656. Worth It or Waste of Money? The Truth About Maintenance Plans.

Home and life comfort with Derek Cole. Hey folks, Derek Cole here, your friend and covered in energy savings. And today I want to talk about. Well, I want to tackle a question I have gotten. Are H vac maintenance plans worth it? Actually, I had a lady come up here a few weeks ago and point blank asked me, do I really need this? I have a newer unit. And you know, it's, it's a fair question. I mean, nobody wants to throw away money as something that doesn't make a difference, right? But let me tell you, this one does. I give her the same analogy I'm going to give you right now. Think about your car for a second. You wouldn't drive 50,000 miles without changing the oil, would you? Of course not, because the engine wouldn't last very long. Well, your HV system, H VAC system works the same way. Even a thin layer of dirt, we're talking like 1/20 of an inch, very small. So if you take a, take a hair measure inch, cut the inch and then cut that 1 inch into 20 pieces and that's 1 20th, right? So that's very small. 1 20th of an inch can cause your system to lose over 20% efficiency. That's according to the EBA. EPA. That's not Darius numbers. That's not Simmons one hour numbers. That's not. That's the EPA saying that this lady had a newer unit, so she bought a high efficient newer unit. Well, if dirt piles up, that new unit, that high vision unit is not high efficient anymore. So saying that means if you have like a 14 sear system, you just bought a 14 sear system, it may be running like an old 10 sear unit. Because of his dirt and neglect over time, you pay for that efficiency. Don't waste it. Now, what's actually in a maintenance plan? Most plans include two tune ups, precision tune ups each year every, you know, kind of spaced out every six months. During those visits, the technician should clean your coil, check your blower wheel, check and clean your drain line. We are in southeastern North Carolina. We have a lot of water drain line issues with split systems. Clean that drain line because the gook and everything clogs the drain line and it can clog up. And once it clogs up, it caused a problem because now the water is backing up. If it's in the attic and you have a ceiling saver switch, if that drain backs up, that water hits that sensor, cuts that unit off so you don't have a damaged ceiling. Now, a lot of folks don't even have that so they end up with a damaged ceiling. But I digress, I digress. Check refrigerant temperatures, check the temperature splits, check the electrical components. A lot of folks want us to hook our gauges up to unit. We do a maintenance and if the temperature splits on the supply and return are within range, there's no reason to hook up gauges to it. All that does, no matter how hard you try, you got low loss fittings on your gauges. No matter what happens, you're going to lose refrigerant. And it leaves the possibility when you take those hoses off, the damage that in refrigerant starts leaking out after you leave. So we do everything we can not to put gauges on it, but if you have to put gauges on it, you have to. And then there's some precautions you can do to make sure it's not leaking when you take the gauges off. If you follow those precautions. But anyway, check refrigerant temperatures, check levels, check electrical components. You know, you know, companies are a little different. We view it, we check temperatures, some actually hook up gauges and check levels. Either way, it is what it is. Testing safety devices. Your system has safety devices. You want to do a safety check on your system to make sure everything's firing off the way it should. You want to find small issues before they become big expensive ones. One thing I've seen this, you know, going to the fall, we have changed a lot of run capacitors. Now a run capacitor typically is found on the blower side, which brings the air into the house. So with those capacitors being filled, being weak, they're going to not work anymore when they're under extreme load. So when they under the most stress, it's not those 75, 80 degree days. It's those hot cold days where it's extreme temperatures and extreme stress. So one thing to do is to have that maintenance done. And we've caught those capacitors before that system stops working altogether. That's preventative care. The difference between it runs and it runs like new is different. Here's the kicker. These plans save you money. Not just repairs, but energy bills, parts, even peace of mind sims one hour. The comfort club members, they get priority scheduling, discounts on repairs, extended warranties on repairs. That means if something ever goes wrong, you're not at the back of the line, you're at the front. And here's what most folks don't realize. A well maintained system last years longer. That's thousands of dollars in savings over time. So are H Vac maintenance plans worth it? Absolutely, yes. Every single time. They protect your comfort, they protect your investment, they protect your peace of mind. They're not an expense, they're an insurance policy against those oh no moments when your system quits on the hottest or coldest day of the year. Very rarely do they quit when It's a nice 70 degrees outside, right? But if you want to learn more or see exactly what what's included in our Comfort Club or the Smart Comfort Club, check out the full article over on our blog@simmons1hour.com. But thanks for tuning in to the Home and Life Comfort podcast. If this helped you today, share it with a friend or a neighbor who's on the fence about Maintenance, Home and Life Comfort with Derek Cole.