Not being one to want to go without AC but also not being one to want to throw away $ I've got a question. What are people's thoughts on AC and furnace preventative maintenance services that the AC companies offer? Come out, check stuff (what stuff?) and then hopefully catch problems before they surface?

Is this legit? Seems legit-ish but not really sure. But as this is not an area most of us can work on other than pour a little bleach down the condensate line and change air filters I can see why people might think this is worth the money.

Its about the lowest cost thing you can do to keep your $8k-15K A/C System healthy. ( beside changing filters)

It's about the closet thing most HVAC companies have to a book of business and usually the low man on the totem pole gets the PM work. ( think recent vista college grad getting their first job in HVAC )

• On the HVAC business side, it's a loss leader- a way to make a customer & helps keep guys busy during the off season to hopefully sell you something later.. Eventually your system will die / need to be replaced, and that's what makes this loss leader worth it eventually. The small amount most companies charge doesn't really pay to turn a van on & send a guy out so it's a pretty decent value.

$200-300 / year to help keep your A/C System running healthy is a pretty decent ratio and usually you get priority when you need something else + a discount for being a customer already.

Most HVAC companies can't market themselves to save their lives and rely heavily of these.

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$200-300 / year to help keep your A/C System running healthy

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What does the tech do to keep it running healthy?

Martin Q. Blank said:

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$200-300 / year to help keep your A/C System running healthy

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What does the tech do to keep it running healthy?

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Glossed over that part.

George Costanza:
[about mechanics] Well of course they're trying to screw you! What do you think? That's what they do. They can make up anything; nobody knows! "Why, well you need a new johnson rod in here." Oh, a Johnson rod. Yeah, well better put one of those on!

- Tune-ups vary from company to company and the system. They are largely an inspection of the entire system and how it's performing. Kinda like a Horse Whisper.. good techs can just 'sense' when something isn't right.

Hooking up gauges to check the refringent pressures ( which can vary in Summer Vs. Colder months) , testing voltage of anything electrical if needed. Pressure too high or too low can cause additional run time and strain.

Running & Checking the Furnace is semi-important as that's a safety thing. ( we've seen flue pipes completely not hooked up before - carbon monoxide could be a real issue with a shotty install)

• Cleaning the condenser & evaporator coils are probably the biggest benefit, as well as dropping a tablet into the drain pan to help prevent a clogged drain. Changing media filters or filters in general can often included. SEER ratings/ performance drops when coils get dirty and filters get clogged- both cause more Energy to be used and stress the system. - I would say the cleaning of coils would usually be the healthiest benefit for a system.

• The real trick is being able to tell in about October/ November that your heat isn't going to make it another winter or vise verse going into Summer.

Good time for them to catch low capacitors and then charge book rate for it without any discount for already being there. Neighbor had a nice $250 charge for that. I get mine checked every few years to catch issues since my wife is at home and no AC doesn't fly.

You would think they would charge a 'discounted rate' for being there already.. but there's a new irony about every day in the HVAC biz it seems..

yea- there's two major phase outs happening to all these old A/C Systems over the upcoming years and not a lot of younger companies up to the challenge to capture the opportunities.

We can help increase the life span, but never made a claim to stop leaks in 'old leaky systems'.

Thanks for your forthfulness and honesty.

What changes are coming in the future? I'm planning on replacing one HVAC system.

TIA

• Big one right now & one reason we grew a replacement business so fast, is the R-22 milestone on Jan. 1 2020. ( R-22 is ~1,800x more damaging than Carbon Dioxide to the Ozone) Fun Fact : Prices have been falling to buy R-22 for a few years, and contractors keep charging more to pump it in..

Jan 1 no more can be made or imported - there's a large supply, but hopefully soon it's going to make contractors feel a bit shady selling it, bigger businesses don't like to step into gray areas like other are willing. ( If a system has been leaking- putting more in is knowingly releasing it into the Ozone. )

• Whatever happens with Tariffs and such- idk, but we've seeing an industry wide increase in the cost of everything. Willing to bet Q1 of 2020 equipment prices are going to jump again- we've seen up to ~14% in the past 18 months. IMO every 4 to 6 months that homeowners wait to replace, their equipment cost might go up ~$400 to $600. ( We now have 3 major brands to shop inbetween to help mitigate this cost increase as much as possible) Once a tariffs increase the price once, manufactures don't decrease it if it goes away.

• There has been one major change that will effect older Furnaces, when the current supply of the older motors runs out, many older furnaces are going to have to be replaced altogether. ( New Furnaces are very efficient, older ones are not, but older inefficient furnace still can get the job done- especially in Texas. So in a round about way, someone higher up said it's time for older furnaces to go)

• in 2023 R-410a is looking like it'll be replaced and we'll have another generational phase-out for New System installs / Replacements. From the looks of things, this replacement will likely be flammable ( think propane), which will likely do wonders in taking a largely unregulated industry into regulation mode- almost overnight. This year I had a COO of a major manufacture hold up his hands and say 'We have no idea what that's going to look like"- Lots of Code changes, Insurance, Transportation, Safety systems, how things can be brazed with a torch with propane inside the copper etc.. We'll be having to carry A/C systems preloaded with a flammable refringent and put a torch to it. - costs go up I would assume.
( I hope to have about 100 vans sitting all over Texas waiting for 2023 to arrive- a lot of my competition without licenses & big insurance policies might not be competition)

There's also predicted to be a shortage of techs- by about 115,000 in next few years, especially with the so many in the trades aging out. so add a bit more cost to install these higher tech / higher efficiency rated systems.


- Source of a lot of info is the Trade publications I get in the mail multiple times per week. Good times for millennials to learn this Trade.