Will an HVAC contractor install equipment I bought myself?
It is very difficult to find an HVAC technician willing to install customer-supplied equipment and still honor warranties. Homeowners try purchasing their own systems to avoid substantial markups and save money on expensive quotes. However, the inability to find a willing contractor prevents them from successfully bypassing these high going rates.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Seeking quotes from smaller, independent mom-and-pop companies instead of large corporate fleets
- 2Opting to forgo the labor warranty entirely and keeping the upfront savings to pay for potential future repairs
- 3Breaking the installation up into separate, smaller phases over time
- 4Hiring handymen, independent techs, or workers doing side work without warranties
- 5Getting multiple quotes from local mom-and-pop or mid-sized contractors to buy and install equipment together
- 6Ordering online through sites like HVAC Direct that partner with participating local installers
- 7Having a technician diagnose and repair damaged components instead of replacing the entire system
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’m curious if anyone has any guidance they can provide me on how to go about finding an HVAC company who will allow me to purchase my own equipment, then install it and honor warranties.”source ↗
“Looking at the quotes, the equipment is marked up substantially, and honestly $19k seems insane to me.”source ↗
“Maybe I need to accept this is the going rate here, but it’s a hard pill to swallow…looking to save on this job wherever possible”source ↗
“If I bought a similar sized system whether name brand or off brand do you think it would be difficult to find a contractor or HVAC tec install it?”source ↗
Where this came up
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