Our 18-year old Lennox furnace suddenly started to refuse to ignite, which lead to a desperate call to A DIFFERENT heating company for repair. They came out and "repaired" the furnace, but we decided on their advice to consider replacing it.
Given that it was mid-January and the Home Reno Tax Credit was just about to expire, many contractors that I called were "too busy" to come out quickly and quote me. A Google search turned up a local company called High Efficiency & Cooling, although they seemed to predominately Chinese market I decided to give them a call.
A man by the name of Rocky called me back within minutes and arrange to come over THAT DAY (which is what I wanted). He came out on time and impressed me with his knowledge of HVAC, pointing out a few things in our current system that weren't up to current gas code and would have to be changed. He was also the only sales person I ever saw who measured things, pointing out that I only had the minimum 2ft of clearance in front of my furnace service panel.
I didn't give Rocky the business immediately, I did shop around. He'd recommend an American Standard (Trane) unit which I thought would be too expensive. I was pleasantly surprised by his quote, but still wanted to get another quote...one of which was cheaper.
On talking with Rocky he explained the extra value his firm offered, what to "watch out for" with cowboys, and said he really wanted to win our business and would match the other price. I took a chance as I had a good feeling about him.
We scheduled the install for the following Sunday and signed the paperwork. The very next day, my original furnace broke down!
I called Rocky early in the morning as he lists his cellphone number on his business card (quite frankly, I think I might have woken him up -- that's how early it was). He answered, listened to my predicament and said he'd call me back. He called back within a few minutes and said he'd need to check with their main office about the schedule for the day and see if they could get my new furnace installed that day -- they didn't open until 9am but he promised to call back.
Just before 9am, Rocky called me back and said his installers would arrive just before lunchtiem that day. They did with a brand new American Standard Freedom 95V, a new humidfier, an air filter and a thermostat to boot.
Due to the tight space in my furnace room, it took them 6.5 hours to install the new furnace -- purely due to logistics. They didn't cut corners, they didn't even go for lunch. My wife fed them a couple of cups of tea to keep them warm and the plugged away.
Cons:
- They didn't speak the best of English but were able to communicate with us.
- Due to my ducting being old, they had to use some tape to seal a few corners.
Pros:
- The American Standard unit they put in is virtually SILENT.
- Our heat is now within 0.5c of the themostat settings at all times, which is amazing to me (and I'm an engineer!)
- They took away all the old furnace parts -- they actually came back in a pickup truck to do that
I had made Rocky promise me the installation would be good as that's often more important than the brand/model of furnace you by. He actually did promise me and didn't let me down.
I didn't have the money to replace my A/C at the same time, but I'd definitely let them bid on the job to do that.
Marc/Markham.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $3,800.00
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Get quotes. Ask questions such as "will you provide a certificate of warranty? Do I have to subscribe to a service plan from you for the warranty to be valid?"