Does An Emergency HVAC Service Cost More?
What is an HVAC Emergency Service?
An emergency HVAC service, as the name suggests, is a service provided by a specialized professional to solve an urgent problem concerning your air conditioning or heating system.
These situations, if not attended to as soon as possible, can cause severe damages to your house, or even potential harm to your health and the health of those who live with you.
Unfortunately, more often than not, situations that require emergency HVAC service are not easily identifiable. That’s why it’s essential to know how to spot such cases and avoid any more damage to your HVAC system, preventing yourself from spending even more money and time with a very complex repair process in the future.
The Most Common Signs of a Situation That Requires HVAC Emergency Service
Air Conditioning
AC Blowing Warm Air
When your AC unit is doing the opposite of what it should be doing, beware. The problem can be more complex – and expensive – such as a defective air compressor, or it can be just a blockage in your vents. Either way, the AC unit won’t be of any use to you while operating like this, and you should probably contact a professional to attend to it promptly.
Ice Forming
This is usually a sign that the evaporator coils are not working as well as they should be. The reasons for this malfunction can vary, and the HVAC professional should tell you which one it is. Still, the problem should be solved as quickly as possible, as the ice accumulation has the capacity to damage the entire unit.
Weird Noises
Anything louder than usual – no AC unit is 100% silent – should raise a red flag. The noises can vary from mechanical grinding sounds to hissing or crackling sounds. In any case, this can mean anything from a leak to air trapped in the coolant lines. An HVAC specialist should come promptly to diagnose the problem and repair it.
Heating
Rotten Egg Smell Coming Out of the Furnace
Noticing this particular smell coming out of your gas furnace is a clear sign of an emergency, as this is often evidence of a gas leak. If you notice that, evacuate your home immediately and contact an HVAC professional.
Puddles Around your Boiler
This will often be accompanied by some steam as well. This is almost certainly a sign of a leak, and if not attended to promptly, can cause considerable water damage to your home.
Breaker Tripping Repeatedly
If your home’s circuit breaker is constantly tripping while the furnace is running, you should contact an HVAC specialist immediately since this is a sign of increased fire risk.
So, does HVAC Emergency Service Cost More?
It does. Professionals specialized in repairing HVAC systems tend to charge additional fees for any repair work done outside of regular business hours. They usually cost double or triple the regular rate for a service call. The price can reach up to $600 on the high end.
The cost of the materials or parts that need to be replaced or fixed in HVAC emergencies also tends to be high. For example, unusual noises coming out from the AC unit can often indicate a problem with the compressor. A compressor replacement service for your AC will typically cost between $1,500-$2,500. On the same note, the ice forming in the AC unit can be a sign of malfunction of the evaporator coils, which typically cost between $700-$1300 to be replaced.
Certainly, some of the costs for the most expensive parts from the HVAC system don’t even compare to the cost of replacing the whole thing, which could happen if you neglect some of these problems for long enough.
To simplify things, if something doesn’t look, smell, or sound right with your air conditioning or heating system, the wisest option is to contact HVAC support immediately and save yourself from more trouble.
How to Avoid Having to Request HVAC Emergency Service
From a monetary perspective, eliciting emergency service for your AC unit or heating system isn’t the best thing in the world. Some people, trying to deflect this, can even try to fix the problem for themselves, which can cause a huge mess, or just ignore it in hopes that it goes away magically.
Unfortunately, if the emergency has already arisen, there’s not much you can do but request the emergency service. However, you can take precautions ahead of time to prevent an emergency from occurring in the future.
Request HVAC maintenance service
HVAC systems can be complex and require regular maintenance. The common recommendation is that your system should be checked at least once a year. Think of the maintenance service as that medical check-up you do to prevent certain diseases or even catch them at early stages. To learn more about HVAC maintenance, visit Clover Services.
It’s also a good choice to schedule the maintenance of the heating system in the fall and the maintenance of the air conditioning in the spring.
The maintenance service usually costs between $150-$300 a year, including tune-ups, cleaning, and other adjustments. Commonly, HVAC maintenance contractors offer discounts on repair services, so the amount of money that you can wind up saving is considerable and can make a big difference in the future.
By letting little problems linger, they can get bigger, more complicated, and expensive. To prevent unnecessary spending and even preserve the safety of your house and those who live in it, make sure your HVAC system is being checked out and cleaned regularly.
