Your Dilemma: DIY Home Furnace Repair vs. HVAC Technician

Your Dilemma: DIY Home Furnace Repair vs. HVAC Technician, written by Chris Carpenter of Affordable Heating and Air

(Ding, Ding) It’s a dilemma! When you have furnace issues do you try and fix the unit yourself (DIY) or do you call on a certified and trained HVAC technician, like myself? Home furnace repairs can often be complicated, but surely there must be some things a homeowner can do to avoid paying for costly service calls. Let’s play The Home Furnace Reality Show to find out.

The Home Furnace Repair Reality Show

Let’s look at a few scenarios in our repair game. Let’s keep score and see who comes out the best, me, the trained guy or you, the DIY person.

1. Your furnace has an issue. It won’t turn on. You have tried all you know how to do. That’s included fooling with the thermostat, checking the filter and trying to clean the inside of the furnace. You checked the gas and it was turned on. But it still doesn’t work. You have no idea so you call me. I come in … and the first place I walk up to is your breaker box. I trip the breaker and the unit begins to work. HVAC 1   DIY 0.
2. You notice your back bedrooms are not getting hardly any warm air. It’s hard to sleep in them at night without freezing. You know if you call me I am going to check it all out and fix your issue but it will still cost you a little money. You decide to take matters into your own DIY hands. You change the filter. The bedrooms get warm and you did not have to call for help. HVAC 1   DIY   1.
3. There’s a strange noise coming from your furnace. You have never heard anything like it before. You take some things apart from the unit, tighten some screws, play with some wires, put it all back together (with only three parts left over) and … it’s still making the same noise, only louder! You have to call me. I come in and find your issue, a problem blower. It would have cost only several hundred dollars to fix the issue if you have called me first. Now, the cost, $682.17! HVAC 2   DIY 1.
4. Your heating unit just up and quit running. You open the door to the unit and think you see the issue. There are some wires loose and they don’t really look to be hooked up tightly. In an attempt to fix the issue you short something out, electrocute yourself and leave your furnace totally inoperable. Your wife calls me and I come and fix the unit. My cost, $497. Your hospital bill, $8,297. HVAC 3   DIY 1.
5. “Oh, it’s the pilot light,” you tell your wife. “Just call someone to fix it,” she exclaims. But how hard can it be to get the pilot light back working. After an all-day Saturday “fixathon” you still can’t keep your pilot light on. The wife gets so cold she gets a hotel room. You call me and I come out on a Sunday morning to fix your unit because you have your wife’s family coming over for dinner. Your cost, well, you are not even worried about the money. You just want your wife back. HVAC 4   DIY 1.

DIY is on the mat! It’s all over, folks.

Home furnace repairs – DIY is generally not good!

Your furnace is a pretty complicated piece of equipment. I have spent hundreds of hours in training and have years of experience in the business and they still stump me at times!

DIY home furnace repairs are generally a recipe for disaster. Just call me to tackle your issue. You will sleep better at night and stay much warmer in the long run. My number is 707-953-3345.

For more helpful information, please come visit the blog at our Affordable Heating and Air website.