My Prices: The Summary

More to Diagnose, Less to Repair
–

Diagnosis

I do NOT charge $59, $79, or $99 to diagnose. The cheap diagnostic fee is an old trick used by extremely expensive contractors to give you the impression they’re cheap.

My $200 fee covers most diagnostics.* That may seem expensive. However, I bet you’ll find that I’m one of the least expensive repairmen out there who actually repairs. How can that be?

It can be because most cheap-at-first contractors have crazy high repair prices, that is if you can get them to repair at all. They mostly just want to sell new equipment. I don’t play that game.†

† Click here for an explanation of 'I don't play that game.' †

I Don’t Bait and Switch

Most local HVAC contractors are insanely expensive. Labor rates of over $400 per hour is common. They’ll never admit that of course. They just bait you with a low upfront fee and refuse to say anything about their repairs prices. Here are a few real world examples of what they quoted after they performed their cheap diagnosis. I’ll follow that up with what I charged.

$480 for a capacitor replacement that takes 45 minutes and uses $15 in materials
$1200 for a circuit board replacement that takes 1.25 hours and uses $150 in materials
$3700 for a fan replacement that takes 1.5 hours and uses $1000 in materials

I was the second opinion on those jobs. I quoted a minimum of $200 to come out and ended up making those repairs for $350, $650, and $2000 respectively including the $200. That’s in line with my “menu of prices” linked below. I’m certainly not cheap. However, compared to what most glossy-looking highly-rated contractors are charging, I’m practically a saint.

The bottom line is that I like repairing and I don’t need to charge $400 per hour to do it. I like repairing so much that I stopped installing new equipment years ago. If you really do need new equipment, I do have an installing contractor to recommend. I don’t get a dime from them. My recommendations come from the heart, not some need to fill a quota.

Why I Charge $200

On occasion I’ll diagnose something simple like a loose wire. In such cases I’ll secure the wire, take readings, and go. Believe it or not, $200 is not much in our part of the world. We’re they being honest, virtually all local HVAC contractors would say the same. But when the repair is super quick and needs no materials, $200 is enough to satisfy me.

The contractor who charges less has a problem. Does he secure the wire and leave with $59? Rarely. Does he try to convince you that a ten second repair is worth $141? Probably not. Does he condemn and then replace a $1000 part and secure the wire while he’s at it? Bingo! Most repairmen are on commission and baby needs a new pair of shoes.

$59 isn’t worth getting out of bed for. $99 isn’t much better. Nine times out of ten it’s just bait. Contractors are going to get their ticket average up one way or another. They can tempt you with a low upfront fee and then hammer you with an embellished diagnosis and an insane repair fee. Or they can start higher and end lower like I do. There’s rarely a third choice.

Oh… I know. There’s the occasional repairman who fixes a loose wire for free. I’ve done it myself, but not often. If my ticket average for all services was well over $1,000, as is the case with most glossy-looking HVAC contractors and even the less glossy wannabes, then I’d give away a few more freebies myself. At $432.40 for 2024, my ticket average is less than half that.

* Click here for situations where diagnosis may cost more. *

The majority of problems are diagnosed in the first half hour. Any diagnostic time beyond the first half hour costs $100 per half hour, prorated.

Unusually complex equipment, intermittent problems, problems in tight spaces, refrigerant leaks, water leaks, water clogs, etc. can sometimes take longer than a half hour to diagnose.

On rare occasion I may deny requests for the following services or I may impose a surcharge for them. Don’t worry! The second I get a hint that you need such service we’ll talk about it.

troubleshooting highly proprietary equipment (that most customers don’t have anyway)
troubleshooting and/or repairing water drainage problems for first-time customers
deep cleaning (not needed as much as many contractors recommend)
work performed in brutal conditions (130 degree attics, etc.)
fixing and/or finishing another contractor’s work
work on relatively new equipment
troubleshooting-only work
all day jobs

–

Repair

Once the diagnosis is made, I usually quote an out-the-door price for repair(s) that includes all time and materials, including the time spent on the diagnosis. This page has a list of common repairs and their typical out-the-door price. I’m not cheap, but I am fair.
–
–