Home warranty plans and HVAC maintenance plans are both designed to protect homeowners from the high cost of repairing and replacing home furnace and air conditioning systems. However, an HVAC maintenance plan has a number of advantages over a home warranty, and is more likely to save you time and money in the long run.
Maintenance Increases the Life and Efficiency of Your HVAC System
HVAC maintenance plans provide inspections and professional cleanings every six months at no additional charge. Home warranty plans, on the other hand, only cover repairs and replacements rather than routine maintenance. However, warranty companies may deny claims for repair work if a system has not undergone regular maintenance and the breakdown can be traced to poor upkeep. This means that you will need to pay for HVAC maintenance out-of-pocket if you want to benefit from your home warranty plan.
Regular maintenance does more than just prevent breakdowns in your HVAC system. It also extends the overall life of your HVAC system and helps the system to work at maximum efficiency. This will save you money in the long-term by lowering your energy bills and increasing the number of years between HVAC system replacements.
Reliable Service and Faster Response Times
With a home warranty plan, you have no control over which service provider the warranty company will contract to perform your repairs. With a home maintenance plan, you get to choose a service provider you know and trust and have the freedom to change plans if you don’t like the service you receive. Furthermore, HVAC service providers prioritize repairs for their plan members, and most will guarantee same-day service.
Contract service providers don’t have the same incentives to provide fast, high-quality work. As contractors, they may only work on your system once or twice, and aren’t concerned with establishing a positive professional relationship with you. Since their jobs and payment come from a warranty company rather than directly from clients, they don’t necessarily stand to benefit from providing exceptional customer service.
Avoid Frustrating Repair Limits and Deductibles
Inevitably, components of your HVAC system will need to be repaired and eventually replaced. However, having a home warranty plan doesn’t guarantee that these repairs and replacements will happen free of charge. As we said earlier, warranty companies may cite lack of maintenance as a reason to deny claims. Many warranty plans also require you to meet a deductible before they will cover the remaining costs. Furthermore, they often place limits on the types of repairs that they will cover.
Service providers that offer maintenance plans frequently provide discounts on labor and parts when repairs and replacements are needed. You don’t have to worry about navigating the limitations of your warranty agreement in order to fix whatever needs fixing in your HVAC system.
Thank you for reading, and we hope you’ll follow our blog for more information about the ins and outs of heating and cooling your home.
