HVAC – Quality over Quantity

Things to consider when buying a new HVAC system

Let’s face it when it comes to deciding who is to perform your HVAC work the options are endless. 100’s of licensed companies exist in basically every region of every state, that’s not to mention unlicensed contractors. With such a wide range of people to perform work, the variety of prices and customer service experiences on the back end is just as vast. As a homeowner, a few points come to mind right off the bat when making a decision on who to do business with. Price tends to be at the top of many peoples lists. Followed by the quality of work and customer service. From an industry standpoint making price your main factor in choosing a company to work with is actually not the long term smart move. Heating, venting, and air conditioning systems are not just a simple in-home appliance that is taken out, replaced by a new one and then plugged back into the wall. This is not a refrigerator, these are systems that run constantly to keep you and your family comfortable and dry.

Now with these new systems when installed properly can now save significant amounts of money for you while providing exceptional air quality to your family. Cheaper is not always better, we know this is true in a lot of other examples of life. Be careful of the “side job” guys, and the unlicensed contractor. Yes, these are the people offering the best prices that seem amazing at the time of purchase but a lot of times this can be the biggest trick to the homeowner. Do research on anyone who you are considering to do work in your home. Reviewscarry a lot of weight. When dealing with smaller one-man shows, another potential long term issue is the service of that new system.

When push comes to shove let’s face it, if the person performing the work on your home is not from a legitimate company with service tech support. How is that same guy going to be at your home on the fly if an issue pops up if that same person is at someone else’s house installing another system? You the homeowner end up waiting with an unconditioned home for who knows how long. By this point in time, many homeowners get frustrated and end up calling a professional company. That brings us to another point, quality of work. Just like every company’s price varies so does the internal quality of work and techs doing this work. You can buy the most expensive, high-end, 20 SEER air conditioning system and the facts are if the people installing it are not trained specifically in that equipment brand and the installation of it. You literally just have a super expensive metal box.

When a company becomes a certified dealer of a brand, most brands require some type of yearly required training to keep the contractors on the forefront of new features and technology’s constantly coming out in this industry. On top of that, these brands offer many options for voluntary training that techs can be sent to every month or two. It is key to be a pro at each brand that is installed. In-proper installation can lead to all kinds of issues long term and very possibly greatly shortening the life of that system. These are things some homeowners do not consider when initially seeing that tempting “low price”. In the long run, going that cheaper route really may end up costing you more. Another big factor is making sure that the company can get you the warranties you deserve. Pretty much industry wide most all residential equipment brands feature a base 5 years parts and 5 years compressor warranty. However, when these brands are installed by a licensed dealer of that equipment and then registered with the installing company’s information that warranty gets upgraded to a registered 10-year part and 10-year compressor warranty. Doing work with a company that may not be a dealer of a brand that is sold to you could lead to non-eligibility for warranty’s and ultimately becoming a huge disservice to the consumer. As a homeowner, the best way to prevent all these issues is simply to research. Know who you are doing business with, make sure that the company you decide to work with has a track record of good customer service. You want a company that looks out for you long term and makes it a point to provide the best service possible. Facts are a customer that buys a system from you now will inevitably need to purchase another.

One of our biggest goals at Browning Heating and Air Conditioning, we want customers for life. Be careful of the guys that just want to sell an install and then seem to vanish into thin air. Google reviews tend to have a lot of honest, valuable information for a consumer. If a company has zero reviews or online reputation do you think that reflects positively on that brand? Just remember these are systems (some using natural gas) that run almost 365 days a year keeping your family comfortable. We do not notice how important HVAC systems are to our every day until an issue arises. Just remember to consider quality over quantity, to pay a little more now for guaranteed great customer service might just save you big in the long run.