Furnace Repair advice needed

So we had a guy come out to tune up and inspect our furnace. The furnace also has a humidifier and a AC. Everything to me seems to be working fine but he gives me a bill that ranges from 500-5000! He shows me a pic of a fan that is dusty, so now its not as efficient so he would like to replace the fan. So I called a few places to check on a ‘Drain system renovation’ thinking that if I could check on one part of his bill I could see if the company id giving me a good price. Nobody will give me an estimate over the phone, so the only way I can check is to pick a company and pay for a service call.
I don’t need the absolute lowest price just need to find a company I can trust-Any reccomendations for the metro area? Thanks

What part of the cities?

A dusty fan? An air compressor and vacuum and you’ll be good to go. He’s upselling you by claiming you need to replace a part that needs to be cleaned. Kick his a$$ to the curb and find a reputable company that isnt trying to screw you over. All those “$49.99 furnace cleaning” companies do it.

They just want to make some money off of you! Gently clean your fan motor with a vacuum and a soft bristled brush to remove all the dust, make sure your condensation drain lines are open and flowing for the summertime humidity removal, replace your filter regularly, don’t fix what isn’t broken. If you have a flame sensor that can be removed and cleaned with light sandpaper or abrasive cloth, figure out how to do that, that’s probably one of the most common issues with furnaces is that there’s a buildup of oxidized gunk on there and the flame sensor won’t work correctly until it’s cleaned off.

$500-$5000 that makes no sense. Get your money back and punch him in the nose for being stupid.

Blower motors are super easy to replace. I have done a couple. Finding the right one takes more work that doing the work.

We are close to Mpls & Roseville near Hi. 280. Just need a company that I can trust to do this stuff-thanks for all the help so far, feel free to PM me if you have a company that you like.

That estimate doesn’t make any sense. Sounds like a plumber who was asked to leave my house a little while ago.

Try Joel Smith heating and air out of Ham Lake. Good local honest company.

$500 to $5000 estimate sounds like they had no idea what they were looking at.

Apologies to anyone actually honest in that trade, but there are a bunch of crooks in that business! I was having furnace issues on a REALLY cold Holiday weekend a few years ago and I was pretty sick at the time. I knew I was already on the hook for a Holiday emergency service call ($100), but the technician showed up quickly, confirmed the problem, and was pleasant to talk to. It turned out to be a simple fix … flame sensor … and I thought it would be pretty cheap to replace. I asked him if he had the part in his truck and what the price would be. He had to confirm if he had the part, but said it would be $180-200 to replace!! I think my jaw dropped on the floor, and while he went to look in his truck, I called a fried that works for the biggest gas service company in town. I asked him how much a flame sensor should cost and he said $20-30 max. When the tech came back downstairs I politely asked how a tiny bent piece of metal with one spade connection could be $200 and he got sheepish and said “Well, that’s what they tell us we have to charge. But, if you take a picture of this package and look on Amazon you might find one a lot cheaper”. He took some paper to lightly brush the old sensor to get it back functional. I took the picture and found a new sensor for $8.12 delivered!!! I understand that everyone needs to make money along the way, but when I’m already paying for the service call, and they still try to make 25x markup on a simple part that could be sanded lightly to work again, I was mad.

You think that price was unfair? Sounds extremely reasonable. Sure hope you would of included a tip to.

Holiday weekend I wouldn’t of left home for less than $200 either

Coletrain27 wrote:

Holiday weekend I wouldn’t of left home for less than $200 either

Me either. Saturdays and holidays I don’t think about working unless it’s raining 100 dollar bills

Rainylakefisher wrote:

Apologies to anyone actually honest in that trade, but there are a bunch of crooks in that business!

Amen to that.

Had a local company come look at our furnace a few winters ago since it was not igniting. I ran upstairs for a bit and came back down and the guy is looking at our water heater. He says “hear that hissing”…”it could blow at any minute”…I looked down and he had the temp gauge cranked to high and he saw I noticed and quickly turned the gauge back down. I asked him #1 why he was looking at my water heater when the furnace was the issue and #2 why he cranked the temp up to max.

He had no answer. I told him I’d be going with someone else. I left a google review and the owner of the company called me asking what they could do to make it right. I said no thanks..Hopefully my google review steered some people away from them..

Mike W wrote:

You think that price was unfair? Sounds extremely reasonable. Sure hope you would of included a tip to.

I thought the same thing. It’s called time. You have to pay for that.
You think a company is going to send a tech around charging 10-20 bucks just for parts to fix things?

Not recommended to sand a flame sensor. Sanding will make the surface of the sensor rough and cause it to collect more crud. Wipe vigorously with paper like piece of grocery bag.

Had an argument with an auto mechanic about parts mark ups, if a mechanic gets a wholesale price and they bump up to the retail price I’m fine with that, but when they double it or more I have a problem. YES they need to make money, charge and make as much as you want/need but be honest about it, they make it look like they are just passing on their price. I can’t even call a heating company and get an estimate for replacing a very specific part on a specific furnace at least I can do that with auto mechanics. Not enough transparency in that biz. IMHO

Ham Lake might be a bit far but I will call them, thanks Mike.

Don’t use sandpaper use steel wool or you can even use a dollar bill. Lije loran said you want to polish it not rough it up

At 5K you are looking at a really nice replacement (high efficiency) unit ?

I will share back when we had our older furnace we signed up for the XCEL repair plan. It was about $18/month and covered 4 appliances or so. We usually had one or two calls a year so it was at a minimum a net zero cost …

That furnace lasted 40 years (original install and we did not build this house).

We went high efficiency (both HVAC units) about 4 years ago. The energy savings are measurable and real – especially the AC.

Tim – I have noticed that (if asked) even some dealer repairs will use non-OEM parts on vehicles out of warranty (older and higher miles). I used to have the same discussion with a few places about parts prices. I said I am willing to pay a little more for labor, but not double on the parts.

There are some really good mechanics out there with trustworthy estimates, fair pricing and good work. Seems like most are older gentlemen that breakout on their own. As soon as I find them and build a relationship with them. They sell and retire

Thanks Britt I do have a auto mechanic that I trust._ I do miss my shade tree guy who was semi-retired, honest, smart, salt of the earth as they say-his garage was immaculate. He would buy parts and attach that bill to your bill to you, sometimes he would go to the ‘bone yard’ he would tell me: you know that part is just as good pulled and the price is a lot better. He only fixes cars for family now.
If you live in the metro I can PM you my current shop, they do tend to be very busy though.

Tim, I PM’d you. Needing an auto shop I can trust to work in a high mileage Tahoe.

Life is more enjoyable when you can find a company that you trust not to hose you over.

A half dozen years ago or so I located a plumbing/heating guy that treated me beyond fairly from the start. Between service and new installation work he is my go to guy without hesitation. (south metro)

Now I need a doctor, lawyer, auto mechanic……