Whether you are heating, or cooling, regular preventative maintenance, or tune-ups help prolong the life of your equipment. Tune-ups can help boost the efficiency, reduce expenses, and keep things running smoothly. They offer some peace of mind.
When you are searching for a company to perform a tune-up for you, going to the low cost provider can sometimes be a mistake. Over the past few years, companies from out of state have began offering low cost tune-ups as a way to get in the door and charge high dollar amounts for suggested repairs. These companies will often pose as your current hvac provider. Be aware of these companies. They will typically reach out to you by phone call from an out of state number.
What’s a low cost Tune-Up?
The ‘Introductory Special,” the $49 A/C Tune-Up,” these are examples of what a low cost tune-up can look like. What’s the problem with that? The likely answer is you get what you pay for. Advertising a low cost can be an effective technique on some platforms that advertise “Daily Deals, etc.” A company that has a low cost offer is losing money on the front end. As an industry, thankfully, using a qualified technician costs much more than the $49 special. Qualified HVAC technicians are highly sought after in this industry, see here for details: Job Outlook For HVAC Technicians – Good News . It takes about 45 minutes to over an hour to perform a tune-up if you are performing your due diligence on a furnace or air conditioner. Low cost services lure you with low prices. They combat that with high fees to repair your equipment, even if the repair may not be needed.
Aside from the obvious pitfalls of the low cost offering, here are some things to consider that will get missed during a low cost tune-up.
| Maintenance That Gets Missed | Disadvantage To Homeowner | Advantage To Low Cost Company |
| Cleaning the A/C Coil | You aren’t in the habit of checking your air conditioning unit. Your air conditioner’s coils are some of the most important parts of the system. There are two types of coils in your system, evaporator coils and condenser coils. Evaporator coils absorb heat and humidity in your home. Condenser coils expel that heat to the outside of your home. Ever wondered why hot air comes out? That’s why. In order for these coils to work correctly, they need to be clean. When they are caked in dirty and grime the heat gets trapped in these spaces and your equipment simply can’t do the job it was made to do. Or at least, it won’t perform as well as it could. | The advantage to the company to not perform this task is time. They can reduce the time in the home to justify a low cost offering. They save money. |
| Checking The Charge of Your Refrigerant | Low cost companies likely check the charge of your unit. Checking the charge is when you will see a technician attach gauges to the unit. A low refrigerant level can lead to higher energy bills because your units forced to work overtime for the same amount of cooling. If the level is low, it may lead to warm air coming through the ducts even when your thermostat is calling for cool air. | The advantage to the company to not perform this task is time. They can reduce the time in the home to justify a low cost offering. They save money. |
What to do when you see a low cost offer.
A low cost offering should simply trigger some caution to a homeowner before they accept this service. Luckily, in Dane county, there are very few, if any outfits that utilize this offering. Most, if not all, of these offers come from companies out of state. If an offer like this comes your way,
- Ask friends and relatives if they have heard of this company/offer
- Ask the company for references
- Go online and seek reviews of this company
- Ask the company for their Wisconsin State license number
- Visit the company website and social media sites, if any
The importance of a conclusive, comprehensive tune-up on your air conditioner is always in your best interests. Please reach out to us if you have questions.
