Discount Heating and Cooling

We were in the process of selling our house and needed Doug to coordinate with our real estate agent to repair the gas leak at the boiler valve and corrosion on the water heater. He was pleasant and responsive despite the coordination difficulties. The repairs were done and my house can now go into closing. Thanks Doug and Discount Heating & Cooling!

They did an excellent job. They were very thorough and friendly.

It was a long process but as you can see I am leaving a stellar review. It is nice to know we have a heating and cooling company we can trust to stand behind their work and products and we plan to use them again for all our heating and cooling needs.

He did more work for a cheaper amount than any other company I had estimates from. They were professional and neat.

Back in August 2009 we purchased a Carrier Furnace and American Standard Central Air unit from Discount Heating for approximately $6000, and the sales rep was Doug. Installation was great, gave high grades for timeliness and responsiveness. Recently on July 20th, 2011 the air conditioning stopped running (it's just less than 2 years old). Called Discount, they sent out Tom to evaluate. We paid the $85 service call no problem. Per Tom, all he did was take a card out of the unit, test it, and put it back in. The unit started running (less than 15 minutes), and Tom left. He said if we had any more problems in the next 30 days they wouldn't charge another service call fee. We did not complain about the simple fix and the $85 for less than 15 minutes. On August 4th, the air conditioning unit stopped running again. I powered down the whole system, and started it back up. Unit started running again. On August 6th, the unit stopped again. Again, powered off and on, started running. This was a Saturday, called Discount. At first the person I talked to wanted to call it a separate problem and charge an additional service call fee, but backed off of this. Tom again does the service call, and is guessing (his words, not mine) that it's either the Thermostat control or something inside the furnace, and wants to order parts. I was at work, and while talking to him I said I believed it was covered for both parts and labor. The manufacturer only covers the parts, but on the back of the Discount invoice I have it states that Discount Heating and Cooling will warranty all repairs on parts that have been installed for a period of 5 years including labor that failed under normal operation (we had just had a checkup on this unit in May by Discount). Tom and Doug have both argued that this warranty only covers failed parts that they have already replaced, not anything with a new installation. I was shocked to learn that they would not cover their own installations for 5 years (seems like they installed many "parts" in August 2009), only repairs that they perform. On top of it, Tom was guessing at the parts and there was no guarantee it was going to be fixed by their replacement, which means I would have to pay additional labor for guesswork. Needless to say I communicated with Doug and let him know to have Tom stop researching the unit. I'm out of the $85 service call, and my 2 year old unit is still not fixed. Because Discount would not back up their own installation (but they would back another companies installation that they repaired for 5 years), we are going to find another Carrier/American Standard service company. It's unfortunate, because I've spoken highly of Discount. When I had an actual problem, things definately came to light. I will no longer recommend Discount Heating. UPDATE 8-12-2011:This is in the response to the chastizing I received from Discount Heating in their rebuttle. It still backs up my thoughts on how they treat their buying customers. It's unfortunate how hostile they became down below, so again part of my warning to fellow Angie's List users. I will state that they said I was fully aware of my warranty (which obviously I was not in this case, or I wouldn't have had a disagreement with them). I have the orginal invoice, as well as the booklets on the untis I bought. The Manufacturer of course does not cover labor. The talk about warranties on the original invoice are again what I've already stated, not anything that I can see on a one year warranty that is talked about for new installations in the response from Discount (I kept all my documentation together). I don't know if I can actually upload a picture of the agreement to the site, but if Discount is OK with it I will put a copy up along with this review. If I'm missing something this will show it, to be fair to Discount Heating. You will see from my original story I wasn't being hostile, but very disappointed that their treatment of customers who buy systems from them are not the same as "repair" customers. I even stated above that I was very happy with the original installation. But shame on me.

Installation of furnace, a/c, humidifier and thermostat was done in December 2010. The chimney liner was not installed at that time because we were told it was not possible due to snow on the roof. The liner was installed in the late spring - after making two telephone calls to inquire about the matter. The humidifier did not appear to be functioning, either. The tech inspected and informed us that it was not installed correctly and said that he remedied the matter. The unit has not been used since this repair. The A/C was also charged to prepare for summer use. Overall, we are disappointed with the working condition of the new high-efficient units. The multi-stage furnace fan/blower appears to operate only at a low speed. The house was slow and difficult to warm and keep at a consistent temp in the winter, and the A/C will never cool the house below 80 degrees this summer. The unit and fan either runs near constant, or siezes up. We've had several service calls and have been provided with multiple reasons why we are not able to maintain a comfortable temp in the small ranch home. What we are told by the service technician is different from what we are told during follow-up calls. We have now been told that the thermostat was not programmed correctly, and were also told that they programmed the furnace fan/blower to a higher speed. The air blowing out of our vents can only be described as barely noticeable. The air conditioning has been run on seven different occasions - all total, less than 30 days of use. We have now been informed that, especially during extreme heat, an air conditioner will not cool below 20 degrees of the outside temp. (I have another home, with a 15 year old furnace and A/C - which has kept us nicely, and maintained an indoor temp of 76 degrees in a three level house.) We have been sold products that clearly do not deliver on the promises of the sales rep and manufacturer's claims - OR, sold products that are under-sized for the small house, OR have programming issues that can not be resolved, OR Discount has technicians that are not capable of proper installation of the new product lines. The electricity bills are higher, and we spent $6,700.00 to replace old equipment for "high-efficient" equipment. We have scheduled for a thorough inspection adn diagnosis of the new equipment with a different (highly recommended Angies list contractor). I would not recommend purchasing and installation of high efficient products from Discount. We have yet to get a straight answer on what remedies have actually taken place to date.

The air conditioner stopped working at 95 degrees hot weather. Dog contacted me in 10 min after I called the company. One hour later Brian came to the house and fix it. Very fast and professional service. Definitely use them again.

Excellent experience from phone call to completion. The woman who took my call seemed excited, happy, and helpful which can be a rarity in the service industry! Tom came out quickly, was very professional and personable. Completed the job in less than 20min and only charged me for a quote. Excellent company with a well-deserved reputation by my estimation!

I’m not sure how much it was. We talked to three people and he was the one that offered the most for the money. They were very good and we liked them. We were pleased and part of the deal was checking on our air conditioning and heater for two years. It was a warranty. So we really liked them. The quality of the workmanship so far has been really good. One time our heater stopped and we told them about it when they came out to check the air conditioner because my husband fixed it by turning it off and on. It could have been our electrical or the storm that caused it or something else. They told us that if it happens again to call them right away but we didn’t have another problem with it. They were responsive and we were really happy with them. I’m not sure if they were the cheapest but we were very happy with what they included in the price. I can’t think of anything negative about them. The unit just went out twice but it must have been our electricity and we had to push some button. We were not sure and we didn’t call them. We would use their services again in the future.

As Brian was putting his tools away, I turned on the air conditioning and my house eventually cooled off nicely. After a few hours, I went down to the basement and noticed that the unit was still leaking. I called Discount Heating and Cooling immediately and told (I believe it was) Steve what was happening. He seemed professional and walked through several possibilities with me as to what the problem might be and told me that Cathy would call me the following morning to have a technician return to my home. Cathy called and set up an appointment for Brian to come out once again . Brian came back and seemed friendly enough and apologized for the continued leakage, but assured me that he would find what was wrong. He vacuumed out the hose going into the reservoir pump in case that was clogged and also took off the panel to check the coil housed inside the unit - something he did not do the previous day when he assumed it was the dirty pump. He confirmed that there was a bad coil and that it needed to be replaced. He called his boss and told me that they would have to search for a replacement which might not be that easy seeing as the particular coil that I needed was no longer in production and they would need to search for an in-stock coil. After a couple of calls presumably from his boss, Brian told me I was in luck and that his boss located two coils. After explaining the whole process and how they would save the freon by pumping it back from the outside unit and capping it off, he told me the cost would come out to be $840.00. Brian said I didn't need to commit immediately, but when I decided what I wanted to do, I just needed to call Discount and give them a $200.00 deposit. Brian then gave me a bill showing another $85.00 line item titled "diagnostic call back" but then crossed that out. Under that, Brian entered a $62.00 line item for "labor to inspect evaporator coil" and said that they would take that off of the price of the coil should I decide to go that route. At this point, I asked how the $147.00 that I paid out the previous day fit into this cost and Brian told me that that cost was to address the pump issue. I told him apparently there was no issue other than the fact that it was dirty, but in working order. I also pointed out that I gave him the Angie's List coupon for 20% and had I known that I'd be running into an additional $840.00 charge, I would have applied the 20% coupon to that charge instead. I asked Brian to again explain the $62.00 charge and he said it was to diagnose the problem. I asked how this was different than that $85.00 diagnostic fee I paid the previous day and he said that charge was for him to tell me there was water on the floor (his words!). I was dumbfounded and told him that I didn't need to pay anyone $85.00 to tell me there was water on the floor since I already knew that based on my own observation and felt that the diagnostic cost I already paid would go to revealing WHY there was water leaking from the unit. He said that made sense, then immediately changed his mind and said I owed the additional $62.00. I immediately called Discount and I believe I again spoke with Steve. I asked what the "diagnostic charge" included and was told that it was to inspect and find the root cause of the problem. I thanked him for that information and advised him that Brian told me the $85.00 diagnostic fee was to tell me there was water on my basement floor. Steve back-tracked and said he couldn't be sure what Brian was telling me until he saw the tickets. Steve told me that the $85.00 diagnostic fee pertained to the pump to which I responded that the pump was in working condition and I would have been happy to pay a diagnostic charge if the problem was actually found, but I didnt' want to continue to pay for "diagnostic charges" if no correct diagnosis was made. After going back and forth a couple of times, Steve told me we could split the difference to which I replied that I would cut my losses, pay the $62.00 and be done with Discount in this lifetime. I also notified him that I would be posting this experience on Angie's List. I hung up, wrote out a check for $62.00, handed it to Brian and said, this should take care of today's charges. Brian told me, "It's no longer $62.00. The price just went up. It's going to cost a couple of hundred dollars now." I took my copy of the original ticket that was laying out and I pointed out that he said it would cost $62.00 and that's what I was paying him. He said that that ticket was wrong and tried to find in his binder what he termed was the "correct price". I asked where he came up with "a couple of hundred dollars" and he said the diagnosis was more expensive because he had to take off a panel. I have no idea how a seemingly experienced A/C technician could come in to diagnose a problem and not realizing that he might have to remove a housing panel to actually view the coil! But then again, this bit of news was only told me to after he overheard me tell Steve that I was going to post this experience on Angie's List. I told him his ticket said $62.00 to which he responded that he needed me to give him that ticket. I said I would not until I made a copy for myself. I then gave him a copy of the ticket and the check. While holding on to the $62.00 check and the copy of the invoice, Brian said he needed the original ticket as well and I said I would not give it to him because I did not trust that he wasn't going to change the figures. All this took place in front of my son who witnessed the entire scene. Brian and I went back and forth and few times and he said I owed him more money and at this point, I finally told him that I was going to call the police. He said there was no need for that. His phone rang and it was presumably his boss, Steve. I don't know what was said, but Brian gave me back my check for $62.00 as well as the copy of the invoice and asked for the original. At this point, I gave it back to him and he crossed out all the charges as well as "No charge per owner" and returned the top copy to me. Brian was on his way, but not before a final act of spite. Brian left an orange, 5-gallon Home Depot paint bucket on my driveway filled with garbage from his truck. ** Afternote - I had another company come out to diagnose my problem. As Ben from the new company looked at the air-conditioning unit, he lifted up the coil and pan about two to three inches and asked if by any chance the motor to my heater had gone out this past winter. I replied that it had and we had to have it replaced this past March. Ben told me that the pan melted because it's designed to withstand high temperatures, but when the blower motor blew out, the heat from the furnace rose over the acceptable limit for the tray and it melted. He showed me the evidence by simply lifting the coil and tray just a bit and showed me where it melted and why the water was dripping. WIthout divulging too much information, I quesitoned whether the pump could have reasonably been suspected as the culprit and Ben said if it were the pump, the leak would have been coming from the pump, not underneath the unit. Ben's diagnosis came within his being in my home about 7 minutes. Ben ended up changing the pan for a total cost (parts and labor) of $310.00 - a savings of $530.00 over what Brian of Discount Heating and Cooling tried to charge. Ben also said that the coil was fine and did not need to be replaced. Shame on Brian for trying to fleece me and for being unprofessional and apparently oblivious to something that should have been pretty obvious to a trained professional!

I received a few calls the day of my scheduled appointment as a reminder and to check if I was home. Tom showed up and did the A/C inspection and maintenance quickly. He did point out that the contractor was pretty worn out and should be replaced. He did was his usual professional and courteous self, even asking if the last repairs to my boiler pump were okay.

Cathy in the office was wonderful she got Brian to come out this morning because I had water pouring out of the central air unto the basement floor. Brian came and repaired the air conditioner immediately, checked everything on the interior and exterior - he was wonderful, he knew what was happening immediately and went ahead and did the repairs - I couldn't have asked for a better experience and I was really upset since it's going to be 95 degrees the next two days. Thank you Discount for being above average and wonderful.

Great job. Very nice people and great to work with. I'm moving soon and will use them to inspect HVAC on my new house.

Discount Heating was able to accommodate our schedule and when they gave us the time frame of arriving, they were able to stick to it. Everything went well and it's nice to know everything is working fine.

We discovered a leak at one of the pumps on our boiler system over the weekend. I called and spoke to the owner who walked me through shutting off some valves to stop the leaking (he even suggested emailing him photos of the boiler system). Unfortunately, the system had no shut-off valves available, so they scheduled an appointment for Monday at noon. Tom came and replaced the pump in about an hour, but unfortunately the connecting pipe had a microfracture (not uncommon for old, rusty pipes) so he had to order a new part and come back the next day. Tom was courteous, professional and apologetic about the unforeseen problem. He came back and installed a new pipe and flange, and then the owner came by to help him bleed air from the radiators. They only charged me for the service of one technician and the time to replace the pump and bleeding air from the boiler system (which had to be done anyway).

They were very professional. They explained everything in detail exactly what they were going to do. There were no surprises when they came out here and did the work. I am pretty happy with them basically. If necessary I would use them in the future.

I called the front desk to see if they had come to do the service. Kathy at the front desk was very understanding and was able to reschedule me for early next week. They are wonderful. Previously, when I had an issue and a question about my air conditioning unit, the owner himself came out to check it. He went out of his way to make me feel well protected and well cared for.

Discount tried to repair my old furnace, but when it became apparent the costs were mounting, they pointed out several rebates and gave me a fair price on a new unit. The installers were prompt, professional and cleaned up after themselves.

Tom performed a heating inspection previously when I mentioned that our top floor wasn't getting any heat. He diagnosed the problem and came back two weeks later when the part arrived. Service was top notch from the appointment scheduling call to the final billing. No surprises, which I liked and we now have heat throughout the house.

Everything went wonderful. I talked to the owner direct, everything went as planned, and we had no problems.

The blower motor within the furnace stopped working on 7/30. Tom from Discount Heating arrived on schedule on Monday, 8/2. A diagnostic check of the system revealed that the heat exchanger contained cracks and also needed replacing. Parts were ordered and tom arrived back to install them on time on 8/4. The installation took approx 2 hours to complete. Tom completed the work in a very professional manner answering all questions that I asked.

Our central air conditioning stopped working at the hottest time of the year. Discount Heating and Cooling's service was prompt and fast (but not rushed). Chris was scheduled to arrive between 10 a.m. and noon. He arrived at 10:42 a.m. He was very friendly and professional. He worked efficiently, diagnosed the problem, and completed the job by 11:15. He recommended a Protective Maintenance Agreement with the company for $135. I will probably purchase it. I will definitely call on this firm to maintain my climate control system in the future. I didn't think to ask about an Angie's List member discount, and Chris didn't mention it. I am thrilled to be cool again.

We needed to replace one of our air conditioners and furnaces as they were 22 years old and not really worth the cost to repair (the a/c died). We had 4 estimates, Discount's proposal came in very reasonable, Doug was very helpful/knowledgeable, and we ultimately decided to go with them because of the cost and service they offered in the future. The proposal was signed on the Thursday before the 4th of July holiday and we were given an estimate of a Thursday or Friday of the following week installation date. We were pleased to be satisfied with our working unit by the Wednesday afternoon, although there was a small glitch and one of the wires from the new thermostat wasn't triggering the fan on the new a/c unit (it cooled but only in auto mode). The installer returned on Friday to run a new wire and everything was working in proper order by Friday morning. I would recommend them as being reasonably priced, carrying high quality brands, and being very timely and neat in their work. Everything was immaculate when they left the home.

On a hot June day, my air conditioner stopped working. Called Discount Heating and they sent a technician who determined I had a blown circuit board and some other blown electrical modules in my furnace. This was preventing my A/C (and my furnace of course) from kicking on. I was quoted a price to replace the parts, but because of the cost of the parts and the age of my furnace, I opted to replace the furnace instead. A few days later 2 installers arrived and installed the new furnace. They were polite, professional and clean. After the install, they tested the furnace and it was working well. Unfortunately the A/C was still not kicking on and after some considerable troubleshooting, the installers asked me to discuss with the owner. This is when my only negative experience with the company occurred. The owner stated that they were only responsible for replacing the furnace per the contract, and I would have to pay extra to diagnose a problem with the air conditioning. I argued that the primary reason for the original service call was the air conditioning, and at the time of the estimate when I asked the technician if replacing the furnace would fix my A/C, he said yes it would. We had a heated discussion, but I'm pleased to say the owner said he understood my position, wanted me to be satisfied, and sent a technician to at least diagnose the problem free of charge. The technician discovered it was a short in the wiring between the thermostat and the furnace (which could have existed before the install or could have been caused by the install), he replaced the wire in about 20 minutes, and the A/C was working great after that. A few days later I discovered a small gas leak and an unusual humming coming from the furnace. When I called the company for warranty service, they were very polite and professional. They came out quickly (even during a busy season for them) and tightened the gas pipe and replaced a faulty transformer part at no charge. I was very pleased about that. Getting warranty service from a company is a good test to see how well they will take care of you down the road. So, overall I am satisfied with my experience with this company. I think this company provides good results at a good value and I would recommend them to others.

He arrived and began his work but was pleasant and we spent a few minutes talking about our dogs. He was here about 45 minutes, seemed very thorough and spent 10 minutes at the end explaining his findings and asking if I had any questions. He gave me the bill and took $5 off the already discounted Angie member price for giving him my email address to add to the company's list.