Weighing the Costs vs. Benefits of Preventative Maintenance

It’s nothing profound to say that we live in a treatment based society. Among others, the pharmaceutical industry largely exists as a result of this fact. It’s not a lack of information, most people know that if you eat enough fast food burgers and fries you’ll end up on Prilosec and Lipitor. This is no indictment on those that make the choice, but just to frame the conversation about your heating and cooling system.

In a similar way, we know that an unchecked heating system will likely require treatment. So what are the costs? The costs are a combination of reduced comfort and actual dollars. The comfort costs come as the system will lose efficiency and capacity over time as dust accumulates on the coils of the air conditioner, and the heating system misfires. Just like rising cholesterol shows limited signs of impact at the outset, you’re unlikely to experience a huge impact on your HVAC system in the early years outside of slight increases in operating cost. The real costs come over time, as the dust continues to accumulate, putting increased pressure on your air conditioner to meet the same cooling demands. Then, on a hot summer day your system shuts down. That’s when the actual dollar costs come.

What we have found is that on average a broken system costs homeowners over $400 to repair, which takes into account those that require replacement as well. Contrast that with our preventative maintenance plan, that has a cost of only $150 per year, and can be broken down into a monthly payment of $12.50. Those that have preventative maintenance performed certainly can’t prevent a system from failure completely, but the risk is dramatically reduced. Further, systems that have preventative maintenance last 5 years longer on average.

So what direction do you take, prevention or treatment? Questions? Tweet us @TrustHomesense or call 317-203-8149.