Your Guide to Quality Furnace Maintenance, Repair, and Replacement

Transcription

1 Your Guide to Quality Furnace Maintenance, Repair, and Replacement If you re like most homeowners, you probably don t understand the mechanical systems that keep your home comfortable. That s perfectly fine -- there are more important things to worry about in daily life! Unfortunately, though, this lack of understanding can put you in a vulnerable position when something breaks and you need to call for service. It is easy to be taken advantage of by dishonest service technicians if you don t know what to expect. That s why here at Heartland Heating & Air Conditioning, we ve taken it upon ourselves to put together this helpful guide. Our goal is to empower homeowners in Southern Illinois to make the best choice when it comes to furnace maintenance, repair, and replacement. By the end of this guide, you will have learned how to choose a reliable contractor, how to know which contractors to stay away from, and how to help the contractor of your choice do the best work possible on your home. Sound good? Let s get started! 1

2 What to Know Before You Call for Service Here are common questions that HVAC companies ask homeowners when they call about furnace problems. It is OK if you don t have all the answers when you call most homeowners don t. But knowing how to answer these questions gives you a useful advantage when it comes to the service that is being done on your home. 1. What type of equipment do you have? You might not know what type of heating equipment you have in your home. But being able to provide this information can give you an advantage when you call for service. Most HVAC companies have techs that specialize in certain types of equipment over others. If the company knows what you have, they can send out the technician who is best suited to the job. Here are some common heating systems we see in Southern Illinois homes. Gas Furnace: The gas furnace is located in the basement of the home. It will have an exhaust pipe or vent to the outside, to prevent carbon monoxide from building up indoors. It will also have a gas line, which may be made of cast iron or copper piping. (Some newer furnaces may use a plastic hose instead.) Electric Furnace: Unlike the gas furnace, an electric furnace may be located anywhere in the home. They re often found in the attic, or a closet space (especially in manufactured homes). You can tell that a furnace is electric by its lack of an exhaust vent. Heat Pump: A heat pump is a square unit sitting somewhere close to your home outside. It works like a refrigerator in reverse, generating heat that is pumped into your home. Boiler: The steam boiler is usually located in the basement of the home. Boilers are made of two parts: a furnace that creates heat, and a tank where boiling water is turned into steam. This hot steam flows through your home through pipes that connect to radiators. These metal radiators may sit in the rooms of the house themselves, or the radiator pipes might be built into the floor. 2. What is the make and model of your equipment? The make will be a brand name, like Trane, Carrier, or York. You should be able to see a logo visible somewhere on the outside of the equipment. Check the unit for a sticker with your model number. Your model number will be a sequence of digits, sometimes including letters. On a furnace, check inside the furnace door for the sticker. Write down your information here so that it is handy when you call. Make: Model : 2

3 3. What symptoms is your system experiencing? When the receptionist asks you this question, don t panic. You don t need to be an expert or know all the right words to say when you describe the problem. Just focus on telling them the exact problems you are experiencing in your own words. Does the system Make knocking, banging, or rattling sounds? Have a funny smell? Have low air flow through vents? Blow unheated air? Fail to start at all? Create an unusually high energy bill? Note the problems you are experiencing here, so that you don t forget to mention anything when you call for service. Tip: Ask the whole family to report anything strange they have noticed with the heating recently. You will be able to present a fuller picture of the problem to your HVAC company. 4. When was the last time the equipment was serviced? What was done to it? This information is very useful to your HVAC contractor. By knowing the last date of service as well as what was done to the equipment at that time, they will have a better idea of the situation that they are walking in to. If the contractor you are calling was the same company that serviced your system the last time, they should have this information on file but you can speed up the process by having the information ready for them. Date of Last Service: Work Done: Tip: If you don t remember your last service date and can t find the service receipt, check your old bank statements to see when you last paid for service! 3

4 Questions to Ask When You Call Print this list and have it handy when you call for service on your heating system. Q: How many years have you been in business? Why you should ask: The HVAC field is largely unregulated, and it s common to see new companies pop up each year, only to go under after a few seasons. It s always a safe bet to go with a contractor that has been able to stand the test of time. If the contractor goes out of business before the labor warranty is up, a different contractor would not be able to honor it. Be wary of a 2 year old company offering a 3 year labor warranty. Q: What is the warranty on the equipment that you install? Why you should ask: Having a consistent contractor you trust and know will be available is important. But even more important is the warranty on the equipment itself. Some manufacturers offer a 10-year warranty on heating equipment. Go with a brand that offers a warranty like this. That way, if the contractor who sold it to you goes out of business, you ll still be protected by the warranty. Q: Are you NATE certified? Why you should ask: In Illinois, HVAC contractors are not required to be licensed in order to do work on your home. This can make it a little difficult to verify a contractor s credentials. However, an independent certification body, NATE, can shed some light into the quality of work that the contractor will do. NATE (North American Technician Excellence) develops rigorous tests that represent real-world working knowledge of HVAC systems. Only well-trained technicians are able to pass these tests. If the contractor is NATE certified, there s a good chance that they ll do great work on your home. Q: Do you carry both general liability and workers compensation insurance? Why you should ask: Any repair technicians you allow into your home should always be fully bonded and insured. Without insurance, you could be liable for any damages to your system or even the personal injury of the technician. Good, reputable companies are fully bonded and insured fly-bynight contractors aren t. Q: Do you carry a name-brand product line? Why you should ask: Even if you are just having your existing system serviced, you can use this question as a way to gauge the level of quality that the company is known for. Because HVAC product manufacturers require companies to meet certifications before they can carry and install their products, only the better companies are able to install big-name brands. Ask if the contractor carries a big-name brand, like Carrier, that has a reputation for quality. 4

5 Q: Are you a Union member? Why you should ask: Some people hear Union and immediately think more expensive. The price for service is only part of the picture, though. Union HVAC contractors are not only held to a higher standard of training, but also pay their technicians more fairly and do not overwork them. When you choose to hire a Union contractor, you receive better quality work done on your home heating system. Q: Do you have a permanent non-residence place of business, and what is the street address? Why you should ask: Chances are, you ll never actually need to visit the contractor at their location. In almost all cases, technicians will travel to your home to do work there. However, it never hurts to take a drive past the building. The physical, non-residence address shows how established they are and gives you an idea of how many services they can provide. For example, some contractors have full metal shops, where custom ductwork is created. They also have warehouses where parts and equipment are stocked. This is both an indicator that the company has been successful enough to grow, and a sign that they may already have your part in stock, meaning you ll get a faster repair. Tip: Check the company s website for a street address, then use Google Street View to view the company s physical location! Q: Can you provide names of satisfied customers in my neighborhood? A reputable company that has done work in the area for years should have no problem providing you with some strong local references. Tip: For an unbiased look, be sure to check out reviews of the company on websites like Yelp, Facebook and Google+. Q: Do your service technicians wear uniforms & ID badges? Professionalism in appearance is a good indicator of professionalism of work. Keep in mind that the HVAC uniform often includes denim, as job requirements include working in attics and crawl spaces. Q: Do you offer 24-hour emergency service? A good, reputable company is there for their customers at all hours of the day and night. Steer clear of any HVAC contractor that is willing to sell you a new furnace, but unwilling to provide around-the-clock support for the new installation. Q: Do you have a refund policy if I am not satisfied? Reputable HVAC contractors are confident in quality of their work. Most offer a more-inclusive, shorter term warranty on installation on top of the equipment warranty. Replacement parts should be covered by a manufacturer s warranty, at the very least. Be sure to get warranty information and satisfaction guarantees in writing at the time of repair or installation so that there is no confusion later on. 5

6 Watch out for these warning signs! If notice any of these classic warning signs while you are shopping around for an HVAC contractor, steer clear! 1. The contractor quotes a price before performing any diagnostic tests on your home. You should be extremely wary of any contractor who is willing to give you a quote without seeing your home just like you would want a second opinion if your doctor diagnosed you without seeing you. The exception to this rule is the ballpark estimate, which you might want just to get an idea of the kind of money the repair will take. The contractor should be very clear, though, that it is just to give you an idea going forward, and that the real price will depend on what is found during the inspection. 2. The contractor does not mention the importance of diagnostics to you while discussing your project. A good contractor will always bring up the diagnostics and measurements that need to be run on your home as part of your project. He should be able to talk at length about each of these processes and why they are important. If you sense that this part of the process is being pushed aside as an afterthought, call around until you find the contractor who insists on doing it the right way. 3. The contractor offers to replace your old equipment without performing any inspections, measurements, or diagnostics. Many contractors will attempt to downplay the importance of a proper inspection and testing before going through with a new installation. They may say, We do houses like yours all the time, so we know what we re working with. Don t fall for it no two houses and their ductwork are the same. Many new systems installed today are the wrong size for the duct system they are connected to. This is the direct result of contractors skipping out on testing the system before doing the installation, and it causes wasted energy as well as duct problems later on down the road. 4. The contractor does not seem interested in your situation and/or does not ask many questions. Good contractors want information about you and your home so that they can give you the solution that you really need. Poor contractors push solutions without bothering to first find out if they will actually solve the problems you are having. 5. The contractor does not explain your options. Too many contractors think that homeowners are only interested in a low price. They offer the cheapest, least efficient product in the hopes of making the sale. This is bad practice. A good contractor 6

7 will always explain your options, give you his professional opinion, and help you come up with the right solution for your home. 6. The contractor stresses that his prices are the lowest in the area. Undercutting the competition can mean more sales for a company, but often means the buyer gets the short end of the stick. Lower prices sound good in theory, but they come at a cost: lower quality materials, poorly-trained technicians, rushed work, and poor customer service. Think twice when you hear this claim to fame! 7. The contractor uses high-pressure sales tactics to get you to sign a contract. You should never feel pressured by your contractor into signing a contract or buying additional services. This behavior is an indication that the contractor is more concerned about getting your money than treating you well. 7

8 In closing We hope that this guide has been helpful to you for your home heating needs. If you have questions about the information discussed in this guide, or if there are other related topics you would like to see covered, please contact us through our website at heartlandheatingandair.com. Your feedback is important to us, as we will be creating more helpful guides in the future! And of course, if you are experiencing an issue with your home heating system and aren t sure who to call, consider us! We have more than 60 years of HVAC contracting experience and are a trusted leader in the Southern Illinois HVAC industry. Click here to contact us if you re experiencing heating problems. Thanks for reading! 8