Preparing for Winter with the Home Service Plan from Beutler Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing

Disclosure: This is a sponsored article written by me on behalf of Beutler Air Conditioning, Plumbing & Heating. All opinions are 100% my own.

So far this Fall we've avoided firing up our furnace. But even cooler weather is just around the corner, as evidenced by the chilly nights we keep having here in northern California. Although this will be our second winter in our 10-year-old home, we thought it would be smart to have our heating system inspected by an expert this year to assess the safety and ensure our furnace is running efficiently. With the Home Service Plan from Beutler Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing, our included furnace maintenance inspection was the perfect start to give us peace of mind before winter.

Beutler Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing has been serving the Sacramento region for over 60 years. Their highly-trained service technicians strive for excellence in all areas of the services they offer. 

Upon arrival, our Beutler service technician, Josh, put shoe covers on before entering. We found this to be a respectful gesture towards us and our home. He proceeded to ask us questions about our heating usage, how we felt our system performed, if we had hot or cold spots etc. It gave him a clear view of what our system probably looked like in the attic. He also inquired about any health concerns we have such as allergies, and the general air quality we've noticed. Since Buddy and I both have allergies, Josh provided us with some suggestions on air filters that are best for allergy sufferers.

Before heading up to the attic, Josh set up his ladder on a protective mat he placed on our floors. Another courtesy that we definitely appreciated! He also removed our old filter that we had yet to change for the season, and replaced it with a new one we had on hand.

 Up in the attic, Josh spent a total of about an hour and a half. We heard a vacuum several times while he was up there, which was him cleaning the important components of our heating system, like our dusty evaporator coil and blower. He inspected our furnace, ducts, and all the components of our heating system to evaluate the condition of each. 

Josh was incredibly professional and knowledgeable. When he came down he had photos for us to see, he gave us a run down of our system, and recommended several maintenance repairs. He went over his entire report with us, and explained each performance reading as he went. The most important issue he found was a problem with our hot surface igniter that really should be replaced soon to potentially save our motor from burning out - which would cost us a whole lot more to replace if that were to happen.

A pretty horrifying discovery was that our air ducts are filthy. It's an indication of the age of our system, but it's also all from the previous owners of our home and I really don't want to think about that - yuck! (Thanks for the photo Josh!)

Josh noticed that some of our air ducts are not shaped in a way that is conducive to proper air flow in two of our bedrooms. Instead they are curved and looped around quite a bit. This makes sense since those are both the coldest rooms in winter and the hottest in summer. One of the quotes he gave us was an affordable fix to cut and straighten the vents out to hopefully solve the problem.

He also gave us quotes on a couple furnace parts that are on their way out, and also the cost for a full system cleaning (uh yeah, those dirty ducts?!). Not once did we feel sales pressure, or feel like we were suggested unnecessary services. We feel that it was a very thorough inspection and Josh did a fantastic job.

The Beutler Home Service Plan is just $169 and includes the following:

• Two full-service maintenance tune-ups/inspections during the year
• Detailed inspection and professional-grade cleaning of outdoor coil
• Discounted diagnostic fee on all emergency service calls
• No after-hours, overtime, weekend or holiday service charges
• 20% discount on all HVAC system repairs
• One-year guarantee on all repairs performed
• Priority scheduling – guaranteed 24-hour response time
• Transferable, should you sell your home
• 10% discount on all plumbing repairs
• One annual Whole House Plumbing Inspection

With our first maintenance inspection down, I'm very happy with our Home Service Plan! It's an incredible value especially for the peace of mind and important information we learned about our own heating system.

To learn more about Beutler Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing and the service they offer, please visit BeutlerAirConditioningAndHeating.com.