I bought a home (ten years old, custom built) in 2004, and at the same time purchased a home warranty system. That winter the heat pump/AC system promptly stopped working, and the home warranty folks sent out a repair person. While they were able to get it going, they said it was on its "last legs" and said it would have to be replaced soon. (No one can tell what kind it is.)

The following summer, the A/C did not work, and again a repairman came out, got it working and said the same thing about replacing it. This continued from fall of 2004 until this summer.

However, this time, when a repairperson came out, they agreed it needed to be replaced, however the REASON it was about to break was that we had not performed regular maintenance on it.

I have owned five homes in my life, and never have I been told by anyone that non-commercial units had to be maintained. I asked the repair person what they meant by maintenance and he told me that they would come in and work for 4 to 5 hours, taking it apart, cleaning it out, checking all the parts, etc. at a cost of roughly $450, and that we should have been doing this all along (not sure how often it was supposed to be done, though.)

Of course, none of the other repair people who have been coming out each season to get it going again ever said this.

I am curious to find out if "regular maintenance" is something we just had never heard of before, in over 30 years of owning heating and A/C units.

Thank you,

Mary Dee[

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Its an investment. Do you do a regular maintenance on your car to keep it running right? Coils get dirty, wires work loose, refrigerant levels may get low, capacitors get weak any and or all can knock out a compressor and motor and cost a lot of money. A normal maintenance can be done in around an hour per system if you do it once a year. And in turn you will save on your electric bill. A clean system pulls a lot less amps than a dirty one.