So tired of my area price gouging. My neighbor literally paid over $400 to replace a 12$ capacitor. I get a service call fee, but $400....that's RAPE IMHO. I would never call that company for any service. Just an opinion

I experienced gatekeeping. HVAC guy wanted $500 to diagnose and replace main blower motor in my furnace even though I just needed the part. He refused to sell motor to me. I called a few local distributors and they refused to sell also. They all cited warranty, liability and other BS. I took at stab in the dark and called grainger. The sales person was stumped trying to find the right part and sent me over to one of their low power motor support guys. 15 minutes later we had the motor and mounting bracket identified and it was in stock near me. The support guy stuck on the phone as I put the order in online to make sure all went well. I ended up spending about 3 hours getting blocked by the industry folk. It took a total of 2 hours from calling Grainger, driving to the store with the old part (with the squirrel cage attached in the housing with the motor) and not only did they sell me the replacement, the clerk grabbed some tools for me to undo the fan and motor from the housing and stuck around as I reattached everything to make it fit and then walked me through double checking I knew the wiring for when I got home to install. Oh and edit here to say the cost was about $90 with tax.

The gatekeeping by HVAC suppliers is insane. I had a blower motor fail on my Lennox air handler in Florida, determined it was just the ECM. No one would sell it to me since I wasn't "licensed". Didn't realize you need a license to pull out 2 plugs and unscrew 4 screws. But I found a great place in Tampa that overnighted me a refurbished unit. I always buy from the sources you mentioned, plus I repair my own electronics. It's usually pretty obvious what the problems are.

He is absolutely correct! I was a commercial HVAC tech for 12 years, and did do some residential. Now, all residential - my own furnace and A/C. I absolutely have a spare inducer motor AND wheel (no cap), HSI (hot surface igniter), flame sensor (just in case), gas valve and even an extra digital thermostat. It's known to get cold here in Minnesota. Now, people might think its strange to keep spare HVAC parts - the cost in case you don't need them. Well, we all pay multiple types of insurance with the hope we will never need them either. HVAC parts, same thing. I have a 25 year old Carrier R-22 condensing unit that I'll keep until I replace it and the furnace in the next few years. It's getting a new condenser fan motor (CFM), contactor, capacitor AND blade this spring. It still works perfectly. Now, you may ask, "why is he replacing the blade". When I was in the field, whenever you chose to just replace the motor, the capacitor and the slinger, the motor shaft would nearly always wind up be seized to the fan blade hub. The cost to the customer for the labor to try to get a badly stuck blade off isn't worth it - AND my head aches of trying to get the dang thing off on the roof when it's 95 degrees out! I got my condenser parts from Repair Clinic. I am not working for a contractor anymore, so I don't have access to the parts houses as when I was in the field. This man makes a lot of sense. He has reminded me of things I had forgotten due to being out of the field since 2012. Thanks again for your help and great advice! And if I may be so bold, take it from another HVAC professional, me, this man knows what he's talking about!!!

I saved thouuuuuusands. I do everything myself. I got epa certified, bought my own refrigerant, nitro, tools, recovery machine, etc.... I own 4 ACs on my home. I'll never again pay an AC installer unless I'm totally disabled and then I'll pay a friend and teach him first. I was quoted 36k to replace 3 2 ton units with new 14 seer units. I was quoted 3000 just to install a new air duct. Never again. I am 1000% done with hvac companies. I also installed and charged a Pioneer minisplit andnits still working to this day and blows great cold air and great heat air in the winter and is 22 seer. I thoroughly enjoy your channel.

Local HVAC supplier has a big sign on the door 'No sales to public' walked in anyway, walked around a minute, grabbed the parts I needed, checked out, they still took my money and I fixed my sister's AC same day.

I tried to ask a question about just checking my gas pressures with a manometer on /r/hvacadvice and no one would help me saying checking the gas pressure will blow up your house. The gate keeping in in this industry is off the charts. They are worried people will realize how easy it is to do their rip off work and cut them out and they wont be able to price gouge anymore.

I use Supply House for parts. They are very good and most items are in stock. Free shipping over 100 bucks. I do think folks ought to search for the official parts diagrams to ensure the correct part numbers. Local firms here mark up parts 500 percent, so worth having the usual “suspects “ in stock at home!

This guy is the real deal, has saved me a ton. Gave me the confidence to install my own mini split. While it might have taken me twice the amount of time to install vs a pro, I saved literally 5-8k and learned how simple it really is. Most nerve racking part, drilling the hole in the house for the line 😂

"Can I Purchase HVAC Parts As A Homeowner?" Yes. Question answered.

I have a relatively expensive LG refrigerator. It blew a fuse on the main board. The fuse was soldered to the board but was a common fuse. I'm not very good at soldering on electronics.

Sadly, the local HVAC companies around me, if you have a furnace out, it's minimal $800 repair no matter what they find.

We have been buying from repair clinic in Canton Michigan for over three decades. Those guys are open Sundays too. My daughter’s well pump switch required replacement on a weekend. Repair Clinic had the part and was only twenty minutes away. Their new building is huge! Replaced it and got the water flowing again. Her husband is also a techie and went with me. He didn’t want to leave because he was amazed at all the parts.

I feel like a more universal preparedness solution is to have a few space heaters and a window unit air conditioner on standby. That way no matter what breaks, you have some form of heating and cooling available.

Pro-tip: Take a picture with your phone of the part numbers. On Android there is google lens and you can select text and google straight from there. iPhone is similar and you can tap and select text to search for.

His advice of getting a spare capacitor is spot on. The scenario he mentioned is EXACTLY what happened to me years ago when I had no knowledge of my HVAC system. I now tell everyone the same advice and they look at me with a blank stare.

When my AC died on a hot summer day, my local Grainger store had the capacitor I needed. Unlike most of the local supply houses, they let me purchase it without any grief.

This channel is the cats meow. He's helped me on more than one occasion, which I really appreciate.

We have a similar company in Australia. I’ve bought numerous HVAC parts from them, some fridge parts, oven bits, and even a microwave turntable motor and drive chuck. The Fujitsu split system (ductless) was fitted just a month before I bought the house, and came with the warranty intact. Within months it burnt out the main control board. Warranty replacement at no charge. 5 years later, same problem. Counted the flashes, same as the previous problem. Rang the company who did the warranty work (only because they were local, and stuck their sticker on the side of it when they did the warranty). They diagnosed it off my recount of the flashes, and wanted over $1000 to replace the failed board. Bought the replacement board (genuine OEM) for $440 and did it myself. The shop told me it was upgraded and shouldn’t fail again. Gave the failed board to my friend who fixed it for $30 worth of parts - but it’s still sitting in the garage as an insurance policy. Also did the blower fan motor and the bearing on the other end when it got noisy, and that unit has done another 10 faultless years since. There are many things a decent DIY person can do when they have access to the replacement parts. And really, that’s all most of the techs do these days, is replace complete PCBs, and other sub assemblies. My father was an A/C tech from the days when they rewound motors themselves, and he would be appalled at the waste (and price gouging) going on these days…

Thank goodness for youtube, call a local hvac here in illinois, because i had no heat, they came out the next morning...on time. They replaced the the wire from the thermostat to the furnace and charged me 400.00. This was 10 years ago. This is something I can do myself now thanks to youtube.