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The cheapest thing it could be, first
A no-cooling call in August is not the moment to be sold a system. It is the moment to find out whether a capacitor worth very little has failed.
In this town, the attic is usually the answer
Most Abilene houses run their ductwork and often their air handler through an attic that gets to 140°F on a July afternoon. Air travels through that space on its way to you, and any leak on the return side is pulling that air in.
So we measure it. Static pressure across the system, and a leakage test rather than a look. A house that has never cooled properly since it was built is very often a duct problem that has been diagnosed as a capacity problem for fifteen years.
Six things
No cooling, no heat
Checked in order of cost. Capacitors, contactors, float switches, filters, thermostats and breakers before anything expensive is discussed.
Annual service
Once a year for most houses, with combustion tested on gas heat and the readings written down so next year’s visit can be compared to this one.
Duct testing and sealing
Measured, then sealed where the measurement says to. Sealing ducts that were not leaking is a way of spending money without changing anything.
The room that never keeps up
Usually airflow, sometimes the return path, occasionally a room that was added without anyone adding duct to it. We find out which before proposing a fix.
Condensate
Primary drain, secondary pan and float switch. The single cheapest thing standing between an attic air handler and your ceiling, and the thing most often missing.
Replacement
Sized from the house, in writing, with the ductwork assessed first. A correctly sized system on bad duct will disappoint you just as reliably as the old one did.
Things that will save you money if you hear them early
Bigger is not better
An oversized system cools the thermostat quickly and then stops, which is exactly how you get a house that is cold and still feels sticky. Dehumidification only happens while the machine is actually running.
A dusty house is usually a filter path
Not filter grade — filter path. If the cabinet does not seal around the filter, or the return is drawing from the attic, a better filter changes almost nothing because the air is going round it.
Auxiliary heat is expensive
On a heat pump, the strip heater is the costly part. If it runs every mild morning because the thermostat is set to recover fast, your winter bill is a settings problem, not an equipment one.
Before the first hard freeze
Houses in the Big Country get caught by the same three things every time: an outdoor unit that ices and never clears, strip heat running continuously because the heat pump has stopped contributing, and pipework in an unconditioned space with no heat reaching it.
The freeze page works through all three, by stage and by building. It is written for the days before as much as for the night itself.