So why would an HVAC company charge me $545 for a part that is $97 on amazon?

[Anonymous]

We should start naming names of HVAC companies that do this. Might get those who do not have such high mark up to give us their name.

Earlier this spring I had a new Aprilaire 500 24 volt 0.5 gallon furnace Humidifier installed by large HVAC company. Looking now, the Amazon.com price is $149.99 plus shipping and handling.

My cost for part and labor? $800.00

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We should start naming names of HVAC companies that do this. Might get those who do not have such high mark up to give us their name.

Earlier this spring I had a new Aprilaire 500 24 volt 0.5 gallon furnace Humidifier installed by large HVAC company. Looking now, the Amazon.com price is $149.99 plus shipping and handling.

My cost for part and labor? $800.00

Protip - go back in there and replace the saddle valve that they installed to feed water to the Aprilaire with a Sharkbite T, some pipe, a real full size supply line valve (like under your sink), and a couple of couplers to reduce the supply line size down to what you are currently using to feed water to the Aprilaire. About $30-45 bucks in parts at Home Depot and a DIY job if you know how to turn off your water supply.

I would be impressed by any local HVAC company that did not install a saddle valve on a humidifier install job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We should start naming names of HVAC companies that do this. Might get those who do not have such high mark up to give us their name.

Earlier this spring I had a new Aprilaire 500 24 volt 0.5 gallon furnace Humidifier installed by large HVAC company. Looking now, the Amazon.com price is $149.99 plus shipping and handling.

My cost for part and labor? $800.00

So which HVAC company was it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should start naming names of HVAC companies that do this. Might get those who do not have such high mark up to give us their name.

Earlier this spring I had a new Aprilaire 500 24 volt 0.5 gallon furnace Humidifier installed by large HVAC company. Looking now, the Amazon.com price is $149.99 plus shipping and handling.

My cost for part and labor? $800.00

Protip - go back in there and replace the saddle valve that they installed to feed water to the Aprilaire with a Sharkbite T, some pipe, a real full size supply line valve (like under your sink), and a couple of couplers to reduce the supply line size down to what you are currently using to feed water to the Aprilaire. About $30-45 bucks in parts at Home Depot and a DIY job if you know how to turn off your water supply.

I would be impressed by any local HVAC company that did not install a saddle valve on a humidifier install job.

Already done by me pre-install,but thanks for the tip. Kicking myself on their labor charge though. Might by the part myself or try a handyman next time and take the "risk".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should start naming names of HVAC companies that do this. Might get those who do not have such high mark up to give us their name.

Earlier this spring I had a new Aprilaire 500 24 volt 0.5 gallon furnace Humidifier installed by large HVAC company. Looking now, the Amazon.com price is $149.99 plus shipping and handling.

My cost for part and labor? $800.00

So which HVAC company was it?

Check your yellow pages for any large NoVA HVAC company (multiple employees, always advertising on Washington DC Craigslist under labor for minimum wage workers and you'll be able to see whom. It's a racket imho and I'm not going to play along anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should start naming names of HVAC companies that do this. Might get those who do not have such high mark up to give us their name.

Earlier this spring I had a new Aprilaire 500 24 volt 0.5 gallon furnace Humidifier installed by large HVAC company. Looking now, the Amazon.com price is $149.99 plus shipping and handling.

My cost for part and labor? $800.00

So which HVAC company was it?

Check your yellow pages for any large NoVA HVAC company (multiple employees, always advertising on Washington DC Craigslist under labor for minimum wage workers and you'll be able to see whom. It's a racket imho and I'm not going to play along anymore.

Right, but you said "we should start naming names." Can you name a name per your post?

[Anonymous]

Labor charges might also include travel time to get to your house. I know contractors that add travel time to the bill.

[Anonymous]

The price from the HVAC company is all-inclusive for part + installation, and their "warranty". Especially if you're using a company with 7-day service (like John C. Flood), the price for any "part" is greatly inflated to cover all their costs. Note there may not be a diagnostic fee in this case though.

After being charged $90 by Cropp Metcalfe to replace the water panel (filter) in our humidifier, I started bulk-buying the panels in advance to have them on-hand just in case. They cost about $20 on Amazon as I recall.