AboutJim Barnhart Expertise Fifty + years in Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning, Sheet Metal Manufacturing.
Semi retired since 1995,
Experience Answer questions about , residential and commercial.
Answer questions about sheet metal fabrication.
Fifty years plus experience.
No answers for oil equipment, No answers for kitchen appliances, No answers for laundry appliances.
Question QUESTION: Trying to help out my elderly father down in Fla. He is asking me about getting a service contract for his Air Conditioner. I guess he has had several solicitations. He did tell me the unit is at least 15 years old. What kind of contract or what should be in a service contract, especially since the unit is as old as it is.
ANSWER: Matt,
A service contract for an air conditioner is just like medical insurance for a person.
There are premiums, co-pays, and services that aren't included.
First you need to read the contract carefully, the small print, the different ways something might be interpreted.
A fifteen year old air conditioner might be pro rated?
What ever the service contract says is what you can expect.
A service contract is only as good as the company it's written with.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: thanks for your quick response. in doing some checking i have read that service contracts are really not worth the money. just pay for a service call to inspect and clean and if the unit breaks down, pay for it then.
with my dad's a/c unit being 15 years old i would think it may be more likely to break down or need to be replaced.
any further thoughts?
thanks,
Matt
Answer Matt,
Sorry, I misunderstood what you were looking at.
What you need is a home warranty service. You pay a yearly premium which covers a lot of different things like plumbing problems, stove, refrigerator, electrical, etc. heating and air conditioning units are an optional add on. For an extra premium price they will cover the air conditioning system, if it needs anything you pay a co-pay around $35 and they pay the rest to fix it, if they can't fix it they will give you a new one.
I agree a service contract is a waste of money just for an occasional filter change.
