Are you one of us folks looking for a new heat pump air conditioner/furnace - or heat pump water heater - for your home that qualifies for the current tax credit? I gotchu!
I called some folks and got some estimates. Ended up going with Stephen from Peak Climate Heating and Air Conditioning. I have seriously good recommendations for y'all:
- Peak Clilmate: They are official distributors for Lennox products. I had a Lennox air conditioner and furnace (it's the unit I just had to replace) and after literally 26 years it was still doing GREAT! but I decided to get a heat pump because of the tax credits and the fact that the old coolant is no longer made so it's hard/expensive to get. But in my experience for 21 years, Lennox is an excellent choice. They are also more economical (not cheap or crap, but more economical - their pricing seems to be kind of the sweet spot) than many other brands. They also stuck to the estimate and didn't try to add a bunch of little costs afterward - this is CRITICAL to me.
- Stephen: Ok, y'all. This dude is impressive. He picked up the freaking phone after hours, CAME THE NEXT MORNING AT 6:30AM (I kid you not) because he was totally understanding of my long-hours work situation so drove 45 minutes to arrive at my home at 6:30am and GOT THERE EARLY. Brownie points from me. He was extremely personable, was very much all about work (not unnecessarily chatty) but was very responsive to all of my questions, did a few things and talked with me about a few things that were very my-situation-specific, and since then has continued to be the most responsive service person I have ever encountered. He told me he would do everything he could to get me set up as soon as possible because he knew I was without a/c. And he did. I cannot recommend Stephen highly enough.
- The installers: Stephen installed my new unit with Cody and Brandon. ALL respectful, efficient and hard working, TIDY - no schmutz left anywhere, including from the removal of my own unit and that is unusual for my experiences with service folks lately - and everything seems to have been installed really well.
- The unit: I got the Lennox variable-speed heat pump with furnace (Stephen will talk with you about that versus one-speed, and will direct you to whatever specs you want). It is different than my former a/c which just blasted cool air then shut off as needed. It is much quieter and runs at variable speeds as needed, so it's really more like walking into a store and not even noticing the a/c; you are simply comfortable. All of that for supposedly a huge energy savings.
- Things I'm still watching: After a year, will I have seen a significant savings as they say I should? If I have any problems during that year, will Peak fix it readily and well? But I have no reason to believe I won't experience the promised savings, and I have no reason to believe that Stephen and his folks at Peak won't continue to be great.
I recommend Peak and Lennox highly. Tell Stephen Yve sent you! :) read more