| 803-547-7636 |
| Is Cheaper Better? |
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| In this tough economy, everyone is looking for different ways to save money. Many times we equate saving money by choosing a cheaper product or service. Unfortunately, sometimes the end result costs us extra time, more money and aggravation. In our experience, we have found that in the heating and air industry that cheaper is rarely, if ever, better. It is normal for different companies to vary some in pricing due to different overhead costs. When the prices differ dramatically, this may be an indication that you are getting a dramatically different product or service. We commonly respond to service calls where homeowners fell into this trap. They sincerely believed they were getting a quality product or service at a cheap price only to find out later that the only thing they received was a cheap price. |
| A Christmas Story We responded to a call Christmas Eve where a family had no heat. The owner had informed me that she had gotten her quality system for a great price three years ago from a "friend" who did heating and air work. Within minutes, we discovered a host of serious problems that not only prevented the system from heating, but also endangered her life and her home. Below are pictures and explanations of what we found and the repairs that we made. |
| This package heat pump had a major refrigerant leak, the auxiliary heat strips were installed backwards and had no service disconnects. |
| 1/3 of this 3-sided condenser coil was installed against the house reducing the units efficiency by over 30%. |
| Both circuits of the house electrical wiring feeding the unit were 1/2 the size that it was supposed to be. This caused the breaker to trip every time that the auxiliary heat came on. Note the metal tape holding the wire nuts on. |
| This electrical wire that went to the old unit should have been in a junction box mounted to the floor instead of hanging loose under the house. |
| The duct work was 1/2 the size it was supposed to be and was left lying on the ground to rot. This resulted in very high power bills and very little comfort. When confronted, the installer said he was trying to save the homeowner money. |
| The supply trunk line was cut completely in half in order to install this new return. The return duct was rammed up through the floor rendering part of the house with zero heat and air. |
| 3 days and $3,000 later. . . |
| After removing the entire unit and nearly all the duct work, we repaired the refrigerant leak, installed the proper size duct work and installed the proper condensate drain. |
| We reinstalled the unit away from the house to allow air flow through the entire coil and installed weather proof flashing. |
| We installed all new electrical wiring, breakers and service disconnects. We also re-installed the heat strips properly. |
| Is cheaper better? Not for this homeowner! |
