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My AC is under warranty, can anyone service it?

If your AC system is under a parts warranty, almost any licensed HVAC contractor can maintain it and make necessary repairs. It is still recommended that you verify the HVAC contractor can get parts for your brand of equipment (Carrier, Bryant, Trane, etc). If the company can get the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts, they will be able to get the warranty part at no cost.

This is important because a lot of homeowners believe they are stuck using the HVAC contractor who installed the air conditioning system in their home. In some instances, the contractor who installed the system is not even from the same town. In Sarasota, there are a lot of new construction homes where the HVAC contractor is based out of Tampa. I just recently heard a story from a homeowner who had to wait 2 days without cooling for a technician to come out and diagnose the problem, and were told it would take another few days to get back out with the part needed to fix the problem. The homeowner waited in a hot home because they thought they had to use the contractor who installed the system. Most of the times this is not the case.

What are the exceptions?
1) If the system was installed within the last year, the HVAC contractor who installed it is responsible for providing 1 year of labor coverage. If a repair is needed within the first year of the installation, it is advisable to call the company who installed the system so that you don’t get stuck paying for labor.

2) Did you purchase a third party extended warranty with your new air conditioning system? In most cases, other companies can service your air conditioning system under that insurance policy. Just make sure that you keep the paperwork handy, and verify that the new company can make claims under that policy before any work is done.