fair price for repairs?

[dabbler]

Hi all!

I just had my furnace fixed by a local repairman. It was a 1983 Trane Forced Air natural gas furnace (80,000btu) model# BLU080K942A. The part replaced was a circuit board, for a grand total of $469. Is this a typical price for diagnosis, installation and parts or have I been had?

The repairman was polite and professional but the price seemed steap for an hour worth of work... looking online it appears the part can be had for $150. I didn't ask for an estimate before the work started so I guess I had it coming =P

Thanks for your insight-

[sonc]

you got off easy

Hvac mechanic

[Bredain]

Did your furnace get fixed? Did you want a technician who could only replace a circuit board or a technician who could also detect carbon monoxide from a crack in your heat exchanger as well as a technician who could also work on your air conditioner as well? What would you say a fiar pay would have been? If you think aboout all the training and time that has to go into doing this mans twice about questioning his pricing. It takes almost as much time to get your PH.D as it does to become even some what descant in this field but yet people nickle and dime this profession so much that it is next to impossible to make this profession attractive at all to new talent.

You got off lucky I would say. If a technician charged you for all he knew then the cost would be much higher. It would rival the cost of a good attorney, doctor, dentist, or engineer.