[MomMom]

Originally Posted by danknee

i'll bet you rep points we don't! Well, i've repped you too recently, but asap rep points.

lol....

[Robustus]

Turned mine on today for the first time this year (first time since I've owned the house, actually). Would've gone another day or two, but my wife's sister came into town last night. Meh.

Probably gonna leave it set at a comfortable 83 or so. Coming from the East coast, it feels strange to refer to 83 indoors as "comfortable", but it is here...

[StaggerLee22]

Preemptive Bump.

I had an AC company come and service my unit {}...they cleaned the ducts...acid washed the coils...some other stuff.
He was here for almost 3 hours.
Now I'm fully complaint with my home owners insurance policy.
Damn service set me back $670.
ARGHHHHH

[C_A_Braun]

Originally Posted by StaggerLee22

Preemptive Bump.

I had an AC company come and service my unit {}...they cleaned the ducts...acid washed the coils...some other stuff.
He was here for almost 3 hours.
Now I'm fully complaint with my home owners insurance policy.
Damn service set me back $670.
ARGHHHHH

Yeah, I had a coupon for an AC checkup that I used last week. It was a $40 coupon and by the time he was done I was writing a check for over $200 and he wanted to do more.

I wish I was more mechanically inclined as I am sure the part he replaced at a cost of $160 was nothing more than a $10 part.

I am a self admitted idiot when it comes to things mechanical and electrical.

[MadManofBethesda]

I've never been a proponent of duct cleaning, as there has never been any proof that it prevents illness or even that dirty ducts lead to increased levels of airborne particles in homes. But if you're going to get it done, according to the National Air Duct Cleaners Association it should take 2 technicians between 8-15 hours to clean a 2000 sq. ft. house.

Scam Alert: Avoid

(The Scam Alert title in the link above from Consumer Reports is in reference to scammers in the industry, not reputable duct cleaning companies. However, they still only recommend having ducts cleaned in limited circumstances, such as if someone is suffering from unexplained allergies.)

[C_A_Braun]

I had the ducts cleaned in my Calif. home a couple of years back. Maybe it was just in my head, but I believe that my A/C ran much more efficiently and kept the house much cooler after the fact.

Just my personal experience, but I think it was well worth it.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by C_A_Braun

I had the ducts cleaned in my Calif. home a couple of years back. Maybe it was just in my head, but I believe that my A/C ran much more efficiently and kept the house much cooler after the fact.

That shouldn't be hard to measure, using your utility bills from before and after the cleaning. Assuming the temperature outside was roughly the same both months.

Or you could compare August 2009 to August 2010 if that makes more sense, again assuming avg. monthly temperature and AC usage was about the same. If the AC was much more efficient, your bills should reflect that.

[C_A_Braun]

Complicating such a measurement would be that we had the ducts cleaned during mid winter and really didn't need A/C for a few months after the fact. Also we had our solar panels turned on in March so where our bill for June the year before came in at around $250-300 most likely, our bill for June of last year was between $1 - 2.

I suppose I could get into the nitty gritty of my bills and compare kWh used and generated to the previous years used, but that is just too much hassle. I will stick with the "It felt like things were running more efficiently and my home was cooler."

[Croce]

For some reason it seems that Las Vegas is more prone to these unscrupulous characters than other cities. A couple years ago I was approached in the Centennial Home Depot to take advantage of a furnace checkup for $89 dollars. I agreed and clearly told the girl my whole point was to have the pilot light ajusted lower, since it was running a little high. When the technician arrived, I went up into the attic with him to observe him fiddle with the furnace, just to improve my chances that he wouldn't eff it up on purpose. Fortunately he did not, he first said that the furnace needed replaced and that he had a deal on a furnace and a/c unit installed for $8000. When I absolutely convinced him that I wasn't buying a new unit. He told me that for the unit's age it was in pretty good shape. Then he tried to sell me duct cleaning for $900. After trying to convince him I did not want duct cleaning, he finished checking the furnace. I walked him back out to his truck and paid him, although he did nothing but take covers off, look around and put covers back. BTW, he said the pilot light was not adjustable.

When we got back out to his truck he told me to wait a minute and pulled a guitar out of the back and started singing Dillon songs for me. He said he practiced between calls. I went back to Home Depot and complained - they apologized.

Lesson learned. If your units are working, just replace the filters and don't mess with them. Unless you really know and trust the technician, it's bound to cost you more money having routine service performed when compared to the little bit of savings in better efficiency IF he does his job correctly and that's a big IF. If you want to be exposed to these type of sales techniques, just go to a time share presentation. At least you'll get free show tickets out of the deal and you won't have to worry about your furnace being sabotaged.

Good luck,
Croce

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Croce

For some reason it seems that Las Vegas is more prone to these unscrupulous characters than other cities. A couple years ago I was approached in the Centennial Home Depot to take advantage of a furnace checkup for $89 dollars. I agreed and clearly told the girl my whole point was to have the pilot light ajusted lower, since it was running a little high. When the technician arrived, I went up into the attic with him to observe him fiddle with the furnace, just to improve my chances that he wouldn't eff it up on purpose. Fortunately he did not, he first said that the furnace needed replaced and that he had a deal on a furnace and a/c unit installed for $8000. When I absolutely convinced him that I wasn't buying a new unit. He told me that for the unit's age it was in pretty good shape. Then he tried to sell me duct cleaning for $900. After trying to convince him I did not want duct cleaning, he finished checking the furnace. I walked him back out to his truck and paid him, although he did nothing but take covers off, look around and put covers back. BTW, he said the pilot light was not adjustable.

When we got back out to his truck he told me to wait a minute and pulled a guitar out of the back and started singing Dillon songs for me. He said he practiced between calls. I went back to Home Depot and complained - they apologized.

Lesson learned. If your units are working, just replace the filters and don't mess with them. Unless you really know and trust the technician, it's bound to cost you more money having routine service performed when compared to the little bit of savings in better efficiency IF he does his job correctly and that's a big IF. If you want to be exposed to these type of sales techniques, just go to a time share presentation. At least you'll get free show tickets out of the deal and you won't have to worry about your furnace being sabotaged.

Good luck,
Croce

Dumb question that is kind of random from your post...your furnace is in the attic? Is that normal? If so why? Just curious!