If you are considering buying a new air conditioning and heating system or heat pump, and are not able to pay for it with cash, check or credit card, then you will likely run across a financing offer called “same as cash financing”.  It is usually preceded by a number of days or months (example: “90 days Same As Cash”) and is also abbreviated SAC.

Having had an eye-opening experience myself with a computer purchase and this topic, research for this blog reinforced my beliefs in this area.  I’ll also include a list of questions to ask about SAC offers, along with a financing alternative you may not have thought of or been told about.

Read the “same as cash” SAC documents and ask questions

The first thing to know about SAC: there are usually strict requirements to avoid changes in the “no interest”. For some offers, if you are late on any payments or fail to pay the entire balance on or before the due date,  the whole loan can be recalculated back to the first day it began, and at some unbelievably high interest rates or with fees. If that happens, what started out seeming like “interest free money” for your AC purchase can turn on you to become something you would regret.  Now…on to the checklist….

As a checklist while you are reading SAC financing details, look for the following:

1. How many payments must you miss or be late on before the SAC offer turns to a loan with interest?
2. If interest were to get added, what would the interest rate be in APR?
3. If the rate escalates, is it recalculated back to the first or the day your loan became late?
4. What date or system determines when your payment was received? (In other words, how many days could pass between the date your payment is delivered at one part of their payment center and the date your payment is actually credited to your account?)
5. Is there any credit insurance /debt cancellation insurance required or automatically included?
6. If present in the contract, can you opt out of it? (This type of insurance usually costs a lot, relative to the size of the loan).

While reading in some HVAC industry publications, I found references to credit unions, and this is a topic we have written about before. If you project into the future and believe you may not be able to pay off the entire SAC loan, you should consider a fixed rate home improvement loan from your local credit union.  You can search online or look up credit unions in your area at NCUA – Credit Union Directory

In the past few years, there are more credit unions that have membership criteria other than employment for a specific company or entity.  One way to describe these is “community chartered credit unions”.   Practically speaking, it is probably easier to just ask what the membership requirements for your credit unions are.

If you have related experiences, please send them so other readers can benefit.

Most days of each month, I read an HVAC industry online news group. In those, I read that even the most established brands of AC and heating equipment sometimes have defects, recalls, service bulletins, and so on.  This is in spite of how well they are assembled at the factory or installed at your location.

Here’s our take on the situation:  when your system needs repair, which it likely will at some point, have yourself set to get it going again with minimal inconvenience, discomfort, and cost.  To prepare for the day when your system goes on the blink, below are a few practical questions to consider when you are deciding which local HVAC contractor to install it and brand or model of equipment to buy (in that order of importance).

- How long has the contractor been in business under the same name, location and ownership?

- What training, certification, and experience do their technicians have?

- What is the relationship of the contractor to the brand(s) of AC and heating equipment they sell: Owned by them?  Exclusive dealer?  Independent dealer?

- How many service trucks and technicians do they have?

- Does the local contractor have 24-7 service?

- Do they charge extra for service after hours, weekends or holidays?

- What is the parts and labor warranty from the manufacturer? From the installer?

- If you sign up for a yearly maintenance plan, do you get preferential appointment times, pricing, or both on repair work?

- Do they have a good rating with minimal unresolved issues at the Better Business Bureau – BBB?

- When you search online for their company name, are the online comments generally positive?

On this last point, online testimonials or rants, be aware of what we call the “wild west” effect. By that, we mean that, far too often, we see and hear about companies writing good stuff about themselves or even bad stuff about their competitors.  And some real customers who take the time to write are not always objective.

Not to worry. If you use most of the points above and ask your neighbors who they use, you’ll get a reliable composite of the companies you are considering.