ClimateMaster Extended Warranty - Worth it?
Last Post 04 Sep 2008 07:03 AM by danielz. 9 Replies.
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danielzUser is Offline
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26 Aug 2008 05:49 PM
HI,

We are installing
1) TT064 Packaged Unit
1) TT026 Split unit with Amana Air Handler
1) TT026 Split Unit with Amana Air Handler

Can someone please tell me what the Climatemaster standard warranty is? I think it is 10 yr compressor only and 5yr? parts with no labor?
We are quoted $3500 for a 10 yr parts and labor warranty via our hvac vendor... does this sound ballpark (Climatemaster stuff only).... the Amana air handlers seem to have 10 yr standard for the split units.....

thanks
engineerUser is Offline
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26 Aug 2008 06:46 PM
I wouldn't buy it at half that price!

Markups on extended warranties are high. If your vendor goes out of biz you'd likely be hosed.
Curt Kinder <br><br>

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is - Winston Churchill <br><br><a href="http://www.greenersolutionsair.com">www.greenersolutionsair.com</a>
Sk1dm4rkUser is Offline
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29 Aug 2008 03:56 PM

Not apples to apples, I know, but I purchased an extended warranty on my FHP AquariusII that I had installed in early July.  The original period was 5 years, I got an additional 5 years for $600.

Hope that helps.


Regards,

Mark

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30 Aug 2008 03:42 AM
Posted By Sk1dm4rk on 08/29/2008 3:56 PM

Not apples to apples, I know, but I purchased an extended warranty on my FHP AquariusII that I had installed in early July.  The original period was 5 years, I got an additional 5 years for $600.


Your warranty is proably just an extension on the equipment, not the equipment/labor warranty, however it's very unusual for a vendor to offer a extended warranty that includes labor. My guess would be that the warranty is offered by the contractor, not the manufacture. The contractor pays $600 to climatemaster to extend the warranty on the equipment and the contractor pockets the different. 

Extended warranties are a major money maker for stores, they offer it with everything, its rare they have to honor it. If items fails within the warranty period often the store can get the manufacture to cover the repairs with the standard "FREE" Warranty that all products have. And it's uncommon for people to collect on an extended warranty, most of the time the electronic gadget that warranty was covering has been replaced with something newer or it breaks, but they forget they purchased it in the first place. Come on, how many people save important paper work like warranties? I would guess not many. It's pure profit for stores. 

$3,500 does sound really high, Lets take a minute to puzzle this out, If installation cost $25k and they are charging you $3,500 to extend the warranty, that would mean that they expect roughly one out of 7 installs to require some type of service within the specified period. That's an awfully high failure rate, it's highly unlikely that they have more than a 5% failure rate, for 10 year old systems. 

If your still concerned about your system failing, perhaps you should consider a house warranty, they generally run from $250 to $600 a year and cover a lot more than just the Geo system, $3500 spent on a house warranty can buy you from anywhere from 5 to 14 years coverage. But do some research first, insurance companies are not all the same. 

  
danielzUser is Offline
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30 Aug 2008 07:55 AM
The amount they proposed $3500 was for two TT026 (2 ton) and one TTV064 (5 ton) ClimateMaster Heat Pumps. According to the HVAC folks, they are offering 10 year full parts and labor for that amount.
Its extending warranty.... not service..... I am not sure its value. On the two 2 ton units, they are excluding the amana air handlers.... so at best this might be convoluted....

As for service annually.... what's recommended? is this the same as servicing regular air-to-air heat pumps? Do people sign up for annual service plans? or are ground-source systems generally setup-and-let-go until problems? (other than air filters regularly)?

Palace GeothermalUser is Offline
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30 Aug 2008 10:27 AM
In my opinion, $3500 is a rip off !! I have never been a fan of extended warranties. I never buy them. As engineer said, if your local company goes out of business, you lose everything.

Annual service contracts fall in the same category in my book. Unless you are totally incapable of changing a filter.
Dewayne Dean

<br>www.PalaceGeothermal.com<br>Why settle for 90% when you can have 400%<br>We heat and cool with dirt!<br>visit- http://welserver.com/WEL0114/- to see my system
joe.amiUser is Offline
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31 Aug 2008 09:54 PM
Amana warranty is 10 year part only (and requires you to register product on-line). The warranty extension for Amana's products is usually reasonable (a few hundred bucks) and great for the contractor ( I get decent pay and checks in about 30 days). The Climatemaster warranties are 5 year all heat pump part/labor as well as CM provided parts (flow centers, thermostats...) and 10 year part/labor for sealed referigeration parts (package system compressor, reversing valve...). As you have 5 appliances a fair breakdown would be $700 per appliance. As there is very little to go wrong with the air handlers and parts are warranted 10 years, it would be difficult to spend $700 on either of them. Now down to $2,100 I still think you are upside down. With gas furnaces I encouraged folks to spend $250 for 10 year part/labor on the Amana's. With heat pumps, I think I would encourage you to put $3,500 into a CD and take a vacation on whatever you don't spend on repairs.
Ask for warranty specifics (check manufacturer web sites to be sure we're right about warranties) and remember with geo vs anything else, a few thousand too much on the purchase price might only add 6 mos to your return on investment.
Good luck,
Joe
Joe Hardin
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danielzUser is Offline
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01 Sep 2008 08:08 AM
Thank you all, this was helpfull information.
joe.amiUser is Offline
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04 Sep 2008 12:10 AM
Now that you have shed new light on your situation in other threads, run away from any warranty underwritten by your installer.
J
Joe Hardin
www.amicontracting.com
We Dig Comfort!
www.doityourselfgeothermal.com
Dig Your Own Comfort!
danielzUser is Offline
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04 Sep 2008 07:03 AM
Exactly the direction I was going :-)
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