EDITORIAL STANDARDS.
Citation policy
When you are troubleshooting in the dark, the worst thing we could hand you is a number we made up. So anything technical on this site — how a system is sized, how refrigerant gets handled, what an efficiency rating actually means, which code section applies, what Birmingham's weather actually does — traces back to a primary authority. We read them in this order:
- 1. The manufacturer's own service manuals for the equipment in question.
- 2. ACCA Manual J, D, S, and T for load, duct, equipment, and airflow.
- 3. U.S. Department of Energy guidance.
- 4. U.S. EPA — Section 608 refrigerant rules and ENERGY STAR.
- 5. NIST and NOAA climate records for the Birmingham, Alabama area.
- 6. The Alabama HACR Board for licensing and state requirements.
- 7. ASHRAE standards and position documents.
What we do not lean on: other people's blog posts, churned-out filler, or HVAC pages built purely to climb the rankings. If a manufacturer manual or a federal standard does not back it, it does not go on the page.
AI disclosure
We will tell you straight: parts of some pages here were drafted with AI help. That is where it stops. A person edits the page, and a licensed Alabama HVAC technician reads it for accuracy, code, and whether it sounds like an actual tech talking — before it ever goes live. Nothing posts to this site on its own.
Correction policy
Get something wrong on a page someone reads at 2am and the cost is real, so we do not quietly edit and move on. When we find a mistake, we fix it where it lives and put the correction date right on the page. If the fix changes what the page actually tells you to do, we spell that out in a correction line so you know what changed. Spot something off? Send the page URL and what is wrong to editorial@afterhourshvacr.com.
What we will not publish
- — A dollar figure, a flat rate, or a “starting at” number — prices come from a real look at your system, not a web page.
- — The word “free” attached to a service call or estimate.
- — A clock promise on how fast a truck arrives, however badly you want to read one at 2am.
- — Made-up tech credentials, a named bio, or a stock photo standing in for someone who does not work here.
- — Reviews or testimonials we invented or staged.
- — Any claim that HVAC equipment treats a health condition — it is comfort gear, not a medical device.
- — A “since [year]” or “family-owned for X years” line we cannot actually back up.
- — Another contractor's brand or name dressed up as ours.