My central air quit working a few (hellish) days ago. The repairman is at the house right now and told my wife that before he can add refrigerant (the likely problem), he needs to clean the coils- a five-minute operation costing me an extra $140 that I could’ve done myself for free, but my wife already said “OK”.
Did he really have to clean the coils before adding some freon, or did he just scam some extra cash off of my sweet, innocent wife? I fail to see why that was a necessary step. Seems unrelated to me, but I’m no HVAC repairman.
He didn’t have to. But he might insist that it won’t keep cool without clean coils and he didn’t want to hear complaints about it after adding refrigerant. But it’s the $140 that’s questionable, not the need for it.
Most people would not know where those coils are located, much less that they needed to be cleaned or how to clean them.You’re not just paying for his time, you’re also paying for the expertise. Was it a ripoff? It depends on the market rate for that service in your area, which is not dependent on the amount of time consumed by the repair. It only turned out to be unnecessary in retrospect because you knew how to do it, you know?
I think a better solution than getting angry at the repair guy is to ask your wife not to approve on-the-spot repair fees without talking to you first. $140 is a lot of money when you have the time, expertise, and tools to handle something yourself instead.
Were these the condenser or the evaporator coils? If they were the evaporator coils (in the house), the system can freeze up if they are too dirty. That can actually damage the A/C. So, he probably wouldn’t warrantee his work unless they were cleaned.
I thought those coils were hard to get at. It’s might be $10 to clean the coils, and $130 to take apart the HVAC enough to get at them, then put it all back together.
In order to determine if the coils need cleaning, a visual inspection of the coil must first be made and this usually involves cutting a section of the sheet metal housing to have a look. I had my a/c serviced years ago and the mechanic suggested the coil might need cleaning. After cutting a section of the sheet metal housing to expose the coil, he said it looked fine and nothing was needed and there was no additional charge. The sheet metal was replaced and taped into place using foil backed tape and all has been well since then.
One can of evaporator coil cleaner: $5.99
Knowing where to spray it: $134.01
As said above, the actual act of cleaning the coils is easy. Knowing where the coils are and how to get at them can be difficult, especially if they’ve never been cleaned before and they have to cut a hole in the plenum.
$140 seems high, but I don’t know what the going price is in your area. I could see costing that much if the service call was just to do that, but he’s already there, so I’d have at least asked for a discount.
Hate to say, but depending on how much, and what kind, of refrigerant they need to add, $140 for a coil clean may suddenly seem quite cheap.
At best, dirty coils will incrementally raise your utility costs, shorten the life of the unit, and influence your comfort.
At worst it will do all of the above things, if you can get it to run----which at worst, you can’t. And often it’s not a black and white issue. The technician may very well know it’s cooling at the moment (albeit poorly) and know it won’t run much longer without the coils being cleaned. In worst cases----and theres lots of them-----it won’t even cool at the moment.
When your auto mechanic says, “Listen you can drive it home, but I wouldn’t drive until you —>insert recommendation here<-----”, he’s giving you the benefit of his expertise.
To answer the OP: you almost certainly weren’t scammed. Theres a value and necessity of having clean coils. You might have been overcharged however…
Good maintenance lengthens the life of the equipment, lowers your utility costs, and improves your comfort.
If it was the outdoor coil, $140 seems outrageously high. If it was the indoor coil, $140 doesn’t seem unreasonable based on the difficulty he may have faced.
After some investigating, I feel fine about the transaction. I’m told he did a “deep cleaning” with super-duper chemicals or whatever. What sucks is that cleaning isn’t covered under the home warranty, so I had to pay the deductible with essentially bought me nothing and pay for the cleaning. I’m wondering if it woulda been cheaper to not use the warranty at all.
Tuns out the unit was indeed low on R22, so I guess I got that for “free.”
Ah well. Next year, I’ll clean them myself ahead of time.
Hijack, but somewhat relevant - why on earth should the repairman have to cut the casing of the unit in order to perform a routine maintenance task? Couldn’t the manufacturer have put in an access panel?
When an A/C system is put in with a new furnace it is common to get a “cased coil.” That is possible because the furnace and coil are from the same maker, so the case/enclosure for the coil is tailored to fit the furnace. When a cased coil is installed there is a removable cover that makes it easier to access the coil for cleaning.
In other instances----where the A/C is put in after the fact, or put in at some time other when the furnace is put in----an “uncased coil” is used. In that instance the uncased coil is installed into the duct work (called the plenum).
In those instances it is necessary to cut into the plenum to access the coil and patch it with sheet metal when done.
There’s an old saying in sales, “scare 'em, and then save 'em.”
When the technician meets you in the lobby of the Jiffy Lube and shows you your dirty air filter you’re inclined to say "go ahead and change it’; unaware that that air filter might be about 50% used. You don’t don’t know any better. It looks dirty ferpetesake.
I’m certain that there are HVAC companies that frighten you with the horrors of failed compressors and then save you with a coil cleaning that you might not need quite yet.
But I suppose if you’re going to err, err on the side of caution.
