In order to try to make an intelligent decision on buying a central air conditioner, I looked for information and recommendations on the internet. I found a web site chock full of information that belonged to a heating and air conditioning company (ASM) in California. They were certified to work on nearly all a/c units so they were not promoting any one particular brand. Their recommendations were based on their experience with units they sold and worked on. Their top pick (value for the money) was a Day & Night Performance series a/c. I had never heard of this brand but further reading revealed that it is made by the same company that owns Carrier. When I was done reading their blog, they had convinced me that I should buy Day & Night. I went to the D&N web site to find a dealer and there was only one within 100 miles: Flo-Right Mechanical located here in San Antonio. I looked at their customer reviews and BBB rating and found that they were judged a professional outfit that was highly thought of. It is owned by Frank Flores, an Air Force veteran, and his very competent employees are John and Omar. Frank was busy on a job so on Saturday, 3 Sep 16, I met with John who provided information on Day & Night and his experiences with that brand mirrored those of ASM. He worked up a proposal sheet to give me options on top of the line down to a band-aid fix. I picked the 16 SEER system that ASM recommended; however, instead of a 10-year warranty like ASM said, I got a 12-year warranty because Flo-Rite has been granted an elite dealer status by D&N. I signed a contract to have the new system installed the following Wednesday. The next night, my system quit working and my wife and I decided we did not want to invest any repair money in a system that was going to the scrap yard in three days. I had promised John that I would email him some things and as an aside in the email, I mentioned that it was somewhat ironic that my system had failed and maybe I should have ordered a new one before going on vacation instead of after. On Monday, Labor Day, I got an email from John offering to come over and look at the old unit. Before I could decline the offer, John called making the same offer. I told him that the heat wasn't too bad because my home is well insulated and I did not want to invest any money in the old unit. He said that he would not charge anything and he didn't want us to have to suffer through the heat needlessly for the next two days. He came out and fixed the unit (blown fuse and bad transformer) in about 10 minutes--with no charge for a repair made on a federal holiday! At this point, I was feeling confident that I made a good decision in selecting Flo-Rite as my contractor. On Wednesday morning, Frank showed up and started to demo the old system. Later he was joined by John and Omar who finished the removal and started on the installation of the new system. This was where it got tricky as the a/c and furnace closet space was built in 1979 when the units were much smaller. They came up with a creative solution to make everything fit and Omar almost needed a shoehorn to get the unit in the closet. In my research, ASM stressed repeatedly it was the quality of the installation that was important regardless of the brand. So how do you gauge quality? While the installation was going on, they explained why they were doing various things. For example, John told me the walkway next to the unit was going to be smaller because the code now required that the unit be at least 12 inches from the house. When people do little things well, it gives me confidence that the big things are done equally as well. As an example, John used a level when mounting a new electrical box on the house because he wanted it to look right. When he was done working with the outside unit, he washed and dried it. These steps were not required but for me, they were a sign of professionalism that is the obvious hallmark of this company and its employees. So far, I am very happy with the equipment and the first thing I noticed is how much more quiet it is, inside and out, than the old unit was. I could not be more pleased with the professional installation that Frank and his men did. You might be able to get a unit cheaper but remember you get what you pay for. All HVAC companies have about the same overhead and pay the same price for parts. So the question is how are they able to give a lower price? The answer--less qualified people instead of certified technicians are probably doing the installation. Regardless, I think that Frank gave me a better deal than the majority of his competitors would have. All things considered, I highly recommend Flo-Rite Mechanical as the company to choose as your HVAC contractor regardless of the brand you choose for your a/c. read more
