Hey guys, we had a person, call our business asking us a specific question because they had a new system being installed at their home, and the lady had seen some of my videos and she had this specific question, and that is: should you buy or is it? Okay, to have refurbished hvac equipment installed in your home in her particular situation, she thought she was getting a new system and then the contractor pulled up and the equipment was all rusty, looking and used, and so on. So let's go through this. I've got a few things that i think you should know before you go down that path. The first thing is, as a hvac contractor someone's been doing this for a while.

I have never even heard of refurbished hvac equipment, i've heard of used i've heard of scratch and dent at some supply houses, but i've never heard of refurbished. So, in other words, i can't go to one of the big manufacturers. Daikin train carrier, whoever and say to them. Hey.

Can i get a refurbished heat pump system? Can i get a refurbished furnace? I've never heard of that, and that's because i don't believe it even exists. So if you're being told that you are being sold a refurbished unit, i believe it's probably just a used unit and maybe they clean the coil or something i'm not sure. I have seen online where people go on craigslist and different websites like that and they'll try to sell heating and air used equipment, maybe if they upgrade it or what reason or another they have something for sale. But again, that's just something that's used now.

You could argue, hey, you know if it's used, then maybe they just are selling it, because it was the wrong size. They bought the wrong size for their house and now they're. You know going up in size or down in size for one reason or another. There's nothing wrong with the system and that's why they're selling it do.

I think situations out there exist like that. Possibly i think that that's a possibility. However, i would say it's pretty rare my take on this. Is this and i'm gon na be really blunt about it? I would not want you to inherit someone else's problems in my mind if a heating and air system is bought new and installed properly and everything is kosher, what would be the reason they then pull that system out and have it for sale? I can't think of too many reasons that would give me the warm fuzzies or even if it is on the up and up the risk that you're taking and spending the money on that is just way too high.

In my mind, one thing that a lot of us, heating and air guys have to worry about when we're doing repairs or we're coming behind someone else. So if i've got a new customer, maybe their system is five years old and maybe they don't even know who installed it. Maybe they just bought the house or something right so they're now calling us they are now a new customer for us and we come out and we're laying hands on this system for the first time there are things to consider as a repairman when dealing with that Things like good practices when the system was installed, is the system having issues because they did not use those good practices. Maybe they didn't use good brazing techniques and there's a bunch of trash and scaly build up in the line.

Sets all these things that we're having to deal with that that system was probably installed new. That is still could be a problem for a repairman or serviceman after the fact. So we're talking about a new system that someone installed and they could still have those types of issues right now, when you go back to what we were talking about before you've got this used system that you don't know if they use good brazing techniques. You don't know what kind of house it was installed in.

Maybe the house was dirty, maybe it had mold in it. Maybe there's some other reason: they're selling, that heating and air system - and you want to now put that in your home again. I just feel like that that is just such a risk when you could just spend a little bit more money and get a new system installed properly and have no headaches now before i get people commenting and they say well, you know, i've bought used systems and I've never had an issue, i'm telling you. I think that's great.

I genuinely i'm glad for you. If that's the case, if you have had good experiences doing that, i'm very happy for you, but i would dare argue that you are the minority. If that is the case, if you have bought a used heating and air system, it's not like a used car where you can check the oil and look the car over and make sure that you know. Maintenance was done properly to it and see what kind of shape it's in heating and air equipment.

There are so many unforeseen there's so many unknowns. You know i can't actually take a microscope and go up inside of that compressor and make sure there's no buildup or gunk or something from a previous contractor or someone pretending to be a contractor when you're talking about heating and air, it's not cars. This is a totally different animal and although it may cost a little bit less than a car, i would dare say that the investment and the problems that could come from all of that are way too high of a risk. Now getting back to the concern that this lady had when she called us, if you have bought a heating and air system from a company, i think there's a few things that if you follow our guide right here, the new hvac guide that i'll talk more about At the end of this video, but if you follow our guide, one of the things we talk about in our guide is having a proper contract in place and what should be in that contract contracts are not just about protecting the heating and air company.

It should also protect you. There are things in my company's contract that are in there to protect our customer as well. So that way, if they read over a contract, they know that things are on the up and up and that we're going to protect them. The best way we can so hopefully you've got a contract in place.

Now, whether you do or don't have a contract in place and you've bought a heating and air system, with the assumption that it's going to be new and the contractor pulls up and they start unloading everything. They start installing everything and you realize right away. This is not a new system; they are installing. This lady said that the one that they were installing at her house had rust all over the outdoor unit, but whatever the case is, if you're looking at it and it doesn't look shiny and new, i would put a stop to it right away.

I would not let them continue with the work, even if it means you have to pay them for their time and efforts up to that point again. The risk moving forward having them install someone else's problem child. You are going to regret it in my opinion, or at least in most cases, you're gon na regret it. So i'd put a stop to it.

I'd revisit the contract if you've already given them money up front, try to mitigate that somehow, but i'm just telling you before you have them installing a used system in your home. You may want to stop work at that point in time. Our contracts for with my company actually say that either party can put a stop to the work at any point for any reason. So, for example, if my guys come into their house and they don't take their shoes off and they mess up their house or something like that, they are welcome to put a stop to that work.

At that point now there is a clause saying that we will need to at least be paid for the work that we've done up to that point, but ultimately, either party can put a stop to the work immediately. I've never had that happen. We only installed new equipment that we provide, but i do know that there are contractors out there that will install anything if you buy it somewhere else, they'll install it. If you get something used, they'll still install it and all that stuff at our company.

We just don't do any of that, because there's just too much liability, not just for us, but for you as well. The homeowner last couple things i'll wrap up in just a moment, but i did touch on it a moment ago. Some suppliers do have a scratch and dent section where you know if something's delivered to them, and it's got a dent in the side of the system or something like that. Nothing else is wrong with it, but they, you know they got this furnace and shipping and it got dented in the side.

Nothing else is wrong, still works great now, not all of them have it. So before you go asking your contractor for it and wondering why they don't have it, not all companies have that, but i do know one particular company local to us. They have it and it's not often that they have something, but we have been able to provide for folks that are a little less fortunate, we're able to get them a scratch and dent system and help them out with the pricing and so on. I would still say, even though, with this particular company, if you get the scratch and dent equipment, they'll still honor the warranties, i would still say that you're, probably taking on some some bit of risk right.

You know if it's in the scratch and dent section there's a reason for that, but i just want you to be aware of it. The last thing i'll say and i'll wrap up is, would i recommend you buying used and i've already said it a couple times. The answer is no, i would only buy new systems, i would pay a little bit extra, even if you have to finance it heating and air systems are not like a house they're not like a car. You can't buy used and try to repair it or bring it up to snuff.

Whoever did something wrong in the past. The damage is done and you're going to inherit those problems you the money you might save from the get-go over the next 10 years. You will probably regret it with all that said if you're in the northern neck or middle peninsula of virginia give griffin air a call and if you're, not in our coverage area and you're in the market for a heating and air system go to my website. New hvac guide, we put so much information on there, a lot of contractors and manufacturers.

Don't even want you to know before you spend thousands check out that website. Thanks for watching hit the subscribe button, we'll see you next time.