Purchasing a furnace at a big box store?

Question

Generally when you hire an HVAC contractor to replace a furnace, you purchase the unit from them and they install it however does anybody here buy their furnace at a place like Home Depot instead to save money and then have it installed by a pro?

Tom W. · Answer

@Samantha Klein

As an HVAC contractor, I will never install equipment that I do not provide, for several reasons.

1) I warranty every job that I install. Manufacturer's equipment warranties do not cover labor to replace the parts they provide. If I don't provide the equipment then I don't have the opportunity to mark up the cost. This means I lose money every time I have to perform equipment repair under warranty.

2) I purchase a lot of equipment from my suppliers. Since I do so much volume, they are very cooperative when it comes to working with me on getting warranty repair parts. If I do not buy the equipment from them then they have made no money on me. If they are making nothing on the sale then they are losing money dealing with warranty replacements. That makes them much less cooperative which in turn means I am not able to service my customer as well.

3) Unless a receipt can be produced, I have no way of knowing if the equipment the homeowner is supplying has been stolen. I have had equipment stolen from my job sites in the past. When this happens, I report the serial numbers back to the suppliers who enter them into the manufacturer's database. Supposedly by doing this, if someone does try to obtain parts under warranty for this equipment, they will be denied.

All in all you may save some money by getting someone to install equipment you purchase yourself but in the long run you will probably come to regret it.

Patrick K. · Answer

Ask the contractor to check and see if there are any units at their supply house that may have some physical defects which you may be able to get a discount. Also, some HVAC contractors have replaced units out of other clients homes that are perfectly fine. Maybe they could sell you cheaply. I have done both of these techniques multiple times.

Samantha Klein · Answer

@Tom W. Thank you for the detailed answer Tom, I will just purchase a unit from the contractor.

Purchasing a furnace at a big box store?

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