Howald Heating Air Conditioning and Plumbing

I bult a home through Centex in 2007, which has been held as a rental investment property for the past 5 years. Every spring, I've received a call from my renters saying they turned on the AC and didn't get cold air. Every year I've called in an AC company to assess and repair.....many of which were highly rated on here. After $900+ dollars spent, 3 companies and 4 different assessments, I had this problem yet again this spring. This time, a friend on Facebook recommended Howald Co. to me, said they knew the owner and they would treat me fair. So, I called. A guy came to the house within 24 hrs of calling, and in less than 45 mins figured out what none of the other companies could. The issue wasn't with my AC unit at all..... my AC was working perfectly. Instead, the problem ended up being the electrician used in building the home cut a lot of corners with his install and damaged the wire when he laid the wire (running from the AC unit, into the ground, under a few other town home units, to my breaker box). The AC guy realize there were a lot of ''fishy'' things with the set-up, and the more he dug the more he found. The wires were actually damaged so bad that the entire wire had been shorting out for years.....you could see burned pieces of plastic and copper, as well as actual copper from the wire itself. The wire was so bad the entire thing had to be shut down until a professional electrician could fix it. I'm surprised that there were no fires and nobody got electrocuted up to this point. I'm equally frusterated the other AC companies charged me so much for general AC repairs knowing this was the issue the whole time. It is upsetting to know this problem was never identified and resolved even though so many people looked into the situation before Howald. But, best of all, I was elated to find out there was no charge for the work. Howald said the inspection was a 'free '2nd opinion'', and since the problem was an electrical issue and no work was done to the actual AC unit itself, there was no charge for the visit! Anytime a company takes such a huge burden off your shoulders and doesn't charge you.....anytime a company fixes a 5 year old problem and it is free......anytime a company leaves you wanting to pay them even though you don't have to......to me, that's a company worth going to again and again. I LOVED working with this company. Aside from them making me into a super pleased customer, they potentially prevented a fire/loss of life. They will most definitely get a call from me before I need work in the future because I felt they put their work and me, the customer, ahead of their own bottom line.....which was not the feeling I've gotten from the other companies I used.

After my initial call the appointment was set and a reminder call before the technicians arrived.

Howald's offers great service, both in the mechanical maintenance and repair area, as well as customer service. They have been servicing my HVAC since I bought my house in 2001. During that time they have replaced my AC outside unit (struck by lightening), done regular maintenance, and kept my temperamental furnace going for reasonable rates. They easily schedule two houses (across the street from each other) on the same service trip without confusion, and send out our favorite technician each time. (unfortunately for us, he has retired - but his replacement was fine, and did a good job when we met him for the first time this spring) I have only had to call them rarely for 'emergency' repairs, but they have responded promptly, and completed the repairs in a timely manner. I am quite happy with them, and would recommend their services.

I was amazed how promptly they responded to me on a Sunday morning. This company is very trustworthy, I was able to give them access to my home without being apprehensive about it, they kept me very informed on what they were doing, as well as took pictures for inusrance purposes.

Service was prompt and professional. Howald is a class act. Every person I contacted, in sales, installation and office, was polite and friendly. Allan and Tommy did the installation, and they were real pros.

We have been using them for 6 or 7 years now. They are local to us which is important to me. It is incredible easy to get in touch with them day or night. Someone always calls you right back that is local. They have an abundance of availability and you can get an appointment when you need it. Their prices are reasonably and they are flexible. All the technicians are extremely nice and professional. They almost seem like family to me.

I explained to the plumber how I wanted a complex system of valves built into a manifold that would allow me to better control the water service in our house. This was to replace an old bunch of pipes that had been fixed and rerouted through the years into a snake den of plumbing. The plumber tore out the old system and replaced it with my design. It works quite well. For example, I can turn off two 90-degree valves when we leave for vacations and trips and not worry about the rest of the old plumbing in this old house and/or the water heater springing a leak and flooding the place while we are gone. The Plumber and his assistant did an excellent job, cleaned up their mess and left me with what I wanted. The only ding (grade B) is price, which of course, I have to realize? this IS a plumber and they don't come cheap.

I called him out to do a spring tune up on my ac unit. He checked it all out and will be out again in six months to do the fall inspection. They always do a great job and go out of their way to do good work. I usually contract them for 2yrs at a time. They are really nice guys and very professional in the way they handle the setting up of the service and call to let me know when we are nearing our next service inspection.

The service was very good. I thought they were very professional-- neat, clean, and came out when they said they would.

Moved into new house 1/2 year ago and noticed that standard service of heat and A/C units had not been done for several years. Company did a fine job and did not try to sell any costly extra services. The technician answered all my questions and was very informative regarding the particulars of my units.

The service was great. He found some problems with two of the units. A salesman came out immediately and service tech showed him the problems with the units. Salesman explained everything and left info needed to make a decision on purchasing new units.

Set up the appointment last week and received a reminder call the day before. The technician (Bud) arrived on time, was friendly and went right to work. Don't think that the air conditioner has ever had as thorough a cleaning/inspection. When he was finished, he took the time to answer all the questions we had and give suggestions on the placement of a unit when it needs replaced in the future. Think it's a testimony to the great technicians at Howald because our A/C unit is now 15 years old and still running strong - likely because we've always used Howald for the annual servicing. Can't imagine there is a more customer focused company in town than Howald Heating, Air Conditioning and Plumbing.

The furnace on my daughters house was making a loud noise when the unit turned on. I was afraid that they may have needed a new furnace. Larry came out and determined it was simply a induction blower fan and had us fixed and quiet in less that 48 hours for under $200. Very honest and reputable firm. I highly recommend them and will definitely use them when the unit finally dies in the future.

We placed a service call that day and they had a technician out within the next 4 hours. We have used Howald in the past and have been pleased with their service. Their technicians are knowledgeable and helpful in explaining what the problem is. I would recommend using them for any heating/air-conditioning need.

They were wonderful, very thorough, and explained everything to me.

Our furnace quit working over the weekend. Howald's technician came very quickly after we called and diagnosed the problem. He clearly outlined our options. The furnace was approximately 15 years old, and the cost of repairs would be 25% of what a new furnace would cost, and it was likely that other problems would arise. So we asked for information on replacing the furnace. A sales guy came out within the hour and walked us through the various options. (This was on a Sunday.) He was very patient and helpful. Once we decided what furnace to buy he arranged for it to be installed the next morning. The following morning the technicians arrived to install the furnace. They were exceptionally careful of our floors and cleaned up after themselves very well. We've had a lot of service and repair people at the house and these guys were absolutely the best. They worked with me to coordinate their lunch break with the time I needed to run an errand. When they were finished with the installation, they took time to be sure I understood how the thermostat worked and how to replace the filters, as well as explaining generally how the furnace works. Everything went so smoothly, and we can't believe we got all this done from the first call to completion of the installation in a little over 24 hours.

Once I made my decision, HH&AC moved quickly. Even though I made my decision after their normal business hours, Larry had a crew at my door by 9 AM the next morning. They did a very efficient job of removing the old equipment and installing the new. Like the other techs, they were courteous and well organized. The new furnace was operational before lunch. While having furnace problems was not fun, working with Larry Howald and his staff was a good experience.

I would HIGHLY recommend this company. My story began with rusted out duct work in the crawl space that needed repairing. That required removing the 13 year old furnace and air conditioner. No one tried to pressure me into replacing these, but it seemed sensible to replace them with more energy efficient machines. Included was a thermostat that I could program at a distance using my iPhone. The work was done while I was away, though the final check-off was to happen after my return. I was not satisfied with the noise level, and the technician came right out. He whole-heartedly agreed, made some adjustments, and had others come out to see if something more could be done. Over the next 10 days, adjustments were made, including having more registers put in. A representative of the manufacturer was even brought in. Tim F, the salesman, was with me all the way. I greatly appreciated his knowledge, competence, patience and follow-through.

Michael arrived right on time to install the new toilet. Said it should be an easy job and take 45 minutes to an hour, unless he ran into something unforeseen. 45 minutes later, he was done. The install went very smoothly and he didn't bother me until the bath was completely cleaned up. (I didn't bother him either!) The price quoted was the price charged. I heartily recommend Howald Heating, Air and Plumbing.

We called Howald Heating to do a furnace inspection and tune up. An appointment was made for the next day and the technician arrived on time and was very professional. He explained the work he performed and gave me his recommendations which included the option of a new furnace instead of repairing the old furnace. An appointment was made to have a sales person come out to the house that afternoon and explain the procedure to purchase a new furnace and have it installed. Again the sales person arrived on time and was very professional. After a short discussion (regarding our needs) I signed a purchase agreement. The installers were scheduled for the next morning. WOW...again the installers arrived on time and were very professional. Several minutes into the job the salesman came by to see how everything was going. The installation took a few hours, they explained the new thermostat, cleaned up and headed out the door. It was a painless experience working with the team from Howald Heating. Expressing my sincere thank you to a company and team of employees that truly care about customer satisfaction.

The blower on my old furnace stopped working on a Sunday in late January, so I called Howald. I had liked the technician who had serviced my furnace about a year ago, so this company was my first choice. My call was immediately answered and I heard from the technician about an hour later. He did some cleaning and adjusting and got the furnace working again, but could not warranty the work because the furnace was so old (probably more than 40 years!) and burners were rusted. (And it did stop working briefly a few days later.) Since I had planned to get a new and more efficient furnace in 2014, I set up an appointment with Larry Howald to see what my options were. He told me that a 70,000 BTU would be sufficient for my house (a small, 1920s bungalow). My old furnace was 100,000 BTUs. Just a week later, two technicians installed the new furnace (a Payne, part of the Carrier line) and a new evaporator coil for my AC. I plan to replace my air conditioner in the spring, also. The technicians who installed the furnace spent a good part of a day working on the job, which included installing a new vent pipe on an outside wall and capping the old vent and replacing the return air drop. They were both very nice and careful about everything, putting down tarps from my front door to the basement steps and hauling the old furnace out the back door. They also had to haul the new and old equipment up and down the basement stairs, which I know was difficult. It was a very cold day, and snow was about a foot deep around the side of my house, but they never complained. I noticed right away that the new furnace had not solved my long-time problem with noise from the air ducts (and I had not expected it to), and it even seemed worse, probably because of the larger blower on the new furnace. I called Larry Howald again, and he set up an appointment right away to check out the problem. He suggested that I replace two of the air ducts--two that were closest to the furnace--with insulated flexible pipe. About a week later one of the original technicians, Jason, came back to install the new ducts, replacing three of seven in all. The difference is remarkable, so much quieter. My neighbor recommended Larry Howald a year or so ago, and I'm so glad she did. He really cares about keeping his customers happy. Even during this very busy time, he was always willing to schedule appointments ASAP and showed up when he said he would. He did a good job of describing the new furnace and how it worked and how the new ducts would help resolve my noise problem. He doesn't just assume you don't care or wouldn't understand. The two techs, Jason and Bud, did a great job and left my basement looking the way it did when they arrived. My new furnace is keeping my house warm and is saving me money now (it's more than 90 percent efficient), and I really appreciate having my air duct noise problem mitigated. I can highly recommend this company.

I needed both a HVAC and plumbing repair on my humidifier that is attached to my furnace. The humidifier was not shutting itself off and the water was running continuously into my humidifier. I tried to shut off the water up at the pipe, but I could not turn it off. The shut-off valve was starting to leak when I was trying to turn off the water and I got concerned that this might turn into a bigger problem if left unchecked overnight. Of course I noticed this problem after hours, but phoned Howald and got connected to the after hours emergency line and left a message. My call was returned within 20 mins. Service tech Bud was very personable on the phone and went over the whole problem with me. He diagnosed the problem immediately and even had a ballpark repair cost as he had recently had worked on a similar repair. He assured me that as long as the water was flowing down my floor drain, there was no need for me to have an after-hours call that would be very expensive with both a HVAC and plumbing repairman coming to the house. I spoke to the office the next day to schedule a repair appointment and also asked for a diagnosis and estimate on fixing my low hot water pressure in all the faucets. That same morning, plumber Steve came out and replaced my shut-off valve within 30 mins. He was very thorough tracking down the water pressure issues in the home. He cleaned out the pipes attached to my water heater and found a problem in my shower/tub faucet and that was replaced. That helped the hot water pressure greatly, but I will also need to eventually get my old galvanized pipes replaced and I received an emailed estimate on that in one day's time. HVAC tech Bud was also sent out that day to replace the cylinder valve thingy on the humidifier and replace the filter pad. His work was very swift and he had it up and running again in no time at all. Overall, I was pleased with the prompt response, professionalism in all areas and general pleasant personality and attitude of the two service techs that I had in my home.

Went as nice as could be. They are good to work with. Have used them for a long time and I wouldn't call any other company but this company.

I contacted Howald via the Angie's List message center. A representative called on the next business day. I scheduled to have someone come out and give an estimate to install a reverse osmosis system, move the water supply and drain lines for washer & dryer, and repair valve on gas fireplace. We scheduled for a time window of 12-2 on 2/11/14. At almost 2PM, they called to say the tech was running behind and that they would call when he was 30 minutes away. They called at almost 3PM and said the tech was 30 minutes away, they did not show up until nearly 4PM, which was 2 hours later than originally scheduled window. I had taken off work to be there and had planned to go back to work in the afternoon, but was not able to because they were running so far behind. The tech was nice and personable. He said he would email the estimate. it is now 6 days later 2/17/14 and I have not received an estimate... Sorry to say I received bad service, because I called Howald based upon their high Angie's List ratings. UPDATE: as of Ed Kittle, Operations Mgr., actually came to our house & knocked on our front door (used our address from Angie's List) to try and figure out what happened with our service call in-person. We explained to him that the service call was for our new house we recently purchased that we will not be moving into until work has completed which is why they could not find us on their GPS tracking system from when their tech met us. He immediately then emailed an estimate. It's clear they take their reviews seriously on Angie's List, unfortunately for them, we had already moved on to another co. b/c of tardiness & also their pricing was much higher.

The tech was an extremely nice guy and did multiple extra checks to ensure he had correctly assessed the issue. I really appreciated his thoroughness and attention to detail. The price was extremely fair, especially compared to competitors. After this experience I will be a customer for life!