How necessary is it to have an annual diagnostic check for a gas furnace that was new in 1989?
The company that put it in hits us up for $100 a year for this. My neighbor said he pays less for a similar check on his oil furnace. It was his opinion that mine should be cheaper because a gas furnace is simpler.
Mark
"MDixon1918" How necessary is it to have an annual diagnostic check for a gas furnace that
Lets face it, 1989 was some yrs ago. I always have my system gone over twice a year, I had a new system put in last year and had it serviced twice this year. Maybe I over do it, I dunno.
If your neighbor knew so much about furnaces, he wouldn't be having someone service his. So, he wouldn't know a whole lot about pricing. Sounds like your neighbor is the simple one :o)
Mark.
The standard now is over $100 for a complete checkout. Unless your company is actually checking, and not doing what we call a drive by, where they come in, twiddle around a bit, and charge you, but really checking it out, like, gas pressures on the valve, diagnostics for cracked heat exchangers, all safety switches checked, then get a new company.
An oil burner, by the way, is just as simple, if not more, than a gas unit. Both have to have pressure tests, both have to have combustion checks, both have to have heat rise checks, both have to have the SAME checks. Parts of course are different, but I would rather work on oil all day long. And, I have to say, oil is MORE expensive to tune and check...and clean...and test...
But...if hes getting a check for under $100 on an oil unit, he is for SURE getting a drive by.
Mark,
An annual check is a good idea. Call around though, I pay less than $100. I think it costs around $60 where I live.
Dave M.
Yeah, a hundred $ seems a bit much for a furnace check. Hard to tell if the technician knows what he/she is doing or not as they just say everything is OK. I would call around to compare prices. Better to know whether you are being overcharged than to go on wondering about it. I have a 28 year old gas fired hot water heating system and it has never been checked by a furnace guy. I don't think many of them know anything about hot water systems anyway. I turn off the pilot light in the Spring at the end of the heating season and vacuum out the area where the fire is. In the Fall, I relight the pilot and check to see that the furnace burns with a bright blue flame. No problems so far.
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