I had three local companies bid on replacing my air/heat system. All were very honest about their assessments as to what I needed done although not in agreement. All the bids were reasonable and variances were mostly due to the degree of sophistication of the components.

I chose Expert Air, owned by Mr. Kieth Cox. We were not in agreement on a couple of things, one of them I thought should be done and the other should not be done. It wasn’t cost driven disagreement but rather what would be best for performance and efficiency. Yesterday, they removed all the old duct work, some of which I was convinced was in good shape based on my recent inspection of the system and could be reused if they wanted without a decrease in the contract price. I was wrong and certainly appreciate their tenacity. They also decided to relocate the whole furnace, redesign the entire air distribution system by installing a remote distribution center for the ducts. They inspected each of the registers and resealed them to the ceiling even though I told them I had done it last week, again, they found and corrected a couple of problems I had missed. The same goes for the entire return air system. Totally resealed.

They quoted me a top-notch system but not anything excessive. After I told them I was going to get them to do the work, I gave them a chance to “sweeten the pie” so to speak by installing more highly touted items at an increased price. They declined and stuck to their initial recommendations which said a lot.

Now all of this detailed work they did takes a lot of time and they really could have done what I wanted and left. Keep in mind they had a hard money contract yet have gone the extra mile on every item. I watched the details of how they did their work, and having a best friend over the last 50 years who was in the A/C business and hearing him talk about how things should be and watching him put in a number of systems over the years, I can say the crew that installed my system are among the most conscientious I have ever seen. They know what they are doing and how it should be done. On two unanticipated problems they chose to do it the right way instead of “making it work”.

I have long been convinced that purchasing an air/heat system is more important and deserves more attention than buying a car. A car, you can trade off but the HVAC system is going to be a part of your home, a part of your life and have an impact on your health and well being for many years. The name and brand of equipment installed is much less important than how it is installed. So it pays to spend whatever time necessary to really understand what you are buying and especially how it will be installed. Even warranties are secondary to the installers and their attention to detail. A parts and warranty agreement with an incompetent company is worthless.

 Don Arnold