On Tue, 2 Apr 2019 18:42:05 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

On Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 5:03:15 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...

Could be as simple as a short in the thermostat wires, maybe from some rodent.
Whatever it is, if you have reasonable DIY skills you can probably fix it
for not much, maybe $25 for a relay, worst case I guess it could be a
control board. With a HVAC tech, you're pretty much at their mercy
and they can hose you right proper if they want to.




Yea, thay can really hose you.

A couple of years ago on a Saturday the AC quit. Called the man and was
told it would be a minimum of $ 100 for him to come out. Ok with that.

He got here and replaced a bad motor capacitor in about 15 minuits. I
was tlaking with him, and he was open and frindly. Gave me osme
pointers about it. He then asked me what I though the capacitor would
cost. I told him they paid less than probably $ 25 for it and the
markup was about double , so $ 50. He said the company had a fixed rate
of $ 300 for the capacitor repair.

Yeah. The local (but highly rated) HVAC repair charged me 85 to show up, and $250 for the cap. It was $12 at the local supply, but they wouldn't sell to me as I'm not a contractor.

HVAC suppliers are real pricks when it comes to homeowners but they
are not the only place that sells motor capacitors.