Fast, Reliable Emergency & Commercial HVAC Across Highwood
When your furnace quits at midnight in January or your restaurant’s rooftop unit fails before the lunch rush on Green Bay Road, you need someone who answers the phone and shows up. We’re Fireside Heating & Air Co., and we’ve been driving to Highwood since 2018 - usually within the hour for emergency calls in the 60040 ZIP. Our Emergency & Commercial HVAC team knows the lake-effect snow squalls, the Fort Sheridan brick, and the old bungalow ductwork that other companies underestimate. Call (833) 983-1671 anytime. A live person picks up, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Why Fireside Heating & Air Co. of Chicago Is Highwood’s Preferred Emergency & Commercial HVAC Company
Highwood sits in a pocket of Lake County that most Chicago HVAC companies pass through on their way to somewhere else. We don’t pass through. We stop.
Over 42 years, we’ve replaced corroded condensers on Laurel Avenue, re-ducted bungalows near the Metra tracks, and navigated the historic covenants of Fort Sheridan conversions. Our technicians are trained journeymen, background-checked and uniformed, who put on shoe covers without being asked. They work in your home the way they would in their own mother’s.
The 90-Day Done Right Promise backs every job in writing. If it’s not right, we make it right - no paperwork, no arguing. That’s the Keystone Standard, and it’s why Highwood homeowners who’ve been burned by franchise trucks and fly-by-nights call us back.
Phones are answered by a live person around the clock. Nights, weekends, holidays. The 2 a.m. no-heat emergency. The Sunday afternoon chiller failure at the restaurant. Every time.
Our Emergency & Commercial HVAC Services in Highwood
24/7 Emergency HVAC
Lake-effect humidity destroys outdoor units faster here than in Highland Park or Deerfield. We’ve replaced coils on condensers that were five years old and looked fifteen. When your system fails during the first heat wave of June or a January cold snap, our emergency crew carries the parts to fix Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Goodman, and the other major brands on the first trip. Most emergency calls in Highwood are resolved in a single visit. The price quoted is the price paid - full stop.
Commercial HVAC
Green Bay Road’s restaurant row and the small retail strips near the Highwood Metra station can’t afford downtime. Our commercial team services rooftop units, split systems, and make-up air for kitchens. We understand the permitting rhythm of Highwood’s building department and the tight access that older commercial structures present. Whether it’s a failed economizer on a 3-ton RTU or a complete system replacement, we quote upfront and schedule around your business hours.
Rooftop Unit Service
Flat-roof commercial buildings in Highwood’s mixed-use corridors collect lake-effect snow that melts, refreezes, and damages RTU cabinets and curbs. Our crews inspect and reseal curb flashings, replace corroded economizer linkages, and swap out failed variable-frequency drives. We stock common RTU components for Carrier and Trane systems to minimize wait time on parts.
HVAC Inspection
Before you buy a Fort Sheridan condo or a worker cottage near the downtown core, an HVAC inspection from someone who knows Highwood’s housing stock pays for itself. We evaluate whether original 1990s conversion mini-splits are failing, if bungalow ductwork can handle modern cooling loads, and whether lake-corroded outdoor units need immediate replacement. Our inspection reports include realistic repair-versus-replace guidance with actual dollar ranges.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Highwood
We’re trained to service all nine major residential brands: Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Goodman, Rheem, York, Daikin, Bryant, and American Standard. For Highwood customers, that means we stock common parts locally and don’t wait three days for a warehouse shipment while your restaurant loses inventory or your home goes without heat. We regularly install Daikin multi-zone systems in Fort Sheridan’s brick buildings where conventional ductwork won’t fit, and we know the failure patterns of Goodman and Rheem units that have sat in lake-driven humidity for a decade.
Common Emergency & Commercial HVAC Problems We See in Highwood Homes
- Lake-effect corrosion kills condensers early. Outdoor units in Highwood face near-constant high humidity off Lake Michigan. We’ve replaced coil assemblies on five-year-old systems that looked like they’d been submerged. The corrosion accelerates once it starts, and it often trips emergency calls during the first sustained heat wave when the system can’t keep up.
- Old bungalow ducts collapse when cooling kicks on. Highwood’s worker cottages were built for coal heat, not air conditioning. When homeowners first switch on a window unit or a retrofitted central system, the original ductwork - often galvanized metal from the 1950s or flex duct from the 1980s - separates at joints or collapses entirely. We get emergency calls for “no airflow” that turn into full re-ducting jobs.
- Fort Sheridan surface-mount lines get damaged by landscaping. The 12-16 inch solid brick walls of the converted Army post buildings have no stud cavities. Refrigerant lines must run in surface raceways or interior chases. Landscape maintenance, settling soil, or simple age cracks the raceways, leaks refrigerant, and triggers no-cooling emergencies that require creative rerouting.
- Steam-radiator homes need cooling without ductwork. Many 1920s bungalows still run on original hot-water or steam heat. Adding central AC means either mini-duct systems, high-velocity retrofit, or mini-splits. Homeowners who try cheap window-unit solutions often call us in August when the humidity overwhelms them.
Pricing for Emergency & Commercial HVAC in Highwood, IL
We believe in straight talk about what things cost. Here’s what typical jobs run in the Highwood market:
| Service | Price Range in Highwood |
|---|---|
| AC Repair | $150-$650 |
| Furnace Repair | $150-$700 |
| AC Installation | $3,500-$7,500 |
| Tune-Up | $80-$200 |
Fort Sheridan mini-split retrofits and high-velocity mini-duct installations fall outside these ranges due to the specialized labor of routing through solid masonry. We’ll quote those jobs in person, in writing, with no obligation. Emergency calls carry our standard after-hours rate - no surge pricing during snow squalls or heat waves. Seniors and veterans receive 5% off every job, always. Call (833) 983-1671 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Highwood
Our service area covers the full North Shore corridor. We regularly run emergency calls to Highwood, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Deerfield, and Northbrook from our Chicago base. Each community has its own HVAC character - the estate homes of Lake Forest, the mid-century ranches of Deerfield - but Highwood’s Fort Sheridan brick and worker-cottage stock remains the most specialized challenge in the region.
Serving Highwood, IL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Highwood area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Emergency & Commercial HVAC in Highwood
Yes. We surface-mount refrigerant lines in paintable raceways or run them through interior chases, complying with the historic covenant restrictions that govern Fort Sheridan’s exterior alterations. We responded to a no-cooling emergency at a Fort Sheridan condo on Laurel Avenue where the original 1990s conversion mini-split had a failed inverter board - a symptom of lake-effect moisture corrosion. Our crew surface-mounted new line sets in paintable raceways to comply with the building’s historic covenant restrictions, installing a Daikin multi-zone system that worked within the 12-inch brick envelope. Call (833) 983-1671 for a free assessment of your unit.
Yes, using high-velocity mini-duct systems or Daikin mini-splits that don’t require conventional ductwork. The small-diameter mini-duct tubing fits into walls and ceilings with minimal intrusion, while wall-mounted or ceiling-cassette mini-splits zone the cooling exactly where you need it. Many Highwood bungalows near the Metra tracks have been successfully retrofitted this way. We’ll inspect your layout and give you a written quote with both options. Estimates are free - call (833) 983-1671.
Highwood’s position directly on Lake Michigan’s western shore exposes outdoor condensers to persistent high humidity and salt-laden moisture that units even two miles inland don’t face. We’ve measured condenser coil corrosion in Highwood that advances two to three years faster than comparable systems in Highland Park or Deerfield. The solution is proactive: annual tune-ups to clean coils, protective coatings where appropriate, and earlier replacement planning before emergency failure. Our $89 seasonal tune-up catches this before it becomes a midnight emergency call.
Yes. We service rooftop units, kitchen make-up air, and split systems for Highwood’s restaurant and retail strip on Green Bay Road. We understand the health-department ventilation requirements and the cost of downtime during service hours. Our commercial team quotes upfront, works around your schedule, and stocks common RTU parts to minimize return trips. Call (833) 983-1671 to set up a maintenance agreement or emergency service.
Furnace failure due to blocked venting or snow infiltration into outdoor heat pump cabinets. Lake-effect squalls dump heavy, wet snow in narrow windows while the rest of Lake County stays dry, and that snow packs into intake grilles, exhaust vents, and heat pump coils. The call usually comes at 10 p.m. when the house temperature starts dropping fast. We clear the blockage, check for moisture damage to controls, and get heat restored same-night. Keep our number handy: (833) 983-1671, answered live 24/7.
Ready to get your system sorted? Call Fireside Heating & Air Co. at (833) 983-1671 for a free estimate. A live person will answer, day or night, and we’ll give you the straight story on what your system needs and what it will cost. The price quoted is the price paid. And everything we do is backed by the 90-Day Done Right Promise - in writing, no arguing, no paperwork.
Written by Terry Kowalski, Owner at Fireside Heating & Air Co., serving Highwood and the North Shore since 2018.