Here at ECI Comfort Solutions, we've always stressed the importance of yearly maintenance for your heating and air conditioning system. However, one homeowner who thought they were getting their annual tune-up for their system would soon find out that they were not getting the service that they paid for.
A few years ago, ECI installed a System 2000 Boiler for one of our customers in Mount Airy. Although we did the installation, the homeowners received their annual tune-up from a different company. But, recently the homeowners decided to do an oil to gas conversion to help save money on fuel costs. So when one of our technicians went to inspect their system, he soon discovered that their system was clogged, not cleaned, and had not been properly maintained for a long, long time.
These pictures taken in this Mount Airy home are examples of preventative maintenance gone wrong. As one can see, the system does not look properly cleaned out. In fact, this system hasn’t been cleaned out in years. The homeowners who thought they were getting their system cleaned and inspected every year, were actually not getting any service at all. This is what can happen when a service company does not do their job correctly.
For 5 years, this particular company had 3 different technicians sign off, stating that this system was cleaned. The picture below shows how the first time this system was serviced, the technician disconnected the draft-presser switch, which is like a safety switch for the system. 
Doing this did not fix the problem and no other technician seemed to correct the issue or clean out the system properly.
Our technician discovered that the system was 3/4 of the way clogged which caused several problems for these homeowners over the years, like having high energy bills from their system working too hard.
What to learn from this? If you suspect that your HVAC system seems to be having issues more often than it should, after having your yearly maintenance, it's always good to get a second opinion from another company. Preventative maintenance is very important for homeowners. It will help keep your home safe, help your system last longer, help prevent those high energy bills, and especially help prevent expensive repairs like this.
If you discover your system may not be working well or you are still looking to have your annual A/C tune-up, don't hestitate to give us a call. We take pride in what we do here at ECI Comfort Solutions! Click below to schedule an appointment or give us a call at 215-245-3200.
