A lot of it can be accomplished by anyone with basic hand tools and YouTube. Learning basic maintenance in your home can save a **** load of money over the years. Check the basics and if that doesn't work, call someone.
Home HVAC maintenance
- Thread starter BobTheHawkHater
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A lot of it can be accomplished by anyone with basic hand tools and YouTube. Learning basic maintenance in your home can save a **** load of money over the years. Check the basics and if that doesn't work, call someone.
I think we either pay $20 or $25 a month for a service plan with Service Legends so that's $240-$275 I think. Had both the Furnace and AC replaced by them which is why I have kept current on the service plan as it comes with a lot of warranties and guarantees if you get the inspections done every year. I think it's worth it as the last thing you want it to be waiting on service on an extreme hot or cold day and being on a long waiting list because you don't have a plan with an HVAC company. We had a problem with the AC one year when I was out of town and my wife was home with our newborn on a really hot day. She called it in first thing in the morning when she knew something wasn't working right and they were out within 3 hours. Found that the tech that had done the spring AC inspection didn't put something back together right which caused the condensation drain to plug up and drain right onto the system board so they fixed it free of charge. I think our furnace install came with a lifetime guarantee on the heat exchanger and the AC with a guarantee on the compressor so if either were to fail they replace them for free. Any other repairs we get a 20% member discount on.
Yes most of these companies will try to upsell you on extra maintenance, filters, or features when they do the inspection to you just have to have some common sense on what to decline vs what actually needs to be serviced. The yearly maintenance checks are going to catch any problems that could eventually become big problems so I kind of view a service plan as an insurance policy on your HVAC. You hope you never need to use it but when you do you'll be glad you have it as a HVAC system that is not working could lead to other problems like frozen pipes if you don't get it fixed in a timely manner during a cold snap. For less than $300 a year I feel its worth it as if I can catch a potential issue before it leads to a bigger issue that could lead to money saved if it wasn't addressed soon enough.
Luckily I know guys that own their own plumbing and electrical businesses that do great work and don't screw people over on pricing and unnecessary work. I found out the hard way before I knew then what a pain in the ass it is to find a good plumber and electrician in the Des Moines area.
I will say 1 thing DO NOT use Golden Rule for anything! They are the biggest rip offs in town, my plumber used to work for them at 1 time and he left them because he couldn't stand knowingly ripping off people for work that was overpriced or unnecessary. They do a lot of advertising and you'll find out once they open their book of "upfront pricing" that something as simple as replacing a drain line they are terribly overpriced. The 1st time I ever used them was when I had a problem with the only shower in my house and I had guests staying so I needed someone out sooner than later. I can do some basic plumbing myself but the drain was so messed up on this one I got to the point I needed a plumber to come in and just replace the whole galvanized drain pipe from the drain stack with a new PVC line as well as the fittings and trap under the shower drain. Talked to another plumber friend later on and told them my story on that and he said he probably could have replaced nearly all of the drain lines in my house for what they charged me for just the 1. Moved to another house and had a problem with the tankless water heater and Golden Rule was the only company in town listed on the manufacturer's site as a company that serviced that brand. At least that tech diagnosed the problem and was honest enough to tell me I could buy the part online for around $25 and replace it myself instead of them charging me about $300 to do the same thing. Still had to pay the diagnostic fee but at least didn't get screwed over by them pressuring me to do the work.
Yes most of these companies will try to upsell you on extra maintenance, filters, or features when they do the inspection to you just have to have some common sense on what to decline vs what actually needs to be serviced. The yearly maintenance checks are going to catch any problems that could eventually become big problems so I kind of view a service plan as an insurance policy on your HVAC. You hope you never need to use it but when you do you'll be glad you have it as a HVAC system that is not working could lead to other problems like frozen pipes if you don't get it fixed in a timely manner during a cold snap. For less than $300 a year I feel its worth it as if I can catch a potential issue before it leads to a bigger issue that could lead to money saved if it wasn't addressed soon enough.
Luckily I know guys that own their own plumbing and electrical businesses that do great work and don't screw people over on pricing and unnecessary work. I found out the hard way before I knew then what a pain in the ass it is to find a good plumber and electrician in the Des Moines area.
I will say 1 thing DO NOT use Golden Rule for anything! They are the biggest rip offs in town, my plumber used to work for them at 1 time and he left them because he couldn't stand knowingly ripping off people for work that was overpriced or unnecessary. They do a lot of advertising and you'll find out once they open their book of "upfront pricing" that something as simple as replacing a drain line they are terribly overpriced. The 1st time I ever used them was when I had a problem with the only shower in my house and I had guests staying so I needed someone out sooner than later. I can do some basic plumbing myself but the drain was so messed up on this one I got to the point I needed a plumber to come in and just replace the whole galvanized drain pipe from the drain stack with a new PVC line as well as the fittings and trap under the shower drain. Talked to another plumber friend later on and told them my story on that and he said he probably could have replaced nearly all of the drain lines in my house for what they charged me for just the 1. Moved to another house and had a problem with the tankless water heater and Golden Rule was the only company in town listed on the manufacturer's site as a company that serviced that brand. At least that tech diagnosed the problem and was honest enough to tell me I could buy the part online for around $25 and replace it myself instead of them charging me about $300 to do the same thing. Still had to pay the diagnostic fee but at least didn't get screwed over by them pressuring me to do the work.
I've always been curious what they would say, if I offered to pay $100 to $200 yearly to be on their preferred customer service list/no after hour charge, but didn't want them to come do the inspections. I don't have too much issue with what they charge to come do a maintenance call, but the real reason they have those programs is to upsell parts and repairs (which are sometimes needed, but its hard to know for the average consumer).
Its strictly anecdotal, but with the 4 houses I've owned I had more issues with my HVAC systems when I was on a maintenance plan than when I just did routine maintenance myself and didn't worry too much (how I started as a home owner and what I've done the last 5 years or so).
Its strictly anecdotal, but with the 4 houses I've owned I had more issues with my HVAC systems when I was on a maintenance plan than when I just did routine maintenance myself and didn't worry too much (how I started as a home owner and what I've done the last 5 years or so).
I own my own HVAC company. Maintenance are great but contracts are lame. Maintenance should cost you around 100-150 for a full system check. Save your money. If your furnace goes out at midnight, there isn’t a company that isn’t on call. It might be $150.00 to get them out immediately but that’s still cheaper than a monthly payment.
All heat exchangers are lifetime warranty. When a company upsells you a warranty from 5 to 10 years, all they did was register it for you online for a nice chunk of money. Even Goodman offers 10 year parts and compressor, lifetime heat exchanger warranty if you go online and register it.
It’s good that you have a company you trust though. That’s really what matters. I worked for a few companies in 24 years and there are companies that are franchises, and all they do is train technicians on how to sell stuff in maintenance. ARS in Omaha, anything 8 years and older they would expect us to set a sales person on those calls 60% of the time. We would get into trouble if our numbers weren’t being met. We were no longer technicians.
I don’t see any benefit of doing any kind of contract. If there’s a problem, I call them that’s it.
This is where I'm at. Almost 30 years of home ownership tells me this is the way to go.
I just assume any time somebody comes to your house it’s gonna be 100 minimum.
If your capacitor ever goes bad, you can overnight one off of Amazon for ~$10 typically and it’s a pretty easy fix.
And companies that are less than honest like turning a capacitor issue into a high dollar fix.
PSA
If it looks like the one on the right, it’s an easy diagnosis. It’s the source of a lot of AC unit issues. It’s right inside the smaller panel on the condenser unit. Just make sure to discharge it before touching it.
Had my AC replaced this year after 25+ years...about $6000. $240 a year for maintenance for 25 years = $6000. Except now I have a brand new unit instead of 25 year old efficiency.
Never serviced it in our 11 years but spray it off each spring and replace filters monthly since our system is setup for the cheap fiberglass filters and it looks dusty enough monthly. Buy a box a year for $20.
If replacing, usually a good idea to check attic insulation and add, especially if your house is older. Many homes have units that are bigger than needed and I actually got lucky I added insulation last fall that allowed me to downgrade in AC size which covered the cost of the insulation. The company I used uses a tablet to map the home and then asked about attic insulation thickness to estimate what ton unit you need.
i went from 4 to around 15 inches of blow-in insulation in the attic and that cost around $750 for insulation and blower rental to do myself. Takes less than 4 hours (2 person job, one filling blower and one blowing) and R value went from 13 to 49, which saves on the ever increasing energy bill. Menards has a bulk discount if you buy 30+ bundles at once.
Next home upgrade...new windows.
Never serviced it in our 11 years but spray it off each spring and replace filters monthly since our system is setup for the cheap fiberglass filters and it looks dusty enough monthly. Buy a box a year for $20.
If replacing, usually a good idea to check attic insulation and add, especially if your house is older. Many homes have units that are bigger than needed and I actually got lucky I added insulation last fall that allowed me to downgrade in AC size which covered the cost of the insulation. The company I used uses a tablet to map the home and then asked about attic insulation thickness to estimate what ton unit you need.
i went from 4 to around 15 inches of blow-in insulation in the attic and that cost around $750 for insulation and blower rental to do myself. Takes less than 4 hours (2 person job, one filling blower and one blowing) and R value went from 13 to 49, which saves on the ever increasing energy bill. Menards has a bulk discount if you buy 30+ bundles at once.
Next home upgrade...new windows.
I’m fairly handy. But I just don’t have the time anymore to diagnose, research YouTube, etc when something goes haywire. So I’ve just accepted that this is something I have to pay for and I’m ok with that to get the time back.
We started with Dayton 3 years ago. They are about $300/yr but we are outside the metro so probably costs a little more.
For me, it’s not about peace of mind. It’s about being able to call when something goes wrong instead of spending hours trying to figure it out. Plus, if I’m gone my wife can just call them instead of me trying to coach her through a fix.
Our furnace and AC are like 15 years old. Dayton has never once tried to upsell on anything, thankfully.
We started with Dayton 3 years ago. They are about $300/yr but we are outside the metro so probably costs a little more.
For me, it’s not about peace of mind. It’s about being able to call when something goes wrong instead of spending hours trying to figure it out. Plus, if I’m gone my wife can just call them instead of me trying to coach her through a fix.
Our furnace and AC are like 15 years old. Dayton has never once tried to upsell on anything, thankfully.
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Just be careful, because capacitors hold charge (which is their job). You or someone else could get shocked.
