This content was created for NAF Service Co.
Don’t let a fly-by-night operation into your home or business.
We often get the opportunity to be the second or third HVAC technician on the scene. Either the home or business owner is seeking another opinion, or the first person didn’t get it fixed.
We don’t know if that person was a bad actor or simply lacked skills, but often we find scenarios like this: A home owner is told she needs a new air conditioner for $4,000, or a part replaced for $1,000. After we inspect their unit, we find it simply needs seasonal service for $79. Then it runs like new.
Sometimes when we tell a customer he only needs a service call, he doesn’t believe me. We promise to return if their problem is not solved.
Heating and cooling is complicated. To excel at HVAC service and installation, you need experience and knowledge. It’s not rocket science, but it is science.
At NAF Service Company, we serve as consultants to home owners and businesses. This often means not giving people what they think they want. And we may miss a sale because of it. But that’s OK, because we’re here to solve problems, not cause them.
For example, when someone actually needs a new air conditioner or furnace, we ask:
Are they planning on staying for 30 years?
Are they seeking a high-efficiency unit?
Are they flipping a house and moving on?
In short, we need to know their goals.
If you want your second story to be cooler, you may not need a bigger unit. If airflow is your problem, a monster cooling system won’t solve it.
We also help customers identify and obtain rebates from utility companies.
These are all things that can be missed or mishandled by inexperienced HVAC technicians.
Skill and experience does not come easily or quickly. And you’re likely to need a heating and cooling specialist when you have the least time to find a solution. My advice:
Research providers before you have a crisis.
Ask around: Who has been helpful to the people in your network? What did they do? What did they charge? Would your friends use them again?
Make sure your service provider is fully licensed and insured.
Try before you buy. Hire the provider for a seasonal check.
If someone says you need a new unit or an expensive repair, get a second opinion.
Your heating and cooling systems are too important to be handled by a newb or a rube. And they don’t have to be.
This Fall: Don’t Let Your Furnace Hit the Wall
A few quick maintenance items can keep your heat purring all winter long.
It’s every home owners’ nightmare: The ground is frozen and the wind is howling. Suddenly the heat stops blowing.
It’s 3 a.m. so you throw on an extra blanket and wait until morning. Then you wake up, see your breath and desperately try to find a reputable heating and cooling company to end the crisis.
Sometimes, however, this crisis can be avoided by getting your heating system inspected before the thermometer plunges.
A routine fall service check will make sure your furnace blowers are clear, unobstructed and free of fire hazards. Older furnaces, if obstructed, have the added danger of releasing toxic carbon monoxide.
Your furnace’s burners also need to be working cleanly and efficiently. Otherwise, you’ll simply get less heat but the same bill.
In addition, we routinely change the furnace filter so that it won’t limit airflow (imagine air flowing through a wide tube vs. a drinking straw). Dirty filters also allow debris to build up in your heating system and compromise the quality of air in your home or business.
If we see a potential problem in the process of our inspection, we let you know. Then you can decide whether to fix it now or later.
Whether they know it or not, everyone is on a service plan. It’s either planned service or planned neglect. The “planned neglect plan” results in service calls at the worst possible time for the customer.
At NAF Service company, we recommend planned maintenance over the other option.
Then you can roast chestnuts for pleasure instead of to keep warm.
A Spring Inspection Can Keep You From a Summer Bummer
It’s 101 degrees outside. And inside. Yikes!
If you live in the Midwest, functional air conditioning is best.
OK, enough with the rhymes. But if you’ve lived in Missouri, Kansas or neighboring states, you know that mid-summer with no air conditioning can leave you absolutely fried.
Sometimes the whole unit blows up and needs replaced. But often, the July cooling crash crisis can be prevented by a spring inspection and maintenance appointment.
For example, if your air conditioning coil is not working optimally, neither will anything else. The coil is a heat exchanger. If it’s clogged with debris (think Cottonwood seeds, etc.) then it can’t do its job. Your unit will work hard, but its results will diminish. It’s like the big bad wolf huffing and puffing to blow down the brick house – lots of air moving but nothing happening.
When we do our spring cleaning, we also check your system for leaks. And if there’s a problem, we fix it.
Annual service can keep the cold blast of chilled air refreshing you throughout the dog days of summer.
It’s common for us to run across customers who have been told they need a new $4,000 unit or a $1,000 repair. But when we stop by, we find they simply needed a spring tune up.
You’ll also save more in your utility bills than you’ll pay for our clean-and-check service.
The bottom line: Get serviced, not hosed.