My Prices: The Summary

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 like $79, $99, $119 or whatever. Then they refuse to say anything about their repairs prices. 

Here are a few real world examples of what I’m talking about. They come from second opinions I performed on five-star cheap-at-first contractors or “CAFC“. I’ll follow that up with “My Total Charge for Everything” that includes my trip charge.

I’ve easily performed over 1,000 second opinions in the last 20 years. It’s probably closer to 2,000. The second opinions I perform on five-star cheap-at-first contractors almost always go that way. I mention “five-star” because virtually every contractor plays this game no matter what their star rating is. That includes the contractors your friends and neighbors recommend.

If you can’t believe it, ask them how much repairs will cost. Most will refuse to say with the excuse that they don’t know what repair you need. They may be true, but they could do a little troubleshooting over the phone to narrow things down like I usually do. They could also post a list of repairs and what they usually cost like I do. They could, but most of them don’t.

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.

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