Stores — storefront entry air curtains, large open-floor cooling, display case heat rejection
- Hotels & Hospitality — PTAC replacements, central chilled water systems, VRF conversions, guest comfort
- Medical & Dental Offices — precise temperature and humidity control, operating room standards, equipment cooling
- Warehouses & Industrial — high-bay cooling, evaporative systems, dock door air management, spot cooling
- Data Centers & Server Rooms — redundant cooling, 24/7 monitoring, precision temperature and humidity, hot aisle/cold aisle
- Churches & Houses of Worship — large-volume spaces with intermittent occupancy, rapid cool-down requirements
- Gyms & Fitness Centers — high internal heat gain from occupants and equipment, ventilation-heavy applications
Service Areas in Greater Los Angeles
We dispatch from Calabasas and cover the full Greater Los Angeles area. The western corridor — Calabasas to Malibu to the Valley — is our home turf, and we extend east through Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Downtown, and Pasadena.
- Calabasas — our home base, typically on-site within 1-2 hours for commercial clients
- Woodland Hills & West Hills — west Valley commercial corridor, heavy restaurant and retail density
- Chatsworth & Northridge — industrial parks, warehouses, and commercial strip centers
- Sherman Oaks & Encino — Ventura Blvd office buildings and restaurant row
- Tarzana — medical offices, retail centers, and food service operations
- Thousand Oaks & Westlake Village — corporate campuses and commercial retail
- Agoura Hills — 101 corridor restaurants, breweries, and professional offices
- Malibu — coastal commercial properties where salt air accelerates condenser coil corrosion
- Beverly Hills — luxury retail, fine dining, and high-end office buildings with zero downtime tolerance
- Santa Monica — beachfront hotels, high-volume restaurants, and office complexes
- Burbank — studio lots, production facilities, and a dense commercial restaurant district
- Glendale — Galleria-area retail, office towers, and restaurant corridor
- Pasadena — Old Town commercial district, hospitals, and institutional facilities
Commercial AC FAQ
How much does commercial AC installation cost in Los Angeles?
It depends entirely on the system type and building size. A single 5-ton rooftop unit for a small retail space runs $5,000 to $10,000 installed. A 15-ton RTU replacement with crane lift and curb adapter is $12,000 to $18,000. A multi-zone VRF system for a 10,000-square-foot office building ranges from $25,000 to $60,000 depending on zone count and brand. Arctic Cool Refrigeration provides free on-site estimates that include a Manual J load calculation so the system is sized correctly — not just matched to whatever was there before.
What types of commercial AC systems do you work on?
Rooftop package units (RTUs) from 3 to 25+ tons, Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems from Daikin, Mitsubishi, and LG, commercial split systems, packaged terminal air conditioners (PTACs), and ductless mini-splits for server rooms and add-on zones. We work on Carrier, Trane, Lennox, York, Rheem, Goodman, American Standard, Bard, and every other major brand. If it is cooling a commercial space in LA, we have worked on it.
Do you offer same-day commercial AC repair?
Yes. Same-day dispatch is available 7 days a week across Greater Los Angeles. Call (800) 685-5590 and we route the nearest available technician to your location. We understand that a commercial AC failure is not an inconvenience — it is a revenue emergency. Every call is treated with that urgency. Our trucks are stocked with common parts so most repairs complete on the first visit.
Are you licensed for commercial AC work in California?
Yes. Arctic Cool Refrigeration holds a C-38 Refrigeration license from the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB). All technicians are EPA 608 Universal certified for refrigerant handling and NATE certified. We carry full liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage. We have been serving Greater Los Angeles continuously since 1984 — 40+ years of commercial HVAC and refrigeration work.
How often should commercial AC systems be serviced?
Twice a year minimum — once before cooling season (March or April in LA) and once before heating season. High-demand environments like restaurants, server rooms, and medical facilities benefit from quarterly maintenance. A typical service visit includes coil cleaning, filter replacement, refrigerant pressure check, electrical connection tightening, belt inspection, economizer calibration, and control verification. Regular maintenance extends equipment life by 5 to 10 years and keeps your energy bills from creeping up 15-20% per year from neglect.
Related Commercial Services
Commercial AC Down? Call Now.
Same-day dispatch across Greater Los Angeles — C-38 licensed, NATE-certified technicians, parts on every truck.
Call (800) 685-5590