How Queen City Cooling Desk works

Queen City Cooling Desk costs Buffalo and Erie County households nothing to use. We match requests to contractors; we are not one. Each request goes to a single independent HVAC company covering that part of the county, and that company reaches out to look at the job, price it and book it.

Who pays us

The contractor does, as a fee for the lead. Homeowners pay us nothing at any point. We never touch the equipment, and the company sets its own prices without input from us.

Who is allowed to do the work here

There is no statewide HVAC contractor license in New York, so the rules depend on where you live. Inside the City of Buffalo, Chapter 238 of the City Code bars anyone from installing or repairing a heating system without a City heating contractor license, and the exam for that license includes air conditioning. Amherst, Cheektowaga and the other towns have their own requirements. On top of any local rule, federal law says a technician working on equipment that can leak refrigerant needs EPA Section 608 certification. Ask the company to show you both, along with its insurance.

What we expect from the companies

A quoted price ahead of any work, a written contract on any job above $500 as state law requires, and no hard sell. If a visit doesn't meet that standard, call us at (716) 219-0264 and say so.

Sources behind the pages

Every guide ends with a list of its citations. The temperature and housing figures are our own work from public NOAA (National Centers for Environmental Information) and Census Bureau data. See the method.

Photo credits

All photos come from Unsplash under the Unsplash License: Kathleen Culbertson, Everett Pachmann, Shamir Hunley, Kettenreaktion. No photo depicts work by any particular contractor.