I was not in a state of panic about my furnace. I had a 25-year-old house with a 25-year-old furnace and wanted to get an upgrade without calling a company at 3 am needing to get the new one in now.
I had information packages from a Home Show a couple of years back and called in 2 companies for a quote.
The first company in did a walk about, asked a few questions and sent me a quote with 3 different options and combinations.
Nate from Distinct showed up; on time - did a walk around, asked many questions, pointed out several issues and problems with my current set up. Nate also explained exactly what they would do, how the job would go, the remedies to the issues he revealed and how York was a quality product with a very good warranty.
Nate then went through the various products they offered – all being the York brand, and explained the differences, and the benefits of each. We spent over one 1.5 hours and only ended because I had an online meeting. Following the meeting, I had a few more phone questions, before I made the choice to go with Distinct.
Two weeks later, Nate, Christian and Jordan completed the set up on the furnace, and did the rough in on the AC. The job took two full days, with dozens of measurements, (more like hundreds) making sure all was level, aligned and was finished to look neat, compact and easy to access for future maintenance. They even made sure that if I (or a future owner) wanted to finish the basement, all the work was done to make the finishing work easier.
During the install, all three who did the work answered all my questions, seemed to actually enjoy working together and were professional, pleasant and most of all - competent.
As an additional comment, Nate went beyond the scope of the normal job and sourced and installed 3 louvered vent covers, which were quite the eye sore.
Summary
Over the last 2-3 months, I have spent a great deal of time researching the various HVAC brands and products available in Calgary.
My choice came down not to the brand, for I feel the major brands have good product, but to the quality of the install. That is why I went with Distinct and everything I have experienced so far confirms I made the right choice.
