HVAC Twice-Yearly Inspections: Any value?

[Amethyst]

When we replaced our 2 HVAC units (heat pumps) in 2014, we also signed up for twice-yearly inspections by a technician. This costs around $300 a year.

This year, in between inspections, one of the outdoor units froze up and needed service. Turned out to be a faulty thermostat. Warranty covers parts but not labor. Cost for just over an hour of service: $285.00.

Shouldn't a twice-yearly inspection catch faulty parts? If not, what is the point, other than to make more money for the HVAC company?

P.S. We are not DIYers.

 

[pb4uski]

I think your expectations are too high. Parts can fail between inspections... especially parts that are binary and either work or don't which is common with many electronic parts these days.

I only do annual inspections for my HVAC.

 

[Amethyst]

So, it seems you feel inspections do have some value. If you could not do them yourself, would you see value in paying a technician to do them?

I think your expectations are too high. Parts can fail between inspections... especially parts that are binary and either work or don't which is common with many electronic parts these days.

I only do annual inspections for my HVAC.

 

[pb4uski]

What other choice would one have if you could not do them yourself?

 

[Amethyst]

Well, true. But what would be the Big Bad Result if one never had the units inspected at all?

They are about to go out of warranty, so keeping the warranty active is not a reason for the inspections.

What other choice would one have if you could not do them yourself?

 

[folivier]

There is a good value in having yearly maintenance inspections. Think about it, all of the air in your house moves through the system. Lots of dust that sits everywhere.
The outside unit is even worse where the compressor coils suck up dust, dirt, pollen, etc. and cause partial blockages to the coils. This causes the unit to work harder and use more electricity. There are other things the yearly check should do but the major items are cleaning the coils.

 

[JoeWras]

The most important item for longevity and good operation is the quality of the install.


For the first 10 years, all these "inspections" will mostly be unnecessary.


This is a cash cow operation. All businesses today are seeking recurring revenue. This is one way they do it.


After 10 years, I would think an occasional (every other year) look is generally good enough. And as a homeowner, you got to keep yourself in tune with the HVAC. At the first sign of anything different, call your service people. Especially any smell. And ALWAYS have a CO detector running.

 

[gauss]

IMHO - I could see value in an inspection to make sure the evaporator drain tube is working properly.

If excess condensate water is allowed to accumulate below the evaporator, and the evaporator is in contact with it, it could cause the evaporator to develop a leak - a BIG expense.

Otherwise it would seem to be mostly energy efficiency issues (ie clean coils to improve outside air flow etc).

This assumes that the hvac (Aka furnace) filter is changed on a regular basis.

-gauss

P.S. I do believe that there is some truth that the twice a year inspection for $300 is a significant revenue stream to the HVAC company. If you are not DIYers , on the other hand, then it may be a good match - economically speaking.

P.P.S This is all said from the perspective of someone who lives in the relatively comfortable Midwest (ie not south Florida, Texas etc.)

 

[Red Badger]

We bought our current home when it was 10 YO. We never had our system serviced in the next 10 years. At about the 15 year mark, the fan timer board failed - damage (burn marks) suggested a voltage spike - nothing an inspection would have prevented.

Replaced entire unit (AC/furnace) last year (21 year mark) before retiring. Will probably have checks performed every other year. YMMV.

 

[REWahoo]

Shouldn't a twice-yearly inspection catch faulty parts? If not, what is the point, other than to make more money for the HVAC company?

No, inspections will rarely catch faulty parts, they are primarily revenue generators for service companies. I don't see the value in paying for periodic HVAC inspections.

 

[Newventurer]

No, inspections will rarely catch faulty parts, they are primarily revenue generators for service companies. I don't see the value in paying for periodic HVAC inspections.

+1, worse yet, they find things that ‘need’ to be replaced and recommend replacement prematurely, my neighbor with a contract confirms this.

Consider:
https://www.angieslist.com/articles/hvac-service-contracts-waste-money.htm

 

[Dawg52]

No, inspections will rarely catch faulty parts, they are primarily revenue generators for service companies. I don't see the value in paying for periodic HVAC inspections.

I've been in my current house for 3+ years and last summer was the first time I had someone out to check the unit. Wasn't having a problem but the house is 12 years old so thought it might be a good idea for a check. They did a quick inspection of the furnace, checked the freon level and washed out the o/s unit. Everything was fine and they charged $90. There are places in town that will do it for $60 but I have done business with these guys over the years and trust them. They didn't try selling me on having periodic checks either.

 

[RunningBum]

Twice definitely seems like overkill. I try to do it every year, but some years I forget to call, and this year they were backed up and never got to me. If you're very lucky a part might be starting to fail and can be detected but I don't think that's too likely. Hopefully they can spot a cracked heat exchanger but the CO monitor already suggested can alert you to that. Changing filters is important, but you can do that yourself.

 

[AS2019]

The real value IMO is that if you have a service contract, when something does go wrong, they move you to the top of their priority list for repairs - in front of all the service calls they get from people without a contract. When the AC goes out in mid July it’s nice to have them show up rather quickly.

 

[fosterscik]

We lived for 10 years in Florida and over twenty in Mississippi. I have never paid for an inspection. The Florida unit never failed. I’ve had to have 1 blower fan replaced in the internal unit in all that time. Annual inspections are a waste of money imho

 

[CardsFan]

When we replaced our 2 HVAC units (heat pumps) in 2014, we also signed up for twice-yearly inspections by a technician. This costs around $300 a year.

This year, in between inspections, one of the outdoor units froze up and needed service. Turned out to be a faulty thermostat. Warranty covers parts but not labor. Cost for just over an hour of service: $285.00.

Shouldn't a twice-yearly inspection catch faulty parts? If not, what is the point, other than to make more money for the HVAC company?

P.S. We are not DIYers.

I think twice a year might be excessive. The normal excuse for twice a year is once for the A/C, and once for the furnace.

That being said, the most important thing they should do is clean the outside coil. And I mean really clean by opening the unit and blasting it with water from the inside out. The newer units have a lot more fins, with tighter spacing, in order to boost efficiency. These are easily clogged with pollen, grass clippings, dust (and around here, cottonwood "fluff").

If you are not DIYers, then this is money well spent.

 

[Corporateburnout]

The first year after we moved into our new construction townhome 7 years ago we contacted the installer and asked him about an annual maintenance check. He said it's a waste of money and replacing the air filters every two months is all I need. So far so good.

In 12 years of living in our previous home we never had an annual inspection done despite the company's repeated mailings and phone calls. We only had one of the thermostat go and an annual inspection would not have prevented it.

 

[zinger1457]

I had mine inspected once and the inspector was in/out so quick it was like WTF. It's been almost 20 years since, I keep an eye on it and make sure it's working properly and not making any unusual sounds, and change the filters regularly.

 

[Jerry1]

Agree with what's been said. Unless inspection includes some maintenance, it's not worth it. Cleaning the coils, especially outside as CardsFan mentions is the main thing that needs done. Follow the guy around the next time he's there to inspect and watch what he actually does. The first and last time I had an inspection, the guy turned on the unit, watched it run for a bit and that was it. I'm not paying for that. HAVC is not like a car where things go bad over time, where presumably you would notice by hearing or seeing something wrong. In my experience, they just stop working one day (usually the hottest or coldest day of the year). If I was going to pay for anything it would be a service contract that would have me in front of the line for a quick response when it does go bad.

 

[45th Birthday]

I'd say it depends on where the units are. In our Florida place, the AC compressors sit about 150 feet from the ocean. They get cleaned and serviced twice a year, despite being relatively new. In our northern place, we have the boiler cleaned and serviced once a year, but not the AC units.

 

[GrayHare]

HVAC does not have required periodic maintenance, other than air filters, so there's essentially nothing an inspection can protect against. An inspection generally cannot accurately detect equipment that will fail soon.

The most common failure that occurs with heat pump systems is one you can easily watch for yourself, whether the fan on the outdoor unit spins when the unit is on. If it fails during the summer you will notice a lack of cooling, but during the winter the backup heat will engage so you might not notice until the arrival of a higher than usual electricity bill. There's a starter capacitor for the fan that often fails after 5 to 10 years. Its imminent failure generally cannot be detected by inspection.

 

[misshathaway]

Think twice about having the oil delivery company also do the annual maintenance through a service contract. I had a contract with my oil company because I live in New England and wanted to prevent anything going wrong with the furnace during the winter.

I have an old oil tank in the basement. Every year they tested the inside for any thinness in the walls with a camera and it was fine. They have also told me that the legs were rusty but not an immediate problem. Last inspection was a year ago. Then I had one this past December.

The guy who came out this year told me that two of the legs were completely rusted out and the tank could tip over if they filled it, so they weren't going to deliver oil any more. He told me to call the service manager about it. This was in the middle of December and I had 1/4 of a tank left. He said if it got to an emergency situation they would try to work something out. I said I would have somebody else deliver but he said nobody else would because they would want to look at the oil tank before filling it.

Service manager drove to my house and told me he had an in with the tank replacement company they worked with, which I would need since it was busy season for tank replacement. What a nice guy! He called his "in" from my basement. His friend from the tank replacement company came a couple hours later. He told me they could squeeze in the replacement if I would allow them to come and do it some weekend night because they were swamped with work. He could not guarantee that they could replace it before the oil ran out. His replacement cost was a 1/3 higher than the going rate which I had already checked out.

I called another oil tank replacement company the next day, Friday. They came that Monday and the whole thing was done by Monday afternoon at the going rate.

There is a reasonable explanation for every step in that process, and blame for me for not being more interested in what they were actually doing at each inspection and for not asking how long the oil tank legs were going to last. However, I'll be changing my own furnace filter from now on and possibly getting my plumber, who also does HVAC, to have a look once in awhile.

 

[JoeWras]

Great to hear you stood up to these guys, misshathaway!

This kind of thing you speak about is also rampant in car repair and maintenance.

 

[Ian S]

I bought an Trane extended warranty (10 years) with my HVAC two years ago and I believe it requires an annual inspection. Last year's inspection was part of the original deal but I will have to pay for this year's.

In general, it's probably good practice to have the coils cleaned regularly but oft times, these spring tuneups (especially the too good to be true priced ones) are just ways for the HVAC company to find minor problems and over-charge you to fix them. I mean c'mon, I have in my hand a flyer for a Spring tune-up for only $29.95; they're losing money on that so they have to find some repair to charge you for!

 

[audreyh1]

I've been in my current house for 3+ years and last summer was the first time I had someone out to check the unit. Wasn't having a problem but the house is 12 years old so thought it might be a good idea for a check. They did a quick inspection of the furnace, checked the freon level and washed out the o/s unit. Everything was fine and they charged $90. There are places in town that will do it for $60 but I have done business with these guys over the years and trust them. They didn't try selling me on having periodic checks either.

That’s what we did. And every other year thereafter.

Ants had gotten into a neighbor’s switch and their AC shut down while they were gone traveling.