> "and pay for and install maintain and upgrade the hardware"
The problem is that the cost of running the kit has much less to do with the actual HVAC equipment itself and has to do with your house - which no sane HVAC company wants to make guarantees on.
- What kind of insulation is in the walls? What's the R-value? The vast majority of home owners do not know this, and many homes have old and deeply substandard insulation.
- What kind of windows do you have? Expecting an HVAC company to guarantee the thermal properties of your windows seems unrealistic.
- How many windows do you have? Do you keep them open a lot? How many doors? Are the doors well-sealed?
- What is the attic situation? What's the insulation in the attic like?
The list goes on. I can potentially see a company willing to entertain such a guarantee for a brand new home that they knew the specs of, but for an existing home it feels totally unrealistic.
Sure, the profit margin would have to be wide enough to account for a lot of variance.
Seriously, the insulation effects on your heating bills cannot be underestimated. Two houses that look superficially the same on the curb can have a margin of error that is a multiple of your heating bill, and that largely comes down to what the insulation is in the house.
Like we're not talking about "variances up to 30%" territory, we're talking "variances up to 300%" territory. No one is willing to make that guarantee without pulling off your drywall and examining the state of your insulation, not to mention the various behavioral issues others have brought up that vastly alter your bills.
An estimate, not a guarantee, and just bring in a FLIR/thermal camera to see where the heats getting lost and how much. They're cheap enough for professional use these days.
The problem is that the cost of running the kit has much less to do with the actual HVAC equipment itself and has to do with your house - which no sane HVAC company wants to make guarantees on.
- What kind of insulation is in the walls? What's the R-value? The vast majority of home owners do not know this, and many homes have old and deeply substandard insulation.
- What kind of windows do you have? Expecting an HVAC company to guarantee the thermal properties of your windows seems unrealistic.
- How many windows do you have? Do you keep them open a lot? How many doors? Are the doors well-sealed?
- What is the attic situation? What's the insulation in the attic like?
The list goes on. I can potentially see a company willing to entertain such a guarantee for a brand new home that they knew the specs of, but for an existing home it feels totally unrealistic.