Why Do Maintenance Prices Very so Much?

Why do some companies charge $29 for maintenance and others charge up to
$200?!? What’s the difference?
It’s time for the annual planned maintenance for your a/c unit. You hop on Google
or Yelp and start playing company roulette. Throughout your search you might
find prices as low as $29 and some upwards of $200. What the what??
The old adage ‘You get what you pay for’ is easy to say to others, but it’s not as
easy to heed the advice when it’s your turn to make a purchase.
The word maintenance doesn’t mean the same thing to every company. Most
companies in Tampa Bay use “a/c maintenance” as the thing they offer to get in
your home. A price of $29-$79 for an actual planned maintenance is ludicrous. It
costs more than $79 to take your phone call or web message, arrange the
appointment, dispatch a professional technician, have him/her at your home for
60-90 minutes, and cover the cost of the materials needed to clean and service
your system(s). If all your machine needs is the annual planned maintenance ask
yourself, “How they are able to come out for so little money and stay in
business?” To put it bluntly – $29-$79 isn’t enough to pay the bills. The plan is to
sell you stuff once they get out there to make the money they actually need to
stay in business.
Is this always a bad thing? No, not always, but it’s a bit disingenuous. Not only is
it like bait-and-switch, but you’re probably not getting a legitimate maintenance.
[They] hope you call them because of the cheap fee and when they come out
they can find something to fix, or add on, along with the “maintenance.”
Here is what a planned air conditioning service should entail:
Disassembly and cleaning of the outside unit.
The top should be removed so that any trash or leave can be removed from
inside the unit. Leaves can clog the drains in the bottom of the unit and even
build up high enough to block airflow through the coils.
The coils outside should have a foaming cleaner sprayed on and then thoroughly
rinsed from the inside to the outside.
Electrical components should be tested for wear and the connections tightened.
The electrical connections in the unit need to be tightened every year because
heat and dissimilar metals contribute to them getting loose.

The drain line should be cleaned from outside with a wet/dry vacuum.
This is a good skill to learn from your technician. This is one of the more common
problems that you can fix yourself. From time to time the drain can clog and turn
the unit off (if you have a correctly functioning water sensor). Knowing how to
clean the drain can save time and money verses calling us out to perform this
quick fix.
Inside of the air handler a self-rinsing cleaner is applied to the indoor coils.
The indoor unit has electrical connections that require the same attention as the
outside unit.
The inside unit should be inspected for mold or bacteria buildup.
The ductwork should be evaluated for mold, leaks, and fallen or collapsed ducts.
The thermostat will be tested for accuracy and the system should be cycled
through all of the functions.
Once the unit is clean the electrical consumption and refrigerant charge can be
verified.
The entire cleaning and evaluation normally takes 60-90 minutes.
Planned maintenance prices at Hot 2 Cold vary from $129-$189 depending
on the promotions available. Give us a call and arrange your planned
maintenance today.