Anyone know about HVAC?

[sdkammeyer]

wow, I just woke up and saw all that
I definitely can't argue with Clayton, and it sounds like he has way more experience than I do as well.

[scooter729]

WOW, this is extremely helpful - much appreciated for all of the great insight!!!

[steve B]

When we had to replace the boiler in our house it ran just over 9000 including an indirect hot water heater.

Same cost when the electronic low water cutoff failed after about 2 years. No warranty from Weil-McLain either since it was an electronic part that failed. (The new one has an old fashioned float switch)


I'd be ok with them itemizing like they did.

One of the quotes I got was from the gas company. They talk big about giving a free burner when you switch from oil. But it went like this
sales guy: sure, free burner. You just have to have your electrician wire it, and a steam fitter for the steam pipes, and someone to bring in the new boiler....
Me: Wait, you don't install it?
Sales guy: yes! We bolt it to the boiler.
Me: But I need something like 3-4 other contractors to hook it up? You don't do the whole install?
Sales guy: No, we just bring in a new burner. You're on your own for the rest if it.

I got rid of gas altogether. A choice I'm very happy with. The indirect HW heater is so well insulated it holds enough heat to be lukewarm 24 hours after losing power. And it's all stainless, so no replacing it every 10 years or worrying about it failing.

At least with the itemizing you know they're either doing the whole job or are in charge of any subcontractors.

Steve B

I did industrial repairs for a 10+ years and wrote a lot of quotes like that.

[scooter729]

Thanks Steve - great to hear your additional info....

Appreciate it!

[teetwoohsix]

Yeah, sorry about the long reply was having trouble sleeping.

Steve brought up a great point, which is about warranties,,,,I think York may have a 5 year warranty on their systems, and when you are negotiating the cost of all of this, you should ask them to include an equal warranty from the installer for labor as well as parts= 5 year parts & labor warranty. The parts come from the manufacturer, so it's no cost to them (I can only go by how it works out here) & if they stand by their work they should offer the equal labor.

Itemizing on the paperwork as to what they are going to do is ok, but itemizing each of those things and adding a particular price to each one, well, that's new to me. A lot of that work HAS to be done to make the unit function, therefore, it's a normal part of the install. Maybe they do it different back east, and if so that would explain why that sounds foreign to me.

Always check with the BBB as well to see if they have complaints against them, and if they do, do they resolve them. I was shocked when we were searching to see who we would use. Some of the companies I thought were the best had 15+ complaints against them We found a company that had zero complaints. Also, ask the company if their employees are NATE certified. It is a plus if they are, that means they are going the extra mile to have their technicians staying up to date with continuing education (to keep up with modern technology coming out and safety rules and regs that can periodically change).

One last thing (wheeew) It's hard sometimes to get prices from A/C supply houses when it comes to UNITS, because depending on the amount of business a contractor does with the supply house, they all seem to have different rates. It's easier to find prices on single repair items, like a fan motor, but it's difficult as a non- contractor to get prices on systems/units. I was checking through an old supply book and the only thing that doesn't have listed prices are the units/systems

Hope this info helps, keep us posted

Sincerely, Clayton

[old-baseball]

I had a top of line energy efficient Carrier system insalled two years ago that was just about $10K. Got refunded about half through my taxes for the energy efficient installation so it only cost me $5K in total. You may want to check to see if the federal government still has the program going.

[scooter729]

Thanks Kevin - I knew about the tax breaks but it wasn't fresh in my mind, so I certainly will see about my options on that front!