My dad lives in a townhouse in Houston and has a home warranty plan with Choice Home Warranty. Last year they had an AC issue and the Choice people put a band aid on it by replacing the condenser unit. Now the EC is leaking and the Choice people will only pay for parts and labor for the just the EC. They will not pay for the Freon and claim the following need to be replaced/modified "per the EPA:"

Locking caps
UV arma flex
Secondary safety float switch
Mastic seal
Secondary drain pan
Transition - I don't know what that means.

All of this for an out of pocket cost of $1500. I call bull sheet but am getting the run around. Are these items needed? I have a call on Friday with a case manager and am going to ask for specifics on the above. They need to be able to tell me how many caps, linear feet of arma flex, etc.

I feel like he should cancel the plan and just use his AC guy to fix it for 1500.

Thanks.

I am not a fan of home warranties. There's always a catch and I've never seen good work by any of their contractors. The $1,500 doesn't scare me, it's the rest of their work that does.
A transition is an adapter between the coil and the furnace. Typically takes up a foot between the furnace and coil and will take a smaller furnace width to a wider coil width (assuming A coil, not slab). Furnace widths are 14", 17", 21" and 24" as are coils. The second dimension is pretty much industry standard at 21" and the height varies by manufacturer but typical 26-34" tall. My thought is if they need a transition to the coil then they need a new supply plenum as well. Locking caps are a code thing, if they aren't pulling a permit (they won't) then why buy caps now? Overflow pan, should already have one. Is it too small or in bad shape? We reuse them when feasible. Mastic? Really? That's not something I line item. Secondary switch I approve of but you may already have one. UV armaflex? Really? Because the UV rays in the attic are intense???? I assure you they aren't going to install UV armaflex outside on the condenser (where it belongs) that they just replaced last year are they? Things to ponder.

Good luck. I hope I've given you something to think on.

scd88 said:

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My dad lives in a townhouse in Houston and has a home warranty plan with Choice Home Warranty. Last year they had an AC issue and the Choice people put a band aid on it by replacing the condenser unit. Now the EC is leaking and the Choice people will only pay for parts and labor for the just the EC. They will not pay for the Freon and claim the following need to be replaced/modified "per the EPA:"

Locking caps
UV arma flex
Secondary safety float switch
Mastic seal
Secondary drain pan
Transition - I don't know what that means.

All of this for an out of pocket cost of $1500. I call bull sheet but am getting the run around. Are these items needed? I have a call on Friday with a case manager and am going to ask for specifics on the above. They need to be able to tell me how many caps, linear feet of arma flex, etc.

I feel like he should cancel the plan and just use his AC guy to fix it for 1500.

Thanks.

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Awesome. Thanks.

tell the warranty company to pay him the $ for what is covered and then get it fixed yourself