About us
A local company built around doing the work properly
A locally owned heating and cooling company in Grass Valley, serving Nevada County and Truckee/Tahoe.
Our mission
Comfort you stop thinking about
Foothill Air Systems delivers exceptional heating, cooling, and indoor comfort solutions through quality craftsmanship, technical expertise, honest recommendations, and dependable service.
That sentence is easy to write and harder to run a company on. In practice it means the unglamorous parts of this trade get the attention: the load calculation instead of a tonnage guess, the static-pressure reading instead of an assumption about your ducts, the commissioning numbers written down instead of a handshake. Those steps are invisible on the invoice and they are the entire difference between a system that performs for twenty years and one that limps for eight.
Why we specialise in elevation
Nevada County & Truckee/Tahoe is not the valley, and treating it like the valley is why so many systems here underperform. Long heating seasons, overnight lows that push heat pumps to their low-ambient limits, propane instead of natural gas on many properties, wildfire smoke that makes filtration a design requirement, and houses that grew by addition rather than by plan — all of it changes the right answer.
We have deliberately built capability in the things that matter here and that many contractors in the region do not carry: cold-climate and dual-fuel heat pumps, radiant and hydronic heating including boilers and snowmelt, Mitsubishi inverter zoning for houses that fight a single central system, and indoor air quality engineered around measured airflow rather than sold as an accessory.
Premium, and what we mean by it
We are not the cheapest quote and we do not try to be. We do not run coupon promotions or discount-led advertising, because the way to hit a low headline price in this trade is to skip exactly the steps that make the system work. What we offer instead is equipment specified for your house, an install performed and verified to spec, honest recommendations including the ones that make us less money, and a company that is still local when you call in three years.
How we operate
Six commitments, in plain language
We size with a load calculation
Not by matching the tonnage of whatever is currently installed, and not by square footage alone. Oversizing is the most common HVAC mistake in the foothills and it costs you comfort, noise and equipment life.
We test before we quote
Static pressure and airflow tell us whether your duct system can carry what new equipment produces. Quoting equipment without that measurement is how people end up paying for capacity they never receive.
We document commissioning
Airflow, static pressure, temperature split and refrigerant charge, written down and left with you. That record protects your manufacturer warranty and proves the system performs as specified.
We do the work ourselves
Foothill Air Systems does the work on every job — installs, service, hydronic work and commercial. Nothing gets handed to a subcontractor whose standards we cannot vouch for.
We do not sell fear
No same-day-only pricing, no scare tactics about your heat exchanger, no pressure to replace a system that has years left. You get the findings and the reasoning, and you decide.
We say when something is not worth it
If a UV lamp will not fix your dust complaint, or a bigger furnace will not fix your cold bedroom, we will tell you what actually will — even when it is the smaller sale.
How we work
Four steps, every job
The process is the same whether it is a no-heat call in February or a whole-system replacement in July. It is also the reason we rarely go back to fix the same thing twice.
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We listen before we look
You tell us what the system is doing and when it started. Most diagnoses begin with a good description of the symptom, and it saves you money if we arrive knowing what to expect.
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We measure the whole system
Not just the part that failed. Combustion, airflow, static pressure, refrigerant charge, controls and the duct path — because the component that broke is often not the reason it broke.
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We give you options and the reasoning
Written findings with the repair-versus-replace numbers, what each option buys you, and what we would do in your position. No pressure, no same-day-only pricing, no scare tactics.
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We commission and document
On installs we verify airflow, static pressure, temperature split and charge, then leave you the readings. That record is what protects your manufacturer warranty and proves the system delivers what you paid for.
Request service
Talk to someone who does this work
Describe what your system is doing and we will tell you what we would look at first — no obligation, no sales script.
- Grass Valley, CA & Truckee/Tahoe
- Mon–Fri: 8AM–5PM
Sat: By Appointment
Send us the details
A technician reviews every request. No call centre.