How to save a Ton on your new heating and air conditioning system

Decades of research and knowledge have gone into this list to determine the maximum amount of money that you can save on the installation cost of your new heating and air system.

1. Don’t pay for a permit. Some cities charge as little as $100 for the permit and other charge as much $600 for a permit to put in an entire heating and air system in a home. This will enable you to save money on system design and engineering costs. Moreover the installer will be able to cut corners, like not mechanically fastening ducting and using smaller electrical wire to the furnace and condenser than code allows. While the system may not work as well and the ducting may fall apart in a few years this compromise could save you as much $2,000 on a typical whole house system.

2. Don’t change out those asbestos ducts. This will save you between 3 and 4 thousand dollars. Asbestos is a long term problem and you won’t have to worry about dying from asbestos for at least 30 years after exposure. Sure the asbestos ducting isn’t insulated very well and the system will pick up heat in the summer and lose heat in the winter. It’ll only raise the monthly utility bills by $20 or $30 a month.

3. Have a newbie install the system. Most new contractors do not know how to price out the equipment that they install. When they were working for their former companies they saw all that money that the boss was raking in. They start on their own and win the proposals by using the tried and true lowest bidder price contest. Often times you will be able to get the system installed for less than the cost of the actual equipment! Don’t worry about inspections, don’t worry about the warranty. Over 95% of all new businesses go out of business in the first 5 years of business and over 80% never even make it a year. It really doesn’t matter that you won’t have a warranty. How often have you ever needed one?

4. Don’t order that 2 stage variable speed furnace. Sure the variable speed furnace filters the air better than any other furnace and sure it only uses about electricity as a 40 watt light bulb, but 20 years ago we didn’t need this level of comfort, did we? Of course you should know that ordering a single stage standard efficiency furnace won’t be whisper quiet and will cost you more to operate each month, but if were after upfront savings, that few hundred dollars is a worthwhile compromise and a little more noise never really hurt anyone. The Comfort ‘R’ feature that enables more moisture to be wrung out of the air and allows the air handler to immediately start producing colder air is a feature comfort, but even a singe stage furnace will heat the home and a single stage air handler will cool the home.

5. Go standard efficiency. One the best ways to save on initial installation cost is to go with the minimum efficiency allowed by law. Sure you’ll be giving that money back to the utility companies and helping to finance the college education of those executives children over at power & light, but it’ll take at least a few years before the break even point on the cheaper installation and your probably going to be moving anyway.

6. Go with a no name brand. You can literally save thousands in equipment cost by making sure that you get estimates on off brand equipment. You don’t need easy opening doors and rock solid manufacturer’s warranty. Just because the equipment has not been listed as needing the fewest number of repairs for more than 15 years running doesn’t mean that it won’t work.

7. Skip the dampers in the ducting. This could save you as much as a couple of hundred dollars. You’ve never needed them before and you don’t need to be able to adjust the airflow into each room as the house already has an even temperature layout.

8. Don’t sign up for a maintenance agreement. Maintain it yourself. You can check the airflow in the ducting, you can tell if the Freon level is okay, you can check for gas leaks and you certainly can change out the filter. It doesn’t matter that the number reason that heating and air systems breakdown is from lack of maintenance and items that breakdown caused by a lack of maintenance are not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty because you’ll be maintaining it. It’s not going to breakdown ever, so you don’t need priority service or discounts on future work.

9. Have the work done as a side job. Find a company that you like and a technician that is competent, caring and honest and then offer to pay him about 2/3 of his company asking price to install the equipment on a weekend. He’ll steal the equipment; use the company truck and the company’s tools. He’ll probably really take his time and do a professional job and if the system breaks down, you can also call the company to get a hold of him to perform the warranty work.

10. Have the company that uses subcontractor paid on piece work install the system. The piecework contractors (speed contest contractors) put new heating and air systems in as little as a day. Speed equals quality after all. These contractors typically pay 1 person a set amount to install the system and that person then hires their own day labors. You really don’t need factory training. Anyone can use duct tape. The company then saves Tons of money on workers compensation insurance and they pass those savings on to you. Don’t worry if someone gets hurt on the job because your homeowners policy will pay for the medical damages, unless they say you’ve been negligent in your hiring of a properly licensed contractor.

Everyone wants a lower price. I completely understand, and, after all, you know what works best for you. There are some things that you really should do to make sure that your new system runs in the least expensive manner possible and runs properly for the longest period of time. Most importantly, you need to require that the contractor purchase permits for the installation. They are required under the law and missing permits now, can stop the selling of your home later, and it can also mean the denial of insurance coverage should something adverse happen, not that anything bad is going to happen, but that is why insurance is required, isn’t it? Insurance companies like to deny coverage for negligence. Failure to obtain a city certification for a safe and up too code installation could be interpreted as negligence on your part. A word of caution, if something seems too good to be true, to cheap to cover the work load, then chances are: it is not true. Watch for extras on the job that should part of the regular installation, don’t allow them and make sure that you don’t pay for the work until the city inspector puts his stamp of approval on the paperwork certifying that the job has been installed correctly unless the contractor has bond, we do.

The only reason I can come up with to not purchase a permit is to skimp on labor and skimp on materials. You don’t want to pay full price for a job that isn’t done properly, do you?