How much do you pay for HVAC cleaning & maintenance?

[ChristyMarie]

I know we've discussed the importance of having your systems cleaned and maintained each season. We just had ours done for the fall and this is the first time we've had to renew the contract since installing them.

Sticker shock does not begin to describe my reaction to the $550 bill. It covers the next 2 years I believe.

This is how it broke down (about):

First furnace: ~$220
Second furnace: ~$180 (discount since they are already here, gee, thanks)
Filters (2): ~$100
Humidifier pads (2): ~$50

That just seems really expensive. He did say our furnaces cost a bit more because they take longer because of their size and because they are the super energy efficient ones. Um...ok.

????

ETA: I should say the guy was here for about 3 hours working so it does take a while to do.

[sunnysandiegan]

Yikes!

We don't have air conditioning and our furnace is out of commission for now. No big deal here.

However, I have all the gas appliances checked for free annually (or as often as needed) through our gas & electric company. They don't fix things, but the techs are usually VERY knowledgable and can give me enough info that I can get the right parts and fix it myself (or describe it well enough for DH or my dad to fix it for me).

We purchased a lifetime filter when we moved in and just wash it.

Obviously, I live in an area where heating and cooling are just not that big of a deal. We haven't even used the furnace in nearly two years.

Cleaning out the vents and ductwork is a different issue. We live in a townhome that is attached to other townhomes. The whole property was built in three phases back in the early 70s. When we first purchased our unit, we had a company out to clean the ducts and dryer vent, etc. They wouldn't clean the ductwork and no place will to this day. I forget why, but I think it is fiberglass lined and I was pregnant at the time and have allergies and mild asthma. Very unsafe is what we were told. They did clean the dryer vent and it was pricey because the "pipe" goes underground and back up, then outside, which apparently is a PITA. Hmmm... NOW, we are good friends with oodles of neighbors and we all just clean our own dryer vents by borrowing various tools and equipment. As we've all been replacing the furnaces (original to the 70s), most homeowners have been opting to have the existing ductwork lined with new, safer materials. We haven't gotten to this yet, but I've heard all about it from various neighbors.

[mnnice]

I have always done the furnace every other year which was what I was told when be bought our house. It is about 80 bucks. I have AC serviced separately. I guess that is supposed to be done every other year too, but we use it so seldom I have only done it once in the last 10 years and it was fine then. That doesn't include filters. I just buy those at a home improvment store.

[Chicky2]

Depends on who you use! My dh does HVAC as a side business. We live in Texas and he figured it was a great thing to know if he needed to fall back on something so he went to school. He is PLENTY busy just doing it on the side.

If you find someone like him (word of mouth, so ask around) you will get a great job done, but usually at a much cheaper price. Look for a hard working family man looking to make a few extra bucks on the side. And with something like just a cleaning, you don't have to worry much about them messing something up. My dh, however, does MUCH more than just cleaning (he also has a degree in electrical design). He's one of those who will probably retire to owning his own business. He often saves his clients alot of $ (thousands), but it might mean waiting a bit longer because he might not have the part on him (and have to go to the correct parts store on his lunch), etc. Or he saves them so much by fixing it instead of replacing it. He'll often fix things that companies said they wouldn't touch, but it's because he knows how and is willing to work, where the other company will just say it cannot be fixed.

Just recently our septic guy was talking about getting charged $300 for a job that my dh charges $60 for. Then when this guy's part broke several days later, the guy who "fixed" it tried to charge him another $300! This is VERY common, so watch out!

Long story short, (sorry ) my dh charges $75 per unit for what you described. Or $40/hr, depending on the job. He cleans one man's units (10 of them) once a month and it takes him 5.5-6 hrs each time @$40/hr. (that was a job we were thrilled for him to land, lemme tell ya! It pays for violin lessons for 3 of our kids!)

Oh, and if you have gold on your filters, it takes longer to clean them.

[Turquesa]

If I could be the lone voice of dissent, I have met two HVAC professionals who don't subscribe to the twice-a-year dogma. One says once biannually, and the other says just when you think you need it.

We use disposable filters that run from 10-20 bucks each and change our own monthly. I don't plan on calling anybody until we have problems. And when I do, I'm going to make sure that it's a small, one-person operation.

Was this a big HVAC company? (They're usually the ones with giant ads in the phone book). Most of these larger outfits are staffed by commissioned salespeople. That's a conflict of interests. They cannot possibly look out for your interests without first considering their own.

If you still want to go with your current maintenance schedule, get multiple bids. When you find one that satisfies you, INSIST that no work apart from the bid be performed without your express consent. (I had one goober slam me with a bill for work that I didn't authorize).

I also suggest that you go with a smaller operation, if you don't already. Larger companies have really high overhead and advertising to pay for, and they pass the costs straight to you. Also, remember that as commissioned salespeople, they make a KILLING selling new furnaces and AC units. So don't be surprised if they push replacements.

Home ownership is tricky because there is no independent, peer-reviewed building/construction journal. Everything we learn is anecdotal. We don't know through research whether people who pay for biannual maintenance are any better off. And service people constantly disagree with each other. Ultimately, we just have to jump in, make our own decisions, and pray we're doing what's best!

Good luck!

[Chicky2]

I wanted to add that how often you have your unit(s) maintained depends on 2 things: 1) how often you use it, and 2) how many pets you have in the house.

1) Here in Texas, most people use their a/c every day, all day long from about late April to close to the end of October. These people still usually only need a good cleaning once yearly. Filters need to be replaced/cleaned monthly.

2) Pet hair and dander will dirty up your inside coils on your unit super quick. People with more than 2 small animals generally should have their inside coils cleaned twice a year. If you have more than 2 small animals, you should also change/clean your filter twice a month.

Waiting until something goes wrong is a very expensive way to do it. If you don't have your unit cleaned as often as it should several things can happen. The dirt and grease and hair collects on the coils and can cause too much condensation on the inside of the unit. That will cause water to start dripping on your electrical components which can cause parts to start failing, or worse, fire. A man around the corner from us just had a fire in his unit because of this. If your unit is dripping water, it can also cause your floor to rot. My dh had a customer who didn't want to spend the $ replacing some things they needed to replace so they'd get my dh to come fix things the best he could. 2 years later and 6 trips (it's an "emergency-it's 100 degrees!) later, they finally had him replace the inside unit, but before they could do that they ended up replacing a wall and a floor, too. That was much more expensive than it ever should have been.