After we discussed whether or not we do/should have our heaters checked every year, I found this Smart Money piece that addressed the same issue. Their thoughts:
"Heating systems fail most often because they're neglected," says Maria Vargas, a spokeswoman for the government's Energy Star program. A system that doesn't produce enough warm air, or loses much of it to leaks en route to your rooms, can tack up to 20% onto your bill. Hiring an inspector (at a cost of $50 to $100) to examine your HVAC system once a year will more than pay for itself in energy savings.
Then again, if you can do this yourself, why not get the benefits of a check-up AND the savings of self-work?
Here's what we did this year:
1. Got references from friends and neighbors on good heater service companies.
2. Called those companies and asked for a list of their services and prices. There was much more variation in price than what I would have guessed.
3. We discussed which one worked best for us, and we decided to use them. Ultimately, we went with a monthly "club" that checks our heater and AC as well as offers a few additional services for "free". A side benefit: they'll allow us to put our monthly bill on our credit card, earning us rewards (cash) along the way. I know it's not a fortune, but every little bit helps. ;-)
Pretty simple, but by doing this we saved $50 or so over the highest-priced alternative. Not a bad deal.
Intelligent idea. I never thought such an idea. Sure it helps us to save some money. Really great amd thank you
Investments
Posted by: Rose | October 27, 2008 at 07:23 AM