No AC tonight. Do you have American Home Shield home warranty?

[trof]

AC went out this morning.
Hasn't been too hot today in coastal Alabama.
High of about 85-86.
It's 82 inside now.

We have a maintenance contract with American Home Shield.
Covers major appliances and our heat pump heat/ac.
Costs about $50 a month.
We pay $100 for a service call, AHS pays the rest.

Last time AC went out we paid $100 to replace a $5 fuse.

It's a crap shoot, I guess.

The contractor they assigned to our current claim can't get to us until tomorrow.
shit

[trof]

1. Bueller? Anybody?

mumph

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with your a/c, my dear trof...

We recently had problems with ours, and no, we don't have American Home Shield Warranty. We just called our HVAC guy, and he came out the next day.

We sweltered too. NOT fun.

[pscot]

3. It's 50 degrees and raining here

so any sympathy I might feel would be highly theoretical

[RebelOne]

4. I live in a mobile home.

I have two A/Cs, one in the bedroom and one in the living room When either one goes out, I just buy a new unit for $150 which usually lasts for about three years.

[mrmpa]

5. I have a maintenance contract............

it's $39.95 a month & is added to my mortgage payment. I pay $75 for the service call and anything beyond that, the maintenance insurance takes care of the rest.

They've been out 3 times for my furnace all within 24 hours of my call. Two times the bill was over $600, but only $75 for me. The third time they came out my furnace was red flagged. If it had not been damaged by someone else, the maintenance company would have put in a new furnace and my cost would be $75.

The furnace was damaged by an idiot 2 floors above me whose AC service mechanic flushed the system and the water came down the stack and damaged the AC and furnace so neither worked. My homeowners insurance paid for this & went after the owner above me & their insurance company. Finally got my deductible this past Saturday, this happened in May.

I like the idea of the maintenance contract being offered by my mortgage company, as it helps insure that the property is properly taken care of. It covers my AC/furnace, dishwasher, refrigerator, ceiling fans, hot water heaters, etc. These are expensive items to repair, and it's easier to shell out $75 than $3500 for a furnace.

[Behind the Aegis]

6. We paid the $100, it turned out to be the unit, which costed $800.

Worked out for us. Strange thing is, after two years, they still haven't cashed the $100.

ETA: It is like any other insurance, it is a crap shoot, and more often than not, you won't need it. We haven't used it in a year, so the $600 we paid is "gone," but I consider it 'piece of mind.' In 22 years of renter's/homeowner's insurance with USAA, we have only used it 3 times, and twice we rescinded because the cost would barely dent our deductible.

[sammytko]

7. We have a warranty and more than paid for itself

Replaced the HVAC system, about 5k worth of maintenance and equipment.

[dr.strangelove]

8. We have AH Shield

Used it a few times, once for a major plumbign problem that cost thousands of dollars to fix. Good luck.

[trof]

9. Update: Night #2 with no A/C

Tech came out this a.m.
Air handler in attic is garbaged.
Must be replaced.

Called AHS today and they don't have info from contractor yet.
Will put claim 'in system'.
Check back tomorrow.

Tech says replacing air handler will take about a full day.
Suggested we'd be better off to pay to replace outside unit at the same time.
It's about 13 years old.
He says average life-span is about 10 years.
$2000-$2500.

[trof]

10. Night #3, still no A/C.

Luckily daytime temps have been in the 80s (inside and out).
Humidity is about 75%. Low for coastal Alabama.
The home warranty company is now coordinating with the HVAC contractor on ordering parts, etc.
POSSIBLY some actual action tomorrow.
Damn glad this didn't happen in July.

Warranty company says I'll have to pay around $600 for 'items not covered'.
crap

I can not find those 'items not covered' in my contract.
I plan to do battle on this.

[sammytko]

11. Have the warranty company replace the unit when it breaks down.

Be prepared - get a window unit between now and next summer.

Those extra charges are for things like new ducts they will have to run. maybe a new thermostat and wiring.

We had the same thing go out and since the handler or air thing whatever in the attic was 50 years old, it was huge. It barely fit through the attic stairway. We had to take the door to the stairs off. Had to run new ducting.

We had been told that this house was the first in our small town to have central air and heat. It had a good run.

[trof]

12. Uh... that's what we're in the process of doing?

[sammytko]

13. no, the outside part.

You said they wanted you to pay to replace that now.

Our warranty repair guy told us to wait until it, the compressor, was dead.

[sammytko]

14. of course you could replace it now too and then drop the warranty

and save the monthly payments for future AC repair funds.

[texanwitch]

15. I turned off the ac for the season.

The fans are fine.

Hope your ac is working soon.

I lived with just one little ac unit all summer in one room.

I used a window fan the rest of the house.

The back unit broke and it took Sears almost all summer to repair it.

The old window fan did a ok job.

I was still glad to have that one ac unit.

It got to be 105 sometimes.