San Antonio · Blower Motor Repair · Family-Owned Since 1996
The blower motor is the fan inside your indoor unit that pushes air through your ducts. When it dies, the outdoor unit keeps running but no air comes out of your vents. Repair runs $550–$1,200 depending on whether you have a standard PSC motor or a variable-speed ECM.
Typical price
$550–$1,200 installed
Time to fix
1.5–3 hours
Urgency
High — no airflow means no cooling
Your blower motor lives inside your furnace or air handler — usually in the attic, garage, or a closet. It's the fan that pushes conditioned air through your ductwork to every room. Without it, your AC coil gets cold but the cold air never reaches you.
There are two kinds of blower motors in San Antonio homes. PSC (permanent split capacitor) motors are the older, single-speed kind found in most systems built before about 2015. ECM (electronically commutated) motors are variable-speed, much more efficient, and standard on newer high-efficiency systems. The repair cost depends on which one you have.
When a blower motor fails, you'll usually notice the outdoor unit running, the thermostat calling for cool, but little to no air at the vents. Sometimes you'll hear a humming or grinding from the indoor unit before it goes silent completely.
What it costs in San Antonio
$550–$1,200 installed — PSC motors: $550–$850. ECM variable-speed motors: $900–$1,200. Includes new capacitor (PSC) or module check (ECM). Our $59 diagnostic is waived when you approve the repair, so you only pay for the fix itself.
If two or more of these sound familiar, it's probably your blower motor.
Here's exactly what a Carnes and Sons tech does at your house — no mystery, no upselling.
A clogged filter or a furnace door switch that didn't reseat after maintenance fakes a dead blower motor probably once a week. We check those before anything else.
For PSC motors, we measure the capacitor — a weak cap kills airflow without killing the motor. For ECM motors, we test the control module — many 'bad ECM motor' failures are actually a $300 module fix instead of a $1,000 motor swap.
If the electronics check out, we ohm out the motor windings and feel for bearing grind by spinning the shaft. Either failure means motor replacement.
Blower motors have to match the OEM spec for HP, voltage, rotation direction, and number of speeds. A wrong motor under-cools your house, blows out filters, or burns up in months. We carry common 1/3, 1/2, and 3/4 HP replacements stocked on the truck.
After install, we set the blower to deliver the right CFM per ton (typically 350-400 CFM/ton in San Antonio). Too high wastes energy, too low freezes the coil. We measure static pressure and supply temp to confirm.
Get Your Blower Motor Diagnosed Today
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PSC (standard single-speed) motors run $550 to $850 installed. ECM (variable-speed) motors run $900 to $1,200. The price difference is the motor itself — ECMs are $400-600 more wholesale. We always check whether an ECM control module fix at $300-400 will solve it before recommending a full motor swap.
PSC motors run at one fixed speed and use a capacitor to start. ECMs vary their speed based on what your system needs and use 30-40% less electricity over a year. ECMs are quieter and provide better humidity control but cost more to replace.
Yes — it's one of the most common causes of motor failure we see. A choked filter creates high static pressure, which makes the motor work harder, run hotter, and wear out the bearings 30-50% faster. Change your filter every 1-3 months in San Antonio.
10 to 15 years for a well-maintained PSC. ECMs last similar but their control modules sometimes fail earlier (8-10 years). Keeping the filter clean and getting annual maintenance easily adds 5+ years.
Three most common causes, in order: (1) the blower motor itself has died, (2) the capacitor that drives the blower motor is bad, or (3) the furnace door safety switch isn't engaged (often after a filter change). We diagnose all three quickly.
If you're upgrading from a PSC to an ECM as part of an air handler replacement, yes — significantly. If you're replacing a PSC with another PSC, efficiency stays the same. We won't oversell an ECM upgrade unless the math actually works for your situation.
1.5 to 3 hours, depending on access. Attic units take a little longer because of the working conditions. We always set blower speeds for your specific tonnage before we leave.
Yes — a weak or slow blower motor reduces airflow across the evaporator coil, which causes it to freeze solid. If we find a frozen coil during a 'no cooling' call, the blower motor (or filter, or capacitor) is the first place we look.
We're based in Stone Oak and roll trucks across San Antonio and the surrounding Hill Country every day.
License TACLB29435E · Family-Owned Since 1996
Cities & neighborhoods we serve
San Antonio · Stone Oak · Alamo Heights · Hollywood Park · Hill Country Village · Shavano Park · Castle Hills · Leon Valley · Helotes · Boerne · Fair Oaks Ranch · Bulverde · Timberwood Park · Garden Ridge · Schertz · Cibolo · Selma · Universal City · Live Oak · Converse · Windcrest · New Braunfels
No call center. The owner or one of his sons picks up.
(210) 600-5091