Quote:
Originally Posted by jrref
I'm not sure I agree 100%.
I do agree for what they do, it's a lot of money. I can do everything they do except check the freon pressures. But I in lieu of that, checking the temperature difference between the Input and output air at the air handler gives a good indication of how the system is cooling.
That said, :
- You need to check the capacitor. It will eventully start to degrade and then fail. When it degrades your compressor and fan motor will work harder. So, you are probably shortening the life of these parts by waiting for the capacitor to just fail.
- You need to check the current draw of the compressor, fan and aux heat coils. When the compressor and or fan motors start to degrade they will not be drawing the specified amount of current. For checking the aux heat coils, the only way is to check the current draw since you can't look at them.
- In addition to just flushing the drain you need to use those air handler pan treatment tablets to prevent build-up of sludge & scum deposits that cause odors, plugged drains, and overflows. I know some people never use them and don't have a problem but these really work.
- You need to check and test the drain overflow float switch. Just because it looks clean doesn't mean its working. Several of my neighbors had floods because they didn't maintain the condensate drain, it backed up and the float switch failed to shut down the unit.
- You need to clean both the evaporator coil in the air handler AND the coils outside at the condensor unit. Eventhough they may not look dirty, if you are not cleaning them at least once a year you are throwing money out the window because your A/C won't be working at top efficiency.
So at the end of the day, there are some maintenance tasks that will help "predict" a degrading unit before it fails and some measures can be taken to prolong the life of your HVAC system.
If you are not handy and can't do these maintenance tasks then you have to get a maintenance contract from your favorite HVAC company. It's also some insurance that you will get fast response from your HVAC company if you have a failure at peak times of the year.
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The SunKool 21-point tune-up doesn't say anything about checking the capacitor, adding tablets to the drain pan, or testing the float switch. Other companies don't do these things either.
Also, I don't agree with your last sentence at all. No company that I have contacted will put anything in writing about response times for a repair. They say that it is only a verbal promise. In fact, it locks you into one company instead of many, and it can be argued that it incentivizes the company to not respond quickly if they can attract new customers, and you are already a customer. The last time I needed a repair, Munn's responded within 2 hours on a Saturday. I have no maintenance agreement with Munn's.