Carini Home Services

Description of Work: AC/Heating Maintenance

Description of Work: replace heater furnace

Description of Work: Installed A/C

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Description of Work: I used Carini Heating & Air Conditioning for heating and A/C service.

Description of Work: Air conditioning tune-up and cleaning

Description of Work: Carini Heating and Air Conditioning of San Diego recently sent a technician to our home to do requested 22-point tune-ups on both our air conditioner and furnace. (Normally, the cost would have been @$250, but Carini offered a short-term "Super-Saver" special on Angie's List for $89! We were surprised to learn that a perk to the special was that we got to choose the service date - even up to 6 months in the future!) The tech, Bowen, who called 30+ minutes before he arrived, early within our pre-arranged 2-hour time window, really knew his trade! He was happy to answer the many questions that we asked, as he worked steadily and efficiently for the 90 minutes or so that he was here. He was also very personable and pleasant - someone we would be comfortable having in our home in the future. He wasn't bothered in the least by our 2 yippy but harmless little dogs that found their way into the house toward the end of the service call, or by the the few minutes it took for my husband to move the 4-5 storage tubs out of the way in order to put our step ladder in place below the attic opening for Bowen to climb up and work on the furnace. Before he checked our furnace, Bowen serviced our 12-year-old air conditioner by first removing the bit of overgrowth of weeds and grass surrounding it. He then removed the unit's outer casing and cleaned its vents - inside and out - and then the motor's fan blades by hand with cloth and a gentle cleaner. He said that it was important to clean the blades carefully by hand and not to be tempted to power-wash them (not even with a moderately-strong stream of hose water) because it could bend or damage the blades or other small parts in the motor, and that even slight bends in the blades, or displacement of small parts of the motor that we might not notice were happening during a hose washing, could slightly affect the unit's efficiency. He said that, overall, our unit was in pretty nice shape! As he was working, he shared what he was doing with my husband, so my husband would know how to do this cleaning portion of the unit's maintenance himself in the future, if he chose - very nice. Bowen also checked and tested the components of the motor and its efficiency, and shared his findings with my husband right then, as well as reviewing them with us on his 22-point checklist at the end of his visit. Bowen showed us that the unit's main wire was becoming worn, perhaps from the sun, a weed-whacker, or both, as was a portion of the foam-like protective covering around the pipe that goes from the unit to the house, and he repaired both of them nicely with some special tape and materials that he had brought with him, at no charge - part of the tune-up. He also shared with us that sometimes on his a/c service calls, he notices that some units' wires, though they meet minimum code standards most times, are slightly thinner than they ought to be for that unit to perform as efficiently as possible, forcing it to work harder to pull the needed energy, and potentially costing more $ He said that ours of a good, sufficient width, though, before moving on to our furnace. After putting on his protective shoe coverings before entering our home, Bowen climbed the step ladder to our attic opening and did some functional and safety tests on the furnace and checked to see if any components needed to be cleaned. He was surprised to find that our furnace was fairly clean, too, and stated that we apparently don't run it constantly, which creates much more dust and dirt than he saw on our unit. When he had finished his service tune-up and safety checks, he came down and shared that it looked pretty good, overall, except for one fairly important thing that he was surprised to find - that the main intake duct (which takes-in air from the house, heats it, and then redistributes it via the house's vents) had barely any "seal" around it, explaining that when the air from our house is being taken-in to be heated, surrounding dirty air from our attic, and more dirty outdoor air, which comes in through the attic vent, is also being sucked into that main duct through the unsealed "gaps" surrounding it, and is then being redistributed, dirt and all, throughout our house. (I had to wonder if this could explain the amount of our house-dust, some of my sneezing fits, and some of our son's dust-allergy flare-ups...?!) Bowen said that he felt that the initial seal-job was incomplete - likely done too hastily (there are several stories of similar "short cuts" found among our neighbors with identical homes) causing the seal that was put in place to loosen and create even more of a gap around the duct. He said that if we chose to repair/reseal the main duct, in addition to replacing the filter that we had (a good $20 allergy-type one, btw) with the reusable/washable filter that he was already planning to install for us - also included free of charge as part of the 22-point tune-up - that we'd notice a minimum of a 10-12% difference in our unit's efficiency. Possibly even a bit more. (I didn't share with Bowen that I already knew about the gap around the main intake duct. I had had a free "energy analysis" done by our local energy company last year, and the rep told me the same thing about the gap, after he'd inspected the furnace. The fact that Bowen found it gave us even more confidence in him and in Carini Heating and A/C. At the end of the service call, while Bowen was busy writing-up his findings, I shared this with my husband, who had been deployed to Iraq last year.) I asked Bowen about the filter because I was surprised that he thought his reusable/washable filter that looked more "air-y" than the one I was currently using would do a better job than our allergy-type one. He stated that our allergy one was SO dense that it required our unit to work much harder than it should have to to pull air from our home into the main duct. He said he'd installed one of these filters for his in-laws over 10 years ago, which they wash and reinstall every few months, and that it's still working really well and in good condition. He mentioned that there is a similar-looking filter available at stores, but that they don't have the amount of diagonal "cross-hatching" fibers that catch more debris and dirt that Carini's does. He said that applying a little Febreeze-type spray after cleaning with a gentle cleaner makes the house smell nice, too. Out of curiosity, I asked him what he uses in his own home, and he told us that he had a different, more expensive type of air filtering system installed - a black-light air "cleaning" system that really helps with allergies and colds because it constantly cleans impurities like salmonella from the air. He shared with us that hospitals and gov't day cares and nursing homes are now beginning to be required to have systems like these. ~Good to know - this is going on our wish-list for when we have $1600 to spare, though it's not that much, really, when I think of the co-pays, perscriptions, and $ lost from either days off from work, or when parents have to pay extra $ for pricey "sick-child" care during those early childhood years. No wonder Bowen, a father of 5 young children, has this system in his house! He said that after he got the black-light system, his family quit passing around their colds and they are rarely sick anymore. ~I also checked our health coverage, and this qualifies as a pre-tax item for our HSA because of my son's dust allergies. It's also really great to know about because my parents will be snow-birding with us next winter and they both have COPD. Bowen said that some households with the black-light air filtering systems choose to run them a lot in the warmer months for an added benefit - as a sort of "poor-man's air conditioning" since they find that the circulation of the household air is often sufficient, and so they don't need to run their more costly a/c as much. Before Bowen left, he reviewed his 22-point check-list with us and made sure he had answered all of our questions. He also took our old, dirty filter and cleaning debris with him as he packed up his equipment, leaving nothing for us to clean up. My husband offered him a firm handshake and a big smile, insisting on thanking him handsomely. We've scheduled with Carini Heating and A/C for Bowen to return in a few days to reseal around that main furnace duct. It offers us great peace of mind to know that, in today's economy, and with retirement-level incomes approaching in a few years, that our household is running as efficiently as possible. ~ It'll be interesting to see how much of a difference we"ll notice, and I'll post a follow-up report on Angie's list under "Carini Heating and Air Conditioning" in a few months, for the rest of you Angie's List members. We sincerely thank all of you other members that take the time to write reports and comments (though I know that this one is probably longer than most :) - they have already helped us make a few important decisions during this tough economy where we have to be pretty conservative with our $. Thank you, too, Angie! :) Happy New year!

Description of Work: Carini replaced 2 approx. 55-year-old wall heaters with new wall heaters in our mother's home that include convenient thermostats.

Description of Work: Heating system repairs and upgrades: Several ducts had been damaged and were leaking; the firms' representative also pointed out several other problems with the heating system. We also had an air filter installed (a major share of the final price).

Description of Work: I requested an estimate for getting my heater to work better. It was not putting out any heat, but the fan process seemed to be functioning well. They made an appointment and came out as planned. They diagnosed that the heater could probably be fixed with a new control board, estimated at first at $400 to $500. The final estimate was $390. I decided not to go with this company.

Description of Work: Home furnace electonics controls diagnosed and a module replaced. New thermostat installed.

Description of Work: Used the company for inspection and cleaning. The technician was prompt, brought a cloth to protect my floors and used booties inside. He was thorough and provided several options for future work.

Description of Work: They did a check and minor service of our system and provided an estimate for needed reparis.

Description of Work: I used Carini Heating & Air Conditioning just recently to install some water heaters.

Description of Work: - Removed and disposed of an old rooftop 'package' unit heater on the flat portion of the roof over the garage - Crane installation of a new 2.5-ton, 2-stage, 16-SEER Rheem gas/electric package unit in a new location on the roof - Installed a Honeywell F300 electronic air cleaner in a convenient location in the attic - Sized and installed all new duct work in attic to maximize usable space (connected to original registers in walls) - Installed new Honeywell 6000 series programmable thermostat - Relocated the air return to a better, central location near the thermostat - Installed new electrical circuit for the air conditioner and wiring from the service panel - Installed new condensate drain - Re-routed gas line to new package unit location - Balanced air flow to all rooms

Description of Work: This was the BIg Deal inspection.

Description of Work: I hired them to install two different units in four different zones in my home.

Description of Work: Removed and replaced ducting, receptacles and reconditioned commercial A/C unit.

Description of Work: Installed an air conditioning unit in our home.

Description of Work: i have used Carini on several occasions. The first was my home air-conditioning and heater. They both required repairs. Carini . Very professional service. Next was my rental condo. He installed an air-conditioner. The price was very reasonable and the service great. I own a commercial and residential property in Kensington at the corner of Adams and Marlborough. The structure was built in 1910 and has many challenges for workers There was a faulty instillation of an old furnace that I was terrified I would have to replace. Carini was able to revent and repair the furnace. I was very pleased with the service and the cost. I had him install a heating/air-condition in the upstair rental. Again it was very successful. Lastly I had Carini put in a new air conditioning unit for the Kensington Cafe. I had other bids and was told that it would be very expensive. I got a bid from Carini and was pleased with his bid as well as the finished product.

Description of Work: Purchased new furnace and air conditioner. Have also had 4 routine maintenance service visits.

Description of Work: Replaces furnace with new 95% two stage heating system Honeywell 2 zone air distribution system Ductwork repair and/or replacement throughout house, Carini coordinated asbestos removal with abatement company Honeywell digital thermostats Hang furnace from floor joists Serviced existing condenser

Description of Work: Replace heathing unit with new two stage Rheem heating unit *energy efficient Replace all duct work that was 40+ years old Blow in R 30 insultion for 2000 sq ft house

Description of Work: New furnace and air conditioner. This replaced 20-year-old units.