[Irascible]

I agree with the maintenance recommendation. However, the twice-a-year maintenance contract fulfills the contractor's needs and not necessarily yours. Carrier would not dare publish something like this if they had the slightest inkling that maintenance every other year was going to be a problem. Modern cars don't need tune-ups every single year either and they do just fine. All they need between tune-ups is oil and filter changes just like the furnace needs the air filter changed.

If you do get maintenance, be aware that most contractors don't know how. Ask on the phone if they do combustion analysis. When they say "No." or "Huh?", move on to the next one.

 

[Irascible]

“Who mentioned twice a year?”

I apologize if I implied that you said as much. Plus, I wasn't clear on what I meant by twice-a-year. The standard twice-a-year canned contract would be once in the spring for the AC and once in the fall for the furnace. That's not necessarily bad. But it's not necessarily needed either. It just depends on the application.

“I believe they RECOMMEND EVERY YEAR”

Indeed they did. That doesn’t invalidate my statement.

“If you drive your auto on Sundays to church and that's it, then I suppose just an oil change is okay.”

I stated that cars don’t need tune-ups every single year. I did not state they never need a tune-up. However, the best way to state it is that some cars don’t need tune-ups ever year – just like some furnaces don’t either.

“Just how often would YOU recommend someone get under the car and have a good look… Maybe just when it breaks?”

I recommend they stick with the OEM recommendations. I would not have posted copy of an OEM publication if I intended otherwise. This “maybe just when it breaks” business is taking it to an extreme that I never implied. It’s difficult to sustain rational conversation when we start implying that another would believe such a ridiculous thing when they clearly don’t.

“It may be news to you, but combustion analysis was being done long before the new digital machines of today. I do wonder where you got your data that MOST do not.”

No, not news at all. Been doing it for years. I’ve made a mistake that I know better than to do, which is to forget the regional nature of our business. I’ll take your word for it that most techs in the oil burning biz know combustion analysis. From what I’ve read over the years (and now that you’ve jarred my memory), combustion analysis is an absolute necessity in oil burning furnaces.

If you’ll reciprocate, then trust me when I say that most techs in natural gas dominated parts of the country would think a combustion analyzer is something out of Star Trek. Natural gas is a beautifully clean and forgiving fuel. It’s so forgiving that most companies don’t bother equipping their guys with analyzers. Customers don’t ask for them. What techs mostly do locally is look at the color of the flame. If it's a pretty blue, they assume all is well. Of course we know that's not necessarily the case.