I really wanted to recommend John and Absolute Comfort but unfortunately I cannot. Around September of 2018 we had John do a complete install; this included a forced air furnace, ducting, and a gas line. This was a completely new install, prior to this our house only had in-wall electric heaters.
We received at least 5 quotes and everybody was within $500 of each other. Besides the difference in the brand of units people would install, John was the only who called me back eager to work. On top of being eager to work he was very personable and Absolute Comfort was a local small business. Our quote was approximately $7500 for the complete install.
John got right to work. The install took about a week and things looked great initially when he was done. A couple days after he was finished my furnace starts throwing a code signifying that the heat exchanger is over heating and locked us out. Called John (he was a little hard to get a hold of but it was the busy season) and he said we should replace the sensor but would have to wait for the sensor to arrive. We were going to be gone when he said he would replace it. I gave him a key to let himself in. We came back from our trip and he had not fixed the unit. We had to wait a few more days. Not a big deal but he should have let us known that he was unable to fix it when he told us. Sensor was finally replaced. Furnace still acted a little funny but straightened out.
This past week we had company and I turned our thermostat up to 68° Mind you we keep our house at 65°. With the extra load on the furnace it threw the same code. The furnace would not run more than 10 minutes without the heat exchanger over heating. Called John, left a message and he still has not called me back.
Instead of this being the furnace I began to look closely at his install and started to notice a number of flaws with it. I scoured through the manual and found several things. First off, the intake for the furnace was mounted in the wrong spot. I can over look that, but he didn't notice it when he replaced the sensor or when he initially installed the unit. Second, I looked at the vents and noticed 3 of them had major air leaks letting a large portion of my hot air into the attic. Third, the main air duct (which is solid sheet metal) did not have the seams sealed. Normally you would use duct sealant or even tape at the minimum. Fourth, some of the flexible ducts are at such a sharp angle they are restricting airflow into the room (kind of like kinking a hose). The ducts should have been hung with metal strapping to prevent sharp turns. Lastly, the thermostat is in a bad spot. That area of the house only warms up if the master bedroom is open.
The misplacment of the intake and sharp turns in the ducting are what I believe caused the over heating of the heat exchanger. I can overlook some of these flaws, but John was nowhere to be found when I needed him. I don't spend $7500 for a halfway done job that I need to correct myself. I paid that much so I would have a warranty, quality install, and customer service. Absolute Comfort has failed on all 3 points. They may be good for simple repairs, but for expensive installs, look elsewhere folks. read more