Not me. The inspection visit identified a degraded capacitor and I replaced it myself. I had options, I could have waited for the next visit or I could have waited until it failed. I chose to benefit from the inspection and perform the preventive maintenance.

Yes, this is an easy DIY. I actually go a step further; I preemptively replace mine every 3 years. I keep the old one around until the next replacement in case the replaced one were to die early. We are gone a lot and would prefer not to have the HVAC fail while we are gone from something I can address.

Right, which is why it might be best to deal with a larger more established HVAC company who will stand behind what they sell.

Larger companies
 

Maybe. But I’ve dealt with some of the largest to some of the smallest contractors. Believe me, some of the largest ones did inferior work to the small companies. Companies are only as good as the person they are sending to your home. The HVAC industry is a great industry to be a great service tech or installer. Everyone always going to need air conditioning and heat! We use to say that someone will be installing or servicing a system during a nuclear war! People use to question how I made it through the recession years; I told them I didn’t need any new construction; had millions out there to replace!

Back in NC years ago I went to one of the local shops to get a part for the air handler. From the counter I could see in the office a board with sales people listed and their SPIFs for maintenance contracts.

Attachment 109236So here is the reality. There is nothing wrong with your maintenance plan except you are not checking the refrigerant pressures and temperatures, sub-cooling and super heat. Although your system may be "runnng fine", there is really no way to know for sure and that it's running efficiently unless you check the refrigerant and OR you check your Delta-T which no one here has mentioned.

Delta-T is something every homeowner can do themselves to get an "idea" of how well their system is running. How do you test it? You get a temperature probe from Amazon, for example and when the system is running at 100% on a warm or hot day, subtract the return air or input air temperature going into your air handler from the supply air or output coming out of your air handler. The difference is called Delta-T and should be anywhere from 18-24 degrees difference. On older systems you may see 15-18 degrees difference which means the system is cooling just not as efficiently as it could be. Now one issue with Delta-T measurements is you have to assume your system is sized correctly. If it's not, on a very hot day your Delta-T may be lower than all other days of the year because your system can't keep up.

So all that said, if you maintain your own system, either with a professional checking it once a year and you doing whatever maintenance you can do or those who only clean the filters and the coils, checking the Delta-T temperature will give you a good idea on how well the system is actually working assuming everything in the system is in good working order. Remember, just because your system "seems" to be runnung fine, it may not be and you are wasting money every month running an inefficient system that might easily be fixed.

If you are not testing, you are guessing.

Hope this all helps.

Amazon.com

Delta T
 

I understand the terms, but most of the hundreds of thousands of Villagers aren’t interested in hooking gauges up to their HVAC systems. They are more interested in being active and having fun in their final years.

Agreed which is why they should pay the price and have a reputable HVAC company check the system once a year or if they don't want to pay of feel the maintenance is not necessary, they need to know the facts and make the decision that's best for them.

I have DeSantis out once a year. But I replace my own filters, and pour hot water down my condensation line every couple of months.

Something else I have, and have been suggesting to people, is to pick up a cheap rolling window AC when Ollie's or someone gets them and puts them on sale. I had one up north and brought it with me. So if my AC dies, I can at least cool the bedroom until I can get someone out, and I am not feeling pressured to take whatever price is offered to get my whole house running again. Also, when it's really hot and my whole house AC is struggling to keep up, I can use this to supplement. Especially if we have a bunch of people over.

I agree. I understand the terms also, but my entire electric bill for the past 12 months has averaged $106 per month, which is pocket change compared to my electric and gas bills in my old house in Virginia, and it has not varied much over the years. In fact, my cost of living has decreased by about 75 percent since moving here. My HVAC system has been heating and cooling my house perfectly for the past 9 years. If my system fails, I will just repair it or buy a new system.

The cost/benefit analysis of these inspections would be interesting.

- Identifying a failing capacitor that is then replaced could avoid a hot home. On the other hand, having a spare capacitor on-hand and replacing it when the home begins to warm up would be cheaper

- Identifying a coolant leak or failing compressor would provide an opportunity to schedule a replacement before the existing unit fails. On the other hand, how often do these systems fail gradually such that an owner would get a warning?

If I can fix a problem in ten minutes or preemptively replace the capacitor every three years then is it worth $800 (4 years to noticeable degradation @ $200/year) for a possible warning?

If the system is more likely to fail suddenly than to give a warning then is it worth $2,000+ to have someone come and tell me they see nothing wrong?

Of course, peace of mind has a value too.

I have been off and on with inspections over the seven years I've owned here. I'm on the fence right now but a 45% increase will definitely make for an easier decision.

Good points. I think the decision point is as follows.

If you have a heat pump system and If you are able to do the following:
1) Clean the condenser and evaporator coils once a year.
2) Pour hot tap water down the condensate line every month or so.
3) Be able to open the condenser unit once a year and test the capacitor to see if it's out of spec. and change it as necessary.
4) Check the amperage of your Auxillary heat strip in the Air Handler.
5) Be able to get a temperature probe and test the Delta-T at your Air Handler.

If your are able to do tasks 1-5 above then one would say you don't need HVAC maintenance by a professional once a year. I would bet if you were able to determine how many Villagers would be able and willing to do all the tasks, it would be a very small number compared to the total population.

If you can't do the above tasks then you probably want to spend the money and have HVAC maintenance done for you.

If you don't have a heat pump system and have a furnace, I would recommend getting a HVAC professional to check your system once a year. If you are a DIY'r and make a mistake with the furnace you are gambling with your life vs spending the $200/year for maintenance. Not worth it unless you have the equipment and know 100% what you are doing.

I will be skipping 5, 4, and probably the testing part of 3 per the thoughts in the message your replied to.

My gamble will be that the compressor/coolant system will either fail without warning or will last until I choose to replace it. I might lose that gamble.

The last two failures would not have been detected by the yearly inspections.

The Aux Heat is kind of important because when it does get cold, the condenser will go into defrost mode and if your home is calling for heat at that time, the Aux Heat should come on for that short period during the defrost. If the Aux Heat strips were bad, mine went bad, you will think you have no heat and then call for service. Here in Central Florida this isn't critical but just wanted to explain why I included that check.

Can you tell us what your last two failures were? Just curious, maybe we can learn something.

The integrated controller on the blower motor and the circuit board shorted out by an anole climbing behind it.