10yrs parts/ 10yrs compressor/ 10yrs coil/ 1yr labor or spend $1600 more for a unit with10yrs parts/ 10yrs labor/ 15yrs coil
I'd go with the lower end and then your utility company should have a plan you can purchase and pay with your bill monthly. They are not very expensive and can be for full replacement. That $2400 banked and getting interest could pay for many months of appliance insurance. Check with you utility for the details.
I wouldn't spend the extra money, if you do you get the extended warranty you will need your equipment serviced every year to keep the warranty good, which to be honest with you - the newest equipment on the market is close to maintenence free and smart enough to self diagnose itself and the furnace will shut off if anything unsafe may occur. so with that said add 10 years of maintenence, twice a year, $80 a check-up is extra $1600 + 2400 = $4,000 worse case before 10 years - the compressor needs changed, cost of labor to change a compressor would definitely be under a $1000. plus perhaps a few service calls in between if something breakes down , so add another $500 roughly, fyi - a majority of the things that break down on a unit are not something that can be prevented against. just become good with changing your filters and rinsing your outdoor coil. A lot of other service techs will thumbs this down, but in my opinion when I service newer equipment, it almost feels pointless.
A vast majority of manufactures have a one year to 5 year parts warranty. There are exceptions but lets stick to the norm. When a contractor offers a warranty in the five to 15 year range, he is actually putting the responsibility of that warranty on himself. So each dealership must figure out what they must charge to justify such a lengthy warranty. He also knows that most people will not live in their home for 10 years and he may never have to make good on it anyway. So is $2400.00 an outrageous price for a warranty, seems like it, but maybe not. That comes out to $240.00 a year for ten years. In our company our average repair ticket is around $350.00 so you can see that it would take a lot of repair calls to justify $2400.00. On the other hand it depends on what part breaks. We charge an average of $1200.00 to replace a compressor,$600.00 for a coil, $600.00 for an in-warranty heat exchanger, etc. etc., so it is really a crap shoot. If you are comfortable with the company and they are reputable and you are sure they will still be here 10 years from now and it gives you piece of mind, then go for the warranty.
