Home Repair: Questions to Ask Your HVAC Technician

It is probably just as important that you manage to choose the right contractor to install and maintain your HVAC system as your choice of the system itself.

Buying a great air conditioning and heating system should be a great investment and having parted with your cash and chosen a model that you believe will serve you well for many years, it is just as essential to do ask the right questions to make sure you choose a technician who can help you get the longevity you expect for the money you have spent.

Narrowing down your choice

It can be a bit daunting when trying to identify HVAC contractors who are up to the task but there are a few basic questions you can ask to narrow down your choice more easily.

A good starting point is to confirm if the contractor has the certifications and licenses often required to be considered a qualified HVAC contractor.

There are a few different qualifications that you would expect them to have and you will find that most residential HVAC professionals will be affiliated to either Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) or maybe the Sheet Metal Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA).

Also ask them to confirm if they have a license number to operate as an HVAC contractor, which most states require and can be checked via the National Contractor License Service. It is also preferable to find contractors who are certified by North American Technician Excellence (NATE) and also, you will often find that these members are also affiliated with ENERGY STAR, which is an EPA  voluntary program aimed at promoting energy efficiency.

Insurance cover

You don’t want to envisage anything going wrong while your HVAC technician is in your home and working on your system, but you at least want the comfort of knowing that they have insurance cover in place.

Check to see if their insurance covers both workers' compensation as well as liability insurance so that you can be satisfied that they have the cover in place to cover any damage or injury that occurs.

Working in partnership

Although you are looking to appoint a contractor who has the expertise to install and maintain your HVAC system on your behalf, there some regular maintenance tasks that you can carry out as the homeowner, in between visits.

Your relationship with a contractor should hopefully be like a partnership, where you share a common goal to protect and maintain your HVAC system so that it performs well and lasts as long as it should do.

A good technician will often take the time to answer your questions and also tell you about changing filters regularly and give useful instructions such as how to operate the thermostat efficiently.

References

No reputable contractor should object to you asking for references, so feel free to ask if you would like to talk to some other customers who have already used them and are prepared to vouch for the quality of their work and provide feedback on their levels of customer service.

Don’t ever worry about asking questions and requesting information, as it is a good way of making sure that your choice of HVAC contractor is likely to be a good one.