Yikes. I have a craftsman/Spanish revival little house from about 1929. In this house is a wall heater embedded in the hand-finished stucco walls. The heater is from about 1959 as near as I can figure. It is built like a tank, it heats the room superfast, it looks good, and it stopped working.
Was it safe? Could it be repaired? Would I die if I kept using it? If I took it out, what was I going to go with the big hole in the stucco (interior) wall? Could parts be obtained for a 1959 heater?
I called a number HVAC places. The thing that happened most was, companies made an appointment and never showed. Second was convincing me over the phone that I didn't want a repair, that I'd change my mind and not do it, that when they told me my heater couldn't be fixed I'd think they were lying, so why bother coming over in the first place because I wasn't going to believe them anyway when they told me things which they knew already without coming over because etc. They advised me to just get the gas company to red-tag it, to save them the time. Basically, no one wanted a small, annoying job that they'd have to spend hours on the phone for, calling around trying to find parts. I interpreted all this to mean: They didn't want my business. The feeling was mutual.
Another thing people liked to do was give a cursory look and then switch into "You need to air condition the whole house" mode, with the "You'll only spend a little more than you would just fixing the heater. See? Only $6,000 more! We'll put the compressor right here!" I would love AC, but can't afford it.
One guy who did show up told me the unit had mysterious thermal stress cracks - "Right there - see?" "Wait - what are you pointing at?" "Right there - see that crack?" "That's a welded seam." "Yeah, and there's no way to fix it, it'll leak carbon monoxide while you're asleep!" Whole-house AC would fix this situation, he informed me, and he'd be happy to help.
When I asked one guy, if he took out the heater, who was going to fix the big hole in the stucco, he said: His uncle, who is "very good" at matching craftsman stucco styles from 1929.
Finally I saw the reviews here. Paul from Care One came out, listened carefully to what I was saying, inspected the heater, pronounced it well-made and sound, went out to his truck and got a replacement valve, put it all back together, lit and tested it, and that was that.
I particularly appreciated that he was willing to listen to me, talk to me, and show me what he was doing when he saw I was interested. A completely pleasant experience.
Also: He's certified on Noritz tankless water heaters and did a maintenance as long as he was here. read more