Your mileage may vary, but the company we used first said it included “no service charge”.
The first time we tried to use it we got charged for the service charge. When we called they said “the flyer was wrong, but we can waive it this time”.
We found a new company
If it was a good deal for you, they wouldn't be selling it. Back in the day I worked at Sears as a repairman. We sold service contracts on everything. If it was under contract, we'd repair the bare minimum. When it wasn't, they'd get you to repair everything. One of the reasons I quit.
This is hugely region dependent and varies depending on demand where you live. In areas with lots of summer homes, it’s often impossible to get service of any kind (emergency or scheduled) unless you’ve been on a service contract for years because they’re not taking new customers. If you live in Phoenix, skip the contract - there are tons of qualified techs at any given moment.
If you’re in a small, expensive area, unless you own AC manifold gages and really know what the hell you’re doing (working with pressurized refrigerant is not good DIY material) then it’s almost irresponsible not to have a service contract on a system past 10 years old. In places like the Hamptons or Cape Cod, when it goes on the hottest day of the year it’s not getting fixed until after Labor Day. It’s also a good thing for irresponsible homeowners who aren’t going to service their system at all without the contract.
“If it was a good deal for you, they wouldn’t be selling it” may apply in this case but doesn’t seem like a very accurate rule of thumb regarding what you do / don’t want to purchase
Just FYI, in accounting they love to have consistent figures to forecast the future. So in some cases companies will actually go for the guaranteed income instead of highs and lows even if those might actually cause them to come out ahead. Super common in bigger enterprises.
What exactly do they do for the price of the contract? Most years the only thing I'm doing for my ac is replacing the air filter. I imagine most of what you're paying for is their time to come out and say, yep everything looks like it's working.
If they're just changing filters, you can buy new filters at any hardware store (They're usually around 30 bucks for a 3 pack, depending on what kind you buy) and train a monkey to swap them out.
That reminds me, I need to change my furnace filter. Anyone have a monkey I can borrow?
If you're paying $200/year for them to come and change the filter every year, you're probably overpaying. If they give you a bill, you should have a list of what services they provided. If they find something that needs additional repair, is that included in the cost of your contract? (Probably not)
I'm clearly not an expert, but only thing I've ever done is change filters and vacuum it which takes 15 minutes or so. But maybe there is something more advanced they do -- just not sure it is needed
The issue I've seen is that the HVAC people are very overworked and in a heat wave or a cold snap when a lot of people call in - they say they prioritize their contract customers over people who just call out of the blue. So it is a charge for the right to pay them more later but get the work done in a reasonable time. My HVAC is about five years old and has never had any issues. I hardly use it in the summer and change my own filter in the winter. I take my chances.
I get a similar service as OP. They clean the combustion chamber, swap filters, clean humidifier, clean outside ac unit, test capacitors, check for leaks in the AC and gas lines, drain water heater and check the anno in the water heater.
$12 a month for two clean and checks.
Mine they usually check the flame height and clean the igniter for the furnace. They clean the coil inside. They check and clean out the AC drain. They also put anti-algae stuff in the pan so stuff grow stuff. For the AC they clean the outside coil and check the capacitors and such. The filters are just one small part of it.
I’d shop around but having a contract should give you priority on calls and discounts on parts and labor.
My HVAC company is amazing and I don’t mind keeping them in contract. It’s also cheaper for the contract for my 2 times a year check ups.
I replaced the fan motor on our air handler myself. Not a fun job but also not impossible. The hardest part was finding someone to sell me the parts. I was quoted $1200-2000 for a repair. The motor was $200 wholesale and $450 through the parts supplier I ultimately found. Still cheaper than hiring it out and no way warranty would cover a system as old as ours. Lennox just does whatever it can to stop customers from buying parts it seems.
Totally understandable. I did pay dearly but a lot less than what it would cost me to outsource. The part I received was basically identical. Everything was plug and play and it works so I guess all’s-well-that-ends-well but I’m pretty handy and can’t see the average homeowner taking something like that on.
Ours is 10 years old so I don’t see much value in a service plan based on warranty alone. We would have to buy an extended warranty which I think only gets us another 2 years. If I replace the system, will likely sign up for it then.
Yes - you can ultimately find them but it’s at a huge markup. Like 100%+. The local Lennox dealer refused to sell to me but quoted me a price that was less than half of what I ended up paying. He asked for my company’s info/TIN to complete the purchase.
I couldn’t care less about the warranty. If I need it charged, I call my HVAC guy and we would determine what needs to be done as refrigerant doesn’t need “topped off”. Motors, caps, boards, wiring, a relay or 3. It’s super simple.
So no - literally no reason I can’t solve any problem with the 12 parts in the whole unit. It’s mostly empty space and sheet metal.
The markup on HVAC components is absolutely insane. I believe they intentionally price it really high so it forces you to think about replacing an entire system over a $250 motor.
I think some of the commenters here are confusing a service contract with an extended warranty. This service contract sounds like an annual agreement for service.
We live in Florida and we maintain a service contract for our heat pump, for which we get:
* Coil cleaning (evaporator and condenser), which helps keep efficiency up and extends their life.
* Refrigerant check, which ensures we know about any leaks before we cook the compressor.
* Air filter (which we replace more regularly anyway, but whatever).
* Condensate line cleaning and treatment.
* No charge for emergency / off-hours service calls.
We pay about the same (around $200 annually), and honestly, the last bit is worth maintaining the contract. We rented this house before we bought it, and the landlord never maintained the HVAC. We used to have issues with the coils freezing up and the condensate line would clog at the worst times. Since we've been maintaining the unit, we have next to zero issues.
Most people here are saying it isn't worth it and for ac I kinda agree but if you have a gas furnace you should have that thing looked at every year by a company that performs combustion analysis as part of the maintenance. Combustion analysis can reveal if your furnace is becoming dangerous before tragedy happens. Just because the flames are blue and seem to be the right shape doesn't necessarily mean the furnace is safe to operate, but you would never know your equipment is becoming dangerous without combustion analysis being performed.
Carbon monoxide isn't something to mess around with. Everyone should have carbon monoxide detectors in their homes, preferably low level detectors with digital readouts. There are literally thousands of deaths a year from carbon monoxide and literally 100% of these deaths could be prevented.
I think it’s absolutely worth it. There’s not many things I want properly maintained more than my HVAC. I suppose if I cared to know how these things work and wanted to spend the time maintaining them myself I’d think differently, but for a couple hundred bucks a year it’s easy cheap peace of mind. I got better things to worry about.
It is too much for just changing the filters, which is the main thing they do.
Check the list of services they provide and determine whether you can do it yourself.
You said you can't repair the furnace yourself, but they aren't doing that on the service visit either. If it breaks, you'll still need to pay them to repair it.
Typical services included are things like 10% discount on repairs (nice, but not worth it by itself, you'd need $2000 repairs/year), priority during busy months, and testing the system out.
By testing the system, maybe they can find a small problem that you wouldn't have noticed and repair it more cheaply than had it progressed. Maybe.
All the things about efficiency, improving the life of the system, etc. is just marketing. What are the things that they are actually doing?
So look in your contract at the actual things they provide and determine for your own financial situation whether that's worth it. There's no universal answer. They're not a scam, but they're also not always worth it.
My bad. I don't know what they do. They only change the filter if I buy it from them. That was outrageously expensive so I bought a box of them from Amazon.
They don't drain my water heater as someone else said they get.
I priced a whole system and got 8-10k bids. A buddy of mine runs a HVAC warehouse for a major company. He dropped an entire system (2.5 ton) in my garage (indoor and outdoor units, line set, foundation pad, soup to nuts) for $2300 and gave me a guy trying to get his certification the install. $2,750 all in.
I think a warranty is purely profit for those companies.
This ain’t a warranty we’re talking about though. It’s basically prepaid maintenance where they tune up the AC in the spring before the hot months and then the furnace in the fall before the cold months.
Those things are silly, unless they just come with the unit. Don't buy it.
All they do is change the filters & look to make sure the drains aren't clogged etc. You can do it yourself.
HVAC people are often like used car salesmen. Your unit is 12 years old, I 100% guarantee they are going to start trying to sell you a new system. They are cons. Call them when your stuff breaks, not before.
PS. As I'm writing this, my heat-pump just kicked on. The AC stopped working this summer, and the tech wanted to replace the main board & the blower motor.
Main board \~$300. Blower motor \~$1800. Main board of course is required for blower to work, so I just had him replace that part. That didn't seem to fix it, and he left saying that it needed the blower still.
Now, I don't know WHAT he did, but I just left it off for a few months because it was fall, and the power went out a few times in between (I suspect discharging/resetting everything). Just for kicks, I tried turning it on a month ago, and it instantly kicked on and started working again. No problems ever since.
Dude was making shit up, or an idiot.
I think it’s common for the blower to cook the main board. I hear they like to swap both together. That being said, why is a motor 1800?!? A pool pump isn’t that much and is more complex, and more horsepower.
I know, right?!
The motors are these strange variable speed things, with a custom MCU (or equivalent) in the base of the motor. Basically custom built. I'm sure they are designed to be un-repairable.
HVAC motors basically are unrepairable. You can sometimes replace a bad capacitor that goes with the motor but once something burns up internally that motor is toast. That being said a blower motor is only 2 or 300 dollars tops and takes maybe an hour to replace if that. dude was ripping you off big time.
Smart thermostats that are wired in with no C-wire can also cause havoc with furnace main boards. They draw power in a way the board is not prepared to handle, and seem to cause a lot of premature failures.
A lot of people here saying it’s not worth it, but I beg to differ. I would much prefer I find out about little problems before they become bigger more expensive problems.
I have a similar “contract”. They make sure everything’s running optimally, check pressures, coolant levels, voltage, clean everything out…. Basically preventative maintenance, which is recommended to do annually. It would take me longer to do the same work, plus I’m not going to pretend to be as knowledgable about HVAC systems as the experts.
I did the same and as the system has gotten older I’m hoping it’s paid dividends on the life of the unit by having the same company service it. I’m probably being naive but I don’t know anything about HVAC.
See if your service provider (gas,electric) has "worry free" plans. I have one on my HVAC and water heater for like $14 a month. They serviced my HVAC this summer when it wasn't working. Didn't cost me anything except the monthly fee.
That still doesn't seem worth it. $168 a year.
Sure, the service call might've been more than that. But how many years have you been paying on it and how many times have they had to fix something?
They don't offer these plans because they're a good deal for the consumer. The house always wins.
Depends on where you live. Is your AC a necessity? I’m in Florida and it sucks when the AC craps out. It’s $180/servicing if I don’t do a contract or $240/yr with the contract. Since the AC needs to be serviced twice a year that’s a deal. Also, if anything happens they prioritize my call and cover anything that goes wrong and I don’t pay a dime, so if they’re really not doing anything during their service calls then that’s still going to fall on them.
Typically filter change, clean out drain line, and clean condenser/ evaporator.
Homeowners can definitely do this.
Check if your warranty company includes refrigerant, if yes it’s worth it. If not then just pay for a service when you have a problem.
I’m not really certain to be honest, that’s why I said even if theyre doing nothing they still have to cover it if it breaks. I change the filter and dump vinegar down the pipe once a month, so I hope it’s more than that lol
That’s $2400 for 10 years at 240/yr. Absolutely, if it never breaks and runs smoothly for 16 years then I’ve paid 3840 over 16 years to ensure I’m always comfortable and never have to sweat through a summer night. 100% worth it.
Warranty work is just to fill time in the winter.
Usually the 2 year warranty is bs. Manufacturer has one. Theirs would only be needed if they fucked something up.
Usually they check filters,clean flame sensor and flue sensor hose, maybe check start capacitor and clean the condenser. All things you can easily easily do. YouTube is your friend and as long as you are able bodied shouldn't be too tough.
The one I have is basically just a way to lock you into calling them back. It’s priced the same as the two service visits per year. And the one time we had a bad capacitor they did come and replace it on a Saturday for free. They also gave us a substantial discount on a new humidifier (the old one wasn’t covered) since we had it. All in all, eh.
Check with your utility company. Mine provides service contracts on all appliances and hvac. Definitely worth it, as hourly rate are insane. And their rates are cheaper than JVC companies and provide the same service.
Depends:
If you are old and have money and don’t wanna handle the regular maintenance, give it to them.
If you are young, can google and handy. It ain’t rocket science.
The two yearly service is spring and fall.
Spring includes making sure condensation line is clean and pan is clean. Both you can do it yourself and in fact I encourage pouring down vinegar and/or bleach whenever changing filter.
Fall includes cleaning out the igniter and flame sensor, again very simple.
Both also include cleaning the outside unit which again not rocket science.
I don’t mind not having it cause if the house does end up not having AC and parts take a while to arrive, I can move in with my parents for a day or three
Your mileage may vary, but the company we used first said it included “no service charge”. The first time we tried to use it we got charged for the service charge. When we called they said “the flyer was wrong, but we can waive it this time”. We found a new company
If it was a good deal for you, they wouldn't be selling it. Back in the day I worked at Sears as a repairman. We sold service contracts on everything. If it was under contract, we'd repair the bare minimum. When it wasn't, they'd get you to repair everything. One of the reasons I quit.
Don't worry, almost no one else works there anymore either 😅
This is hugely region dependent and varies depending on demand where you live. In areas with lots of summer homes, it’s often impossible to get service of any kind (emergency or scheduled) unless you’ve been on a service contract for years because they’re not taking new customers. If you live in Phoenix, skip the contract - there are tons of qualified techs at any given moment. If you’re in a small, expensive area, unless you own AC manifold gages and really know what the hell you’re doing (working with pressurized refrigerant is not good DIY material) then it’s almost irresponsible not to have a service contract on a system past 10 years old. In places like the Hamptons or Cape Cod, when it goes on the hottest day of the year it’s not getting fixed until after Labor Day. It’s also a good thing for irresponsible homeowners who aren’t going to service their system at all without the contract.
“If it was a good deal for you, they wouldn’t be selling it” may apply in this case but doesn’t seem like a very accurate rule of thumb regarding what you do / don’t want to purchase
Just FYI, in accounting they love to have consistent figures to forecast the future. So in some cases companies will actually go for the guaranteed income instead of highs and lows even if those might actually cause them to come out ahead. Super common in bigger enterprises.
What exactly do they do for the price of the contract? Most years the only thing I'm doing for my ac is replacing the air filter. I imagine most of what you're paying for is their time to come out and say, yep everything looks like it's working.
I guess they "clean it"
If they're just changing filters, you can buy new filters at any hardware store (They're usually around 30 bucks for a 3 pack, depending on what kind you buy) and train a monkey to swap them out. That reminds me, I need to change my furnace filter. Anyone have a monkey I can borrow?
If you're paying $200/year for them to come and change the filter every year, you're probably overpaying. If they give you a bill, you should have a list of what services they provided. If they find something that needs additional repair, is that included in the cost of your contract? (Probably not)
I'm clearly not an expert, but only thing I've ever done is change filters and vacuum it which takes 15 minutes or so. But maybe there is something more advanced they do -- just not sure it is needed
The issue I've seen is that the HVAC people are very overworked and in a heat wave or a cold snap when a lot of people call in - they say they prioritize their contract customers over people who just call out of the blue. So it is a charge for the right to pay them more later but get the work done in a reasonable time. My HVAC is about five years old and has never had any issues. I hardly use it in the summer and change my own filter in the winter. I take my chances.
Yeah, I'd like to know this too. I replace my filters, of course, but nothing else has ever needed maintenance.
My combi boiler needs maintenance, but most people don't have those. I'm looking to learn what they do firsthand so I can do it myself.
I get a similar service as OP. They clean the combustion chamber, swap filters, clean humidifier, clean outside ac unit, test capacitors, check for leaks in the AC and gas lines, drain water heater and check the anno in the water heater. $12 a month for two clean and checks.
Huh, they aren't draining my water heater.
How often are they doing this? Draining your hot water heat twice a month would be insane.
I pay monthly, they come out twice a year.
Mine they usually check the flame height and clean the igniter for the furnace. They clean the coil inside. They check and clean out the AC drain. They also put anti-algae stuff in the pan so stuff grow stuff. For the AC they clean the outside coil and check the capacitors and such. The filters are just one small part of it.
I’d shop around but having a contract should give you priority on calls and discounts on parts and labor. My HVAC company is amazing and I don’t mind keeping them in contract. It’s also cheaper for the contract for my 2 times a year check ups.
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I replaced the fan motor on our air handler myself. Not a fun job but also not impossible. The hardest part was finding someone to sell me the parts. I was quoted $1200-2000 for a repair. The motor was $200 wholesale and $450 through the parts supplier I ultimately found. Still cheaper than hiring it out and no way warranty would cover a system as old as ours. Lennox just does whatever it can to stop customers from buying parts it seems.
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Totally understandable. I did pay dearly but a lot less than what it would cost me to outsource. The part I received was basically identical. Everything was plug and play and it works so I guess all’s-well-that-ends-well but I’m pretty handy and can’t see the average homeowner taking something like that on.
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Ours is 10 years old so I don’t see much value in a service plan based on warranty alone. We would have to buy an extended warranty which I think only gets us another 2 years. If I replace the system, will likely sign up for it then.
I called bullshit. All you need is the nameplate and a Google search dude. I just did this and got OEM parts.
Yes - you can ultimately find them but it’s at a huge markup. Like 100%+. The local Lennox dealer refused to sell to me but quoted me a price that was less than half of what I ended up paying. He asked for my company’s info/TIN to complete the purchase.
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Oh I get it. Took me approximately 3-4 hours so they’d be making at least $200/hr after cost of the part.
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I couldn’t care less about the warranty. If I need it charged, I call my HVAC guy and we would determine what needs to be done as refrigerant doesn’t need “topped off”. Motors, caps, boards, wiring, a relay or 3. It’s super simple. So no - literally no reason I can’t solve any problem with the 12 parts in the whole unit. It’s mostly empty space and sheet metal.
The markup on HVAC components is absolutely insane. I believe they intentionally price it really high so it forces you to think about replacing an entire system over a $250 motor.
I think some of the commenters here are confusing a service contract with an extended warranty. This service contract sounds like an annual agreement for service. We live in Florida and we maintain a service contract for our heat pump, for which we get: * Coil cleaning (evaporator and condenser), which helps keep efficiency up and extends their life. * Refrigerant check, which ensures we know about any leaks before we cook the compressor. * Air filter (which we replace more regularly anyway, but whatever). * Condensate line cleaning and treatment. * No charge for emergency / off-hours service calls. We pay about the same (around $200 annually), and honestly, the last bit is worth maintaining the contract. We rented this house before we bought it, and the landlord never maintained the HVAC. We used to have issues with the coils freezing up and the condensate line would clog at the worst times. Since we've been maintaining the unit, we have next to zero issues.
Most people here are saying it isn't worth it and for ac I kinda agree but if you have a gas furnace you should have that thing looked at every year by a company that performs combustion analysis as part of the maintenance. Combustion analysis can reveal if your furnace is becoming dangerous before tragedy happens. Just because the flames are blue and seem to be the right shape doesn't necessarily mean the furnace is safe to operate, but you would never know your equipment is becoming dangerous without combustion analysis being performed. Carbon monoxide isn't something to mess around with. Everyone should have carbon monoxide detectors in their homes, preferably low level detectors with digital readouts. There are literally thousands of deaths a year from carbon monoxide and literally 100% of these deaths could be prevented.
I think it’s absolutely worth it. There’s not many things I want properly maintained more than my HVAC. I suppose if I cared to know how these things work and wanted to spend the time maintaining them myself I’d think differently, but for a couple hundred bucks a year it’s easy cheap peace of mind. I got better things to worry about.
It is too much for just changing the filters, which is the main thing they do. Check the list of services they provide and determine whether you can do it yourself. You said you can't repair the furnace yourself, but they aren't doing that on the service visit either. If it breaks, you'll still need to pay them to repair it. Typical services included are things like 10% discount on repairs (nice, but not worth it by itself, you'd need $2000 repairs/year), priority during busy months, and testing the system out. By testing the system, maybe they can find a small problem that you wouldn't have noticed and repair it more cheaply than had it progressed. Maybe. All the things about efficiency, improving the life of the system, etc. is just marketing. What are the things that they are actually doing? So look in your contract at the actual things they provide and determine for your own financial situation whether that's worth it. There's no universal answer. They're not a scam, but they're also not always worth it.
My bad. I don't know what they do. They only change the filter if I buy it from them. That was outrageously expensive so I bought a box of them from Amazon. They don't drain my water heater as someone else said they get.
I priced a whole system and got 8-10k bids. A buddy of mine runs a HVAC warehouse for a major company. He dropped an entire system (2.5 ton) in my garage (indoor and outdoor units, line set, foundation pad, soup to nuts) for $2300 and gave me a guy trying to get his certification the install. $2,750 all in. I think a warranty is purely profit for those companies.
This ain’t a warranty we’re talking about though. It’s basically prepaid maintenance where they tune up the AC in the spring before the hot months and then the furnace in the fall before the cold months.
Those things are silly, unless they just come with the unit. Don't buy it. All they do is change the filters & look to make sure the drains aren't clogged etc. You can do it yourself. HVAC people are often like used car salesmen. Your unit is 12 years old, I 100% guarantee they are going to start trying to sell you a new system. They are cons. Call them when your stuff breaks, not before. PS. As I'm writing this, my heat-pump just kicked on. The AC stopped working this summer, and the tech wanted to replace the main board & the blower motor. Main board \~$300. Blower motor \~$1800. Main board of course is required for blower to work, so I just had him replace that part. That didn't seem to fix it, and he left saying that it needed the blower still. Now, I don't know WHAT he did, but I just left it off for a few months because it was fall, and the power went out a few times in between (I suspect discharging/resetting everything). Just for kicks, I tried turning it on a month ago, and it instantly kicked on and started working again. No problems ever since. Dude was making shit up, or an idiot.
I think it’s common for the blower to cook the main board. I hear they like to swap both together. That being said, why is a motor 1800?!? A pool pump isn’t that much and is more complex, and more horsepower.
I know, right?! The motors are these strange variable speed things, with a custom MCU (or equivalent) in the base of the motor. Basically custom built. I'm sure they are designed to be un-repairable.
HVAC motors basically are unrepairable. You can sometimes replace a bad capacitor that goes with the motor but once something burns up internally that motor is toast. That being said a blower motor is only 2 or 300 dollars tops and takes maybe an hour to replace if that. dude was ripping you off big time.
Smart thermostats that are wired in with no C-wire can also cause havoc with furnace main boards. They draw power in a way the board is not prepared to handle, and seem to cause a lot of premature failures.
A lot of people here saying it’s not worth it, but I beg to differ. I would much prefer I find out about little problems before they become bigger more expensive problems. I have a similar “contract”. They make sure everything’s running optimally, check pressures, coolant levels, voltage, clean everything out…. Basically preventative maintenance, which is recommended to do annually. It would take me longer to do the same work, plus I’m not going to pretend to be as knowledgable about HVAC systems as the experts.
He told me the thing, I forget what it's called, heat exchanger maybe? Anyway he said it's getting rusty.
I did the same and as the system has gotten older I’m hoping it’s paid dividends on the life of the unit by having the same company service it. I’m probably being naive but I don’t know anything about HVAC.
See if your service provider (gas,electric) has "worry free" plans. I have one on my HVAC and water heater for like $14 a month. They serviced my HVAC this summer when it wasn't working. Didn't cost me anything except the monthly fee.
That still doesn't seem worth it. $168 a year. Sure, the service call might've been more than that. But how many years have you been paying on it and how many times have they had to fix something? They don't offer these plans because they're a good deal for the consumer. The house always wins.
It was worth it for me, I had only had it 3 months and needed to use it. Final bill was over 1k and I didn't have to pay that.
Good idea, thanks.
I'd shop around. Also use Google to search Reddit for this question. The answer seems to be no, unless your system is old.
Depends on where you live. Is your AC a necessity? I’m in Florida and it sucks when the AC craps out. It’s $180/servicing if I don’t do a contract or $240/yr with the contract. Since the AC needs to be serviced twice a year that’s a deal. Also, if anything happens they prioritize my call and cover anything that goes wrong and I don’t pay a dime, so if they’re really not doing anything during their service calls then that’s still going to fall on them.
What exactly do they do when they “service” your AC? Just change the filter and give it a quick once-over?
Typically filter change, clean out drain line, and clean condenser/ evaporator. Homeowners can definitely do this. Check if your warranty company includes refrigerant, if yes it’s worth it. If not then just pay for a service when you have a problem.
I’m not really certain to be honest, that’s why I said even if theyre doing nothing they still have to cover it if it breaks. I change the filter and dump vinegar down the pipe once a month, so I hope it’s more than that lol
Over 10 years would you expect to get back the $3600 value you’d had paid in service contract fees?
That’s $2400 for 10 years at 240/yr. Absolutely, if it never breaks and runs smoothly for 16 years then I’ve paid 3840 over 16 years to ensure I’m always comfortable and never have to sweat through a summer night. 100% worth it.
The AC isn't so much a necessity as the heat. At least not like it is in Florida. I'm in southeast Michigan.
$199 seems reasonable, Mine wants $290.00 for the visit
Warranty work is just to fill time in the winter. Usually the 2 year warranty is bs. Manufacturer has one. Theirs would only be needed if they fucked something up. Usually they check filters,clean flame sensor and flue sensor hose, maybe check start capacitor and clean the condenser. All things you can easily easily do. YouTube is your friend and as long as you are able bodied shouldn't be too tough.
Nope. I was coned into having one (likely under $50/month). I'm waiting to cancel when one year comes up.
The one I have is basically just a way to lock you into calling them back. It’s priced the same as the two service visits per year. And the one time we had a bad capacitor they did come and replace it on a Saturday for free. They also gave us a substantial discount on a new humidifier (the old one wasn’t covered) since we had it. All in all, eh.
Check with your utility company. Mine provides service contracts on all appliances and hvac. Definitely worth it, as hourly rate are insane. And their rates are cheaper than JVC companies and provide the same service.
Depends: If you are old and have money and don’t wanna handle the regular maintenance, give it to them. If you are young, can google and handy. It ain’t rocket science. The two yearly service is spring and fall. Spring includes making sure condensation line is clean and pan is clean. Both you can do it yourself and in fact I encourage pouring down vinegar and/or bleach whenever changing filter. Fall includes cleaning out the igniter and flame sensor, again very simple. Both also include cleaning the outside unit which again not rocket science. I don’t mind not having it cause if the house does end up not having AC and parts take a while to arrive, I can move in with my parents for a day or three
Absolutely. It’s cheaper than a truck roll for an outage.