Price for central air maintenance?
We have a central air and heat system in our four-story brownstone. The company that installed the system has just quoted us a price of $1,200 for annual maintenance of the system (e.g., replacing filters, making sure there is adequate coolant, etc.). Does this strike people as high, and if so, what is a more…
We have a central air and heat system in our four-story brownstone. The company that installed the system has just quoted us a price of $1,200 for annual maintenance of the system (e.g., replacing filters, making sure there is adequate coolant, etc.). Does this strike people as high, and if so, what is a more reasonable price? And if you have recommendations for companies who do this type of maintenance work, it would be greatly appreciated as well.
bluehelen:
I realize your posting on the a/c was from 2007, but I wondered if you ever found a vendor for your system who charged reasonable fee for maintenance? I had a vendor install our central air system during a gut renovation in 2004. They charged one rate for a general maintenance contract, but them charged an additional fee to clean the coil, add coolent, etc. In the end, it was really expensive. I m in search of an alternative vendor. Do you find anyone who you ending up liking?
MKranis
A properly installed system should require only two types of maintenance: changing the filters (a 30 sec job per filter) and cleaning the inside/outside coils (does not require much time but does require some skill). `Making sure it has enough coolant’ should be covered by installation warranty as the system MUST be sealed and leak free. $1200 per year is highway robbery, plain and simple. $120 is still high but whoever comes must be paid somehow … .
I found after very painful experience that you are better off getting on the Key Span maintenance plan and it is much cheaper. Call them up, now they have a promotion I believe.
Although this is not comparing apples to apples b/c of the different city, we have a condo in Chicago that has central air (and it was a gut rehab) and it costs us about $150-200 a year in maintenance (filters, coolant, etc.). So yes, I think your price sounds pretty high.
Just curious- did you put in the central air system during a gut rehab? Or was it bought that way?