Fourteen years ago I purchased a heating and air conditioning system from a local supplier. I installed it myself and have been very satisfied. Absolutely no problems with the ac and only a few minor problems with the heater. Because of age I want to do it again, the supplier said he can't sell to a non contractor. Question. What about buying online? How do I get guarantees? If I have a contractor do the final hookup is it possible to get future labor and parts warranty?

You will need to ask the online sales person to tell you about the warranty. Can the contractor you know buy the equipment locally? It seems to me the shipping and handling would put the equipment cost much higher. When talking to the online seller,ask them who is going to do the warranty work (parts replacement), most dealers won`t even deal parts replacement with anyone but a autherized tech. Hope this helps or gives you something to ponder

I have had a lot of people ask the same question in my area. My reply is, why would I want to install equipment that you bought from an out of town company and let me install and warranty it? The contractor doing the install and warranty will need to have a account set up to show startup date.