Hey guys today, we are going to continue with our series of secrets, secrets the heating and air guys hate that i'm giving out to you and if you are heating, an air guy catching this video and you say: well, i don't do any of these things. Then i say great, i say great, but we are gon na share three more secrets that heating and air guys don't want you to know, but before we get to that, if you love cotton, candy teddy bears or chubby guys that do heating and air videos. Please click that subscribe button, all right guys. So here we are we're gon na go through three, more secrets: the heating and air.

Guys. Don't want you to know, and actually just this past week. I had someone remind me that this is something that a lot of guys do, that we personally don't do at griffon air and i'm not saying everyone does it. But i do know that i have bumped into folks that do just based on conversations and things like that, and that is some techs or companies will change their pricing based on how nice the home is, and so, if they're in a house, that's really nice.

If the homeowner told the contractor hey, i do this for a living and it's supposed to be something extravagant. They live a more wealthy lifestyle, of course, in a lot of cases, they can afford it, but that's not the point. The point is some of these contractors. Will gouge you if you live in a nicer home than your neighbor? I don't think that's necessarily fair and i'm sure that if someone sees this, that does do that they will probably justify it in some way.

But the point is, if you're providing a service, if you're fixing an air conditioner, if you're replacing a contactor, for example, that replacement of that contactor should be the same price, whether they live in a shack or a gigantic mansion on the water. Regardless it's the same service and you should not change your pricing. Based on how nice, the house is the reason this even came up this past week is, i was talking to them and what they were basically saying is: yes, i live in a nice house, but we went through a rough patch. My husband got sick.

He hasn't been working and etc, etc, and so they've really gone through some tough times and now they've got somebody that is now gouging them because they live in a nice house if you're a homeowner. How can you protect yourself against this? I honestly don't know other than if you're getting something done, that you can get multiple quotes on. But i think, if you're getting just a simple repair done, it's very possible that if you haven't shopped around, if you haven't found a company that you have a connection with that, maybe if you are connected with them enough that they know that you're going through a Rough patch, but i'm not saying you need to give out your business. The whole point is if you've got a contractor, that is changing their pricing just because they think you can afford it and they're going to take advantage of you and so on.

More than anything, i just want you to be aware of it number two. I did a video recently kind of encompassing this, but i want to touch on it a little deeper and that is there are lots of companies running around companies contractors and even just guys that, are you, know, one-man crews and they are lying to you about being Licensed and insured i'm reminded by this every time i have to do work with someone else in some way, shape or form uh recently, uh, our in our county here locally. They are installing water meters for homes that have never had provided water. They had wells and this particular part of the county because of certain situations.

Geographically, they don't have the best water, and so now they are bringing in water they're, bringing in public utility water to this area and so they're setting water meters and trenching up to the house and all that good stuff. So we looked at doing this as well, and i interviewed multiple contractors, because i don't really have the manpower to be getting out there and digging uh. You know we have plumbers but to you know, do the digging and spend the time that it takes to do that. I was looking at hopefully having someone do the digging for us, and then we could just do the plumbing side of things and, as i continued down this road, i had lots of companies say they were licensed and insured.

They even would print it on their either. Their business cards and in one case even their website, but when i would actually dig a little deeper and try to get proof, i found out that they were not licensed and insured companies or they were working off their friend's license or whatever the case is. I really don't even understand it. At least here in virginia.

Getting a class c contractor's license is not even hard to get uh. You know it's really a matter of just filling out a form and paying a little bit of money. I think they might have to take a small business class, but it's not even that big of a deal. So i think that a lot of these guys put up on this pedestal being licensed and insured is such a big deal and it's really not it's a it's a choice and unfortunately, the person that ends up paying for the problem is the homeowner.

So if you hire a contractor, that's not licensed and insured. You are at so much risk that you don't even know about, for example, just throwing one example out there, and that is, if you hire a contractor, that's not licensed and assured it's just some shmo and he comes in and ruins your house in one way shape Or form - and he doesn't have insurance there's no way he can take care of you. You can sue him to high heavens, but he doesn't have any money. So then you go to your insurance and your insurance says: look you're the one that hires someone.

That's not licensed and insured. You will not be covered for that and so you're at so much risk. I think that there are licensed and insured contractors out there that, for some reason, i've had to deal with a few things with new hvac guide, where i was helping someone and we would try to get proof of license and insurance and people seem to get offended By that, but i can tell you at griffonair and i would say at most good companies, they should have no problem providing that they are licensed and insured. You know it's it's that red flag, that pops up, that if they have a problem with it, either a they aren't licensed and insured, and that's why they have a problem with it or b.

It's just such a big deal for them to take a moment. Out of their day to prove to you that they're licensed and insured and maybe that's a red flag, they may not be the best fit for your project at your home bottom line is you are just putting yourself at so much risk if you hire someone, that's Not licensed and insured so do your due diligence ask for proof: it's not hard to prove it. In most cases, i know every state's different some states, you don't have to necessarily be licensed and assured to do certain tasks in your home and in some states they can actually, they are jailing contractors that are doing work without being licensed, even if you're in one Of those states where it's not so strict just from a liability standpoint, you should make sure everything's on the up and up before you let them come in your home and then finally, the last secret that this really shouldn't be that big of a secret. But i know there's a lot of misinformation out there, and that is heating and air systems do need maintenance, preventative maintenance, and i don't care what kind of system you have.

You should have some sort of preventative maintenance. This is something that i run into all the time where homeowners will have an issue and they've got a system. That's been installed, it's not even one we put in it could be, you know been in there for a long time and the issue they're. Having is magnified so it could have been just a small repair that wouldn't have cost that much, but because they weren't having things maintained properly.

It's now grown into this humongous investment that they're going to have to take on now, just because they weren't having maintenance done to their system. I remember talking to somebody a couple years ago and they said well, you know you're in virginia we're up here in new jersey and we don't have to have maintenance done to our systems and which was really funny to me. So that told you know what. Basically, what she was saying was: we don't have folks, come in our house once a year and even check the heat exchanger, so you know you're putting your family at risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Just by not having someone take care of your system properly. I don't care what kind of system it is. I don't care if you have a basic electric furnace. You know basic electric mobile home furnace that to be honest with you, it they do require very little maintenance.

You know they're just basically heat strips and a fan motor, but even they in my opinion and the opinion of manufacturers, the opinion of a lot of utility companies. You know and i'll get into that in just a second, but all these folks. That know way more than i know, and what your brother-in-law, who tells you you don't need to maintain your system, is telling you that all these people, that are you, know, way more experienced and way smarter than me. They all say that you need to have maintenance done to that system.

Even if it's just a simple, clean it up a little bit and have someone lay eyes on it, make sure you don't have any electrical issues, something that could grow into a huge safety issue. You know, god forbid it burned down your house, and you could have avoided that. Just by having someone lay hands on it, you know make sure everything's on the up and up so you know, i've talked to other professionals. There are professionals out there in our trade that wholeheartedly believe that you do not need to maintain your system.

I had a guy a few years ago. Tell me you know as long as they're changing their air filters like they're supposed to you, do not need to do preventative maintenance. It's just funny to me because just the simple cleaning, the evaporator coil from time to time prevents so many problems. It prevents refrigerant problems.

It prevents you know: high head pressure, prevents more wear and tear on your fan, motor and compressor. I mean i could go on and on i mean i genuinely could go on and on, and i just silly to me that anyone would think otherwise. And the last thing i just touched on a moment ago - and i told you i would finish with - and that is our local utility company - they i'm not sure how it all works. I don't know if they're getting grant dollars or what the deal is, but they actually have a program where they will pay homeowners rebates from time to time to clean their system to have a proper tune-up done, and the reason is is because they know if a Professional is doing what they're supposed to and they're cleaning the system and they're checking the refrigerant they're, making sure everything's on the up and up and the system's working as best as it can.

You know if you have a 15 seer system in your home you're getting as much efficiency out of that as possible, and they know that if it's maintained properly that it will use less electricity. I don't know if i'm going to get any comments on that. I have ruffled feathers before with other heating and air guys, but i'm not bending on this. I'm telling you if you have any sort of heating and air system in your home, i don't care what type it is.

99 of the time, some sort of preventative maintenance. You should be doing if you're not sure what that preventative maintenance is then check with a professional put a comment down below. Maybe i'll do a video on it i'll get more specific and tell you what some of the maintenance that you should be getting done. Is we're not talking about a kick the tires kind of thing, i would say the majority of the time.

Most of these professionals should be coming in and spending no less than at least no matter. What kind of system you have no less than a half hour cleaning that system or checking refrigerant checking heat exchangers cleaning the system up? If you have an old oil system, changing nozzles and all the filters, all the things that you're supposed to be doing properly and again, if you're not having that done, i have had people tell me. I've got a. I got a heat pump system and it's it's 15 years old and i've never had maintenance done to it, and i i think that's great.

I guess, but it's just to me, that's just like saying well, you know i have a honda with 200 000 miles on it, that i've never changed the oil on and you know i can't imagine what that honda's oil. If you were to drain the oil pan on it, what kind of shape it's in and that heating and air system that someone says that about, i can't imagine what kind of shape that's in either so anyway. I hope that helps that's the three newest secrets before you go. If you are in the market for a new heating and air system and you're in griffin, air's coverage area give us a call, we'd love to earn your business and we'll give you the best warranty in the area.

But if you're, not in gryffindor's coverage area - and you are in the market for a new heating and air system - go over to new hvac guide, dot com, we'd love to help you it's a step-by-step guide - we've got packages where you will actually help you or give You advice, but the god itself is set to give you secrets that no one wants you to know heating and air contractors and manufacturers. Don't even want you to know some of the stuff. That's on this website and if you follow the guide step by step, you will avoid some of the headaches and problems that a lot of other homeowners face when buying a heating and air system. All that said, thanks for watching hit that subscribe button, we'll see you next time.