Home warranty?

[Frupal]

Anyone ever bought one of these? My AC unit might be on its last leg and replacements are around $10k. I’d rather not pay all of that if I can avoid it. Any suggestions?

[Frupal]

Are they worth it? Will they pay for a new central AC unit when the 49 year old unit fails? Anyone have experience with this?

[Nativetexan]

Originally Posted by Frupal

Are they worth it? Will they pay for a new central AC unit when the 49 year old unit fails? Anyone have experience with this?

Pass!

My experience with these has been their coverage sucks, they typically make you use sub par service vendors who replaced with used/cheap parts.

That was just my experience. Others could be different.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Frupal

Are they worth it? Will they pay for a new central AC unit when the 49 year old unit fails? Anyone have experience with this?

Lol, how old is your AC unit, really? Mine is ~15 yrs old and I'll be needing a new one soon. Definitely an expensive appliance. I'm in SoCal (Inland Empire) where it gets ran a lot.

[fiveohwblow]

Have a home warranty and it’s saved me thousands on our AC units. This is a situation where you truly need the right company and it becomes worth it.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by fiveohwblow

Have a home warranty and it’s saved me thousands on our AC units. This is a situation where you truly need the right company and it becomes worth it.

Can you share the name of the right company?

Hard to believe you can pay a comparatively small premium and get someone to replace a central a/c or major appliances a few months later.

[fiveohwblow]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Can you share the name of the right company?

Hard to believe you can pay a comparatively small premium and get someone to replace a central a/c or major appliances a few months later.

You're in luck, family owned business started in broward county. They don't offer services in all states but do in Florida, obviously. The distinct advantage to this company outside the very inexpensive warranty ($400) that covers Home and appliances along with TWO (2) ac units and one free service a year to check and top off fluids.

To boot, and this is the largest distinction for me, they don't contract third parties to come out and do the repair. They have their own technicians so it's all handled by the same folks you call. This sense of ownership to the quality of work has been noticed in spades over prior company's.

They even offered to do a free inspection, upon determining the compressor needed replaced, allowed us to purchase the warranty WITH INTENTION TO USE IT and this saved us over 2k in one visit.

Website:

http://bfshomewarranty.com

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by fiveohwblow

You're in luck, family owned business started in broward county. They don't offer services in all states but do in Florida, obviously. The distinct advantage to this company outside the very inexpensive warranty ($400) that covers Home and appliances along with TWO (2) ac units and one free service a year to check and top off fluids.

To boot, and this is the largest distinction for me, they don't contract third parties to come out and do the repair. They have their own technicians so it's all handled by the same folks you call. This sense of ownership to the quality of work has been noticed in spades over prior company's.

They even offered to do a free inspection, upon determining the compressor needed replaced, allowed us to purchase the warranty WITH INTENTION TO USE IT and this saved us over 2k in one visit.

Website:

http://bfshomewarranty.com

How could they stay in business like that?

[fiveohwblow]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

How could they stay in business like that?

That's a question for them. I know they have existed for quite some time. I'm sure it's not the normal, but sure showed me the culture and unless they have a shift in that culture, they earned a customer for life.

[Fly320s]

Originally Posted by Frupal

Anyone ever bought one of these? My AC unit might be on its last leg and replacements are around $10k. I’d rather not pay all of that if I can avoid it. Any suggestions?

Sounds to me like you want a free lunch. I suspect the home warranty company will want to inspect your house before signing off on the warranty.

1. You could start saving money now for the replacement.
2. Go without AC.
3. Sell a car or other possessions to raise cash.
4. Get a HELOC.
5. Buy a used AC unit.
6. Switch to a mini-split system that is more affordable.

[IllSic_Design]

I have one through Old Republic Home Protection, it was originally paid for by the realtor(family friend) when I bought my house in 2019, I have used it for the AC after the compressor and stuff went out. It cost me $75 to have it fixed through them. I renewed it this year for like $700 or so.

[chassis]

It's a rare insurance policy that pays out more than it bring in in premia.

I avoid insurance unless required by law.

I have never purchased a home warranty, or a warranty of any kind, other than the warranty provided by a manufacturer in exchange for the price of the product.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by Fly320s

Sounds to me like you want a free lunch. I suspect the home warranty company will want to inspect your house before signing off on the warranty.

1. You could start saving money now for the replacement.
2. Go without AC.
3. Sell a car or other possessions to raise cash.
4. Get a HELOC.
5. Buy a used AC unit.
6. Switch to a mini-split system that is more affordable.

If push come to shove, buy some spot coolers till you get the money. I did it for 2 years after a20 year old unit in my house went out.. and I did a ton to keep it going.

Scratch and dent units at your local supply house. That's what I did 6 years ago.

In my old system (in the attic) the AHU condensate pan under the evaporator coil had rusted out and dripped all over the heat exchanger to my furnace.. furnace was rusted.

Hmmmmm THATS why the condensate drain line directly over the back door is dripping instead the of the one next to the condensing unit………………DUH it's like an idiot light in a car.

I immediately valved off the gas to the furnace! SUCKED!
Carbon monoxide is nothing to play with.
I have a refrigeration license BTW, and fix everything in the house.
The only thing my husband can fix is a flat tire

You can go with a ductless mini-split system that ships with a line set and all refrigerant loaded into the condensing unit. You don't even need a vacuum pump.

My next system will be a ductless variable refrigerant system with a fan coil evaporator in each space. Control with phone app.. spaces that don't need to be cooled will not be enabled, or I'll adjust set points for unoccupied mode. Some even have IR occupancy sensors that kick on the unit when you walk in.

Sorry lol I deal with testing 75-80 ton DX commercial systems all day at times at work.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Fly320s

Sounds to me like you want a free lunch. I suspect the home warranty company will want to inspect your house before signing off on the warranty.

You can take it to the bank that they will do a home inspection before pricing their coverage, and that seeing an ancient AC system that uses refrigerants that cost more than a new M3 and are now banned by the Geneva Convention for killing baby seals will be a show-stopper.

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

You can go with a ductless mini-split system that ships with a line set and all refrigerant loaded into the condensing unit. You don't even need a vacuum pump.

The unit that I installed required a vacuum pump, to evacuate the air from the lines and inside unit before releasing the refrigerant from the compressor unit. (The instructions even stated that not using a vacuum pump instantly voided all warranties.) I pulled a hard vacuum, and let it sit for a week before releasing the refrigerant to make sure that there were no leaks. (FWIW, I took the EPA tests to do the job legally, and hung a copy of my certificate next to the thermostat of a problematic AC unit at work to annoy the repair contractor who likes to tell customers that they don't know what they're talking about.)

My next system will be a ductless variable refrigerant system with a fan coil evaporator in each space. Control with phone app..

I installed a ductless-type VRF heat pump system, with a mini-ducted air handler indoors and the usual ductless unit outside. The air handler was intended to be mounted in a ceiling facade in a large room, and can drive 3-4 vents. We live in a small house, so it is enough to serve as a central AC for the entire place (and heat as well when outdoor temps are above ~10F). My only regret was not going with the 25% larger system, since it has 50% more air flow. The current system is pushing its air flow limits with four vents, even though I made custom sheet metal plenums and used real metal ducts and not restrictive flex ducts.....

[chassis]

As mentioned, a mini-split unit is an option. A good option imo.

A window unit.