Accel Heating & Cooling LLC

Buyers Beware Comfort Depot / Accel Heating and Cooling is a SCAM company selling HVAC in Gaithursburg, Maryland and in Washington, DC Metro area. They Sold me a defective AC that has a bad compressor. The new AC stopped working after three weeks at the end of June 2019. When I called them to fix the problem since I have a written warranty for Labor and Parts, they refused to honor that and wanted to charge me an additional $3000 to fix the AC. They didn't honor their own labor warranty and left me with a broken-down air conditioner during this dangerous and sweltering heat wave. The Manager didn't return my calls and they claimed to be a different company now and not responsible for the Labor Warranty. My wife and I got very sick due to heat exhaustion in the house. Comfort Depot / Accel heating and cooling is a dishonest company and running a sham business that only wants to rip me off of an additional $3000. They want to SCAM innocent customers in the Washington, DC Metro area.

They started the job but they did not finish it. Therefore, I cannot use the system because the duct work is not finish and cleaning the ducts has not been done. Also they owe me a panel inspection of DZRA they oversee the insulation. They are very slow on responding to the customers, I have to call them many times to get the job done. And when they do the job they did not complete it. Many different technician came who did not complete the job. I want the job to be complete and hire someone to finish the job. They also did not honor the concern of the customer yet. This company and very poor customer satisfaction. I want them to honor the contract.

Professional service from start to finish - proposal through installation. Crew showed up promptly at scheduled time and performed removal and replacement of old and new units in a timely manner with quality workmanship. As of the writing of this review, I’ve used the system for approximately two and a half months with flawless performance, having experienced the system transition from the cooling to heating system in a seamless manner.

NOTE: I was placed in contact with Accel via the Home Depot site as a preferred installer. I attempted to call and speak with Justin, Accel's Director of Sales but never received a call back. I also stated to the customer service representative that I wished to discuss my concerns with him or another executive so that my concerns were heard. I stated that I wanted to do so rather than voice my grievance through this medium and/or other social media platforms. They didn't, so here I am, regretfully. We live in the DMV area and apparently Accel is the only preferred installer (e.g. sole source) for the Mitsubishi ductless HVAC that Home Depot carries. The process with the HD site is seamless and easy. Accel cancelled my appointment 3xs and finally came out on a Sunday morning at 8 am to meet our weekend schedule. From initial outreach with Accel to actual appointment it took over 20 days. The scheduling delays were not of my doing. The sales person was cordial when he was finally able to show up and provided a good verbal breakdown of services to be provided. In addition to the estimate for the ductless system, he provided some guidance on how to maximize our larger central air system via the installation of an up-unit blower. We agreed that he would provide a quote for that as well. After waiting for over a week, I called and emailed Accel requesting the estimates in writing so that we could proceed with work. Customer service was cordial and stated that I'd receive it that day. We did not. I followed up with another call the following day, again, she would ensure that the salesman sent out our quote. He did not. I called a third time and requested to speak to the Director of Sales and was told that all management was out for the day. It was 2:30 pm. She stated that she would pass along my name/contact over to Justin and request that he call me that afternoon. She told me to call the next day at 7-7:30 am if he did not call me and she would personally hand him the phone. He did not reach out and due to my work schedule I did not attempt to do so the next day at 7:00 am. The estimate arrived two days thereafter and had a line item estimate that lacked descriptions of the some of the line item charges. I sought clarification via email of the line item charges that totaled just over $1k. I received a one sentence response and no amended estimate. I then sent an email asking whether the works related to the central air unit were included. I have not received a response. I assume that Accel is a small business that is particularly stretched due to their affiliation with HD and the demand of the summer months. I also assume that they lack sufficient management, sales personnel, and technicians to meet the needs within this region. I've expressed my concerns to HD as well.

We hired them for a water heater install. Actually went great. Hired through Home Depot. Price was fraction of some quotes. Previous plumber said he couldn’t get type of heater, which had a lifetime warranty. Then we purchased a service contract on hyacinth. To me this means I pay, and they come twice a year. First year they forgot to come for winter checkup and heater went out. You would think we would have some priority for service, but that was a joke. This year we called in April for checkup, they couldn’t do it till it got hot, promised to call. We called and they scheduled for June. Except no one showed up, we inquired and they said oh it’s a July. Week before the appointment we get a call, we can’t come till end of August. This is actually the worst service imaginable. We did sign a new service contract, with a reputable company.

They were prompt and professional. When things did not go right (the water heater was broken when first installed), they returned the faulty one and installed an upgrade within the same day.

I picked Accel because they have what I wanted with the right price. Sales is very easy to work with and no non-sense or high sales pitch. Installers were prompt but didn't have too much experience with the unit. The installation manager came over and fixed everything promptly. I was thrilled. I heard a lot bad things about the companies in this industry. Accel guys are not perfect but they are honest and they are willing to make things right. I am really happy to do business with them.

Pretty badly. Had used them before with no problem. So called them again and got a contract. They mis-booked the apt 3X. Told the driver a different time then us. Called the home number when I asked them to call the cell as I work for a living. Opened a valve to the kitchen while the floor was being repaired and soaked the new flooring while trying to fix the dehumidifier. Told me I would have to clean out and get a new furnace humidifier filter as not in the contract. Had to call twice to get a refund on the contract when cancelling and they dropped the refund amount the second time. STAY AWAY from this company.

Bewildering. I have used them for about 8 years. I have a maintenance contract with them. I wanted to install a mini-split and tried about 4 times to get them to respond. First, no one showed; the next time a serviceman telephoned and asked: do you have 220, do you have room on your circuit breaker, do you have room in your yard; I said he sounded like he didn't want the job; I said I would find someone who would come out and tell me the answer to his questions. He said: o.k. After that, a representative came out to service my two heating systems, one of which they installed; I asked him about a mini-split. He said he would check with his boss. When he returned for something else, he told me he forgot to ask; he said he would check right away; that was the last I heard. As I had told the first person I spoke to on the phone and this last serviceman, I had good feelings about Accel and wanted to continue using them; initially they were helpful, esp. Sasha, a former serviceman, and Justin, an owner, which is why I tried over and over. They just didn't seem interested in their business anymore; that was bewildering. But I got my mini-split and great service from Sila.

They've been very cooperative. They looked at what I needed and where I was gonna put the ductless system. They gave me a project manager to interact with. We kind of worked thru what needed to be done and he laid out the project for me and how it would work and how the system, since I'm getting a ductless system as opposed to a regular air conditioning system, the difference in how it could work in my house. They've been very cooperative. You have to try them and see. They were great. They gave me a good price. I thought they were very professional. They came in and did the job. They didn't linger. Everything was fine. I can't say enough about them. The workers were very good. They came in but they ran into a little traffic trying to get here and it kind of threw their schedule off a little bit but they made up for it. They did a fantastic job.

Got in contact with Acell through Home Depot. Salesman came out and was very knowledgeable and personable. However, he told me he was going to send me detailed quotes by email that night, but it wasn't until a week later after two reminder emails from me. The quote was just text in an email without any itemization. I asked for an itemized quote and the warranty info and haven't heard back in several months. Would definitely not use for actual installation.

The crew arrived on time and prepared. They were knowledgeable and professional, and completed the entire job before the end of the day.

I had been trying to reach Accel for over 3 months to rectify their errors on my installation and they are no show. They did not have the unit inspected. Today, I found out that they have the wiring done wrong. Ed Riley the owner has refused to response to calls or emails.

Eric Taylor was the technician that did the work, until recently. Eric was fantastic and it never felt like I was getting ripped off. Accel started sending a guy named Jeff instead of Eric. He came out to look at a pilot light on a water heater that wouldn't stay lit. He concluded that a small piece on the pilot light needed to be replaced. Several hours after fooling around with Home Depot he concluded that this little piece is no longer manufactured and I needed a whole new water heater. I trusted him and had the water heater replaced even though the whole thing felt scammy. FINE! Most recently, he came out again to look at a furnace. $99 later I found out it was just the thermostat that needed to be replaced. He said they had to order it, meaning my tenant and her son would be without heat for another 5 days. All that was needed was a simple, non-programmable thermostat and the model he referenced is about $40. He quoted me $400+ to purchase and install it. Again, fine, just get the heat working. Well we finally got the work scheduled, now more than a day later than promised and he called an had to cancel due to family emergency. I get that, but I can't have a tenant without heat for more than a week and definitely not for $400 when it really shouldn't cost more than $175. I cancelled, ate the $99, and having work done by company with thermostat in stock that came out today.

We are going to find out at the end of the summer weather there is an internal leak or not. They wanted to check to see how much coolant I used this summer to determine whether or not their was a leak in my piping.

The 15-year old water heater in my place finally gave out. Called Home Depot, who put us in touch with Accel. They were extremely responsive. I bought the water heater online at Home Depot on Saturday. They picked it up from the Gaithersburg store on Monday, arrived on time, installed it properly, hauled away the old one and were professional throughout. They were a good value, too, considering they picked it up and hauled it to my new place. Using them again on another project.

The Rheem hot water heater had defective components, and the initial installation didn't quite meet DC code. Consequently, this installation required several visits from Accel plumbers, and was very time consuming for me. The two Accel plumbers who installed the hot water heater were polite, prompt, and professional. However the WiFi module for the hot water heater was advertised as compatible with an android smart phone, but it would not work correctly with my phone and this WiFi module had to be removed. Furthermore, the gas control unit of the hot water heater stopped working, and first the thermostat within this unit was replaced, and then the entire control unit. In addition, the hot water heater installation didn't initially pass the DC inspection, because a DC code required 6" air gap wasn't left between the drain and drain line. DC offers substantial rebates to homeowners for installing energy star appliances, such as hot water heaters, if the appliances are installed by a 'participating' local contractor with DC's Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) . However, Accel is not on DC's list of participating contractors (go to www.dcseu.com for more info.). I emailed Ed Riley, owner of Accel, twice to request that he register the company with DC as a participating contractor. However, Mr. Riley never responded to my emails, despite what appears to be a quick application process for becoming a 'participating' DCSEU contractor.

The purchase at Home Depot was simple and easy. It has a variety of Rheem water heaters in store, including the one we wanted. Accel is the Home Depot provider for installation, we had received an estimation from them for the installation cost prior to the purchase. Once we purchased the water heater, we called Accel to schedule the installation. A team of two technicians, Scott and Isaac, picked up the water heater at Home Depot and came to our house. They were on time, cordial and friendly. They spent more than 3 hours to drain and remove the old water heater, install the new one including an expansion tank and a new water valve. They cleaned up everything afterwards. The installation, however, did not pass the WSSC inspection because our utility room is not big enough to provide combustible air for both the gas water heater and furnace in that room. Scott and Isaac came again to install 4 fresh air grates on walls of the utility room without charge. The installation passed inspection the next day. The Accel office was also very helpful in scheduling the initial estimation, the installation and the inspection by WSSC.

We were referred to Accel through Home Depot when we purchased a new water heater. We had been out through the storm and did not want to wait through another week (which a different retailer gave us as a timeline). We purchased the heater on Friday evening, and by Saturday afternoon had an estimate and an appointment set up for Monday morning. Mike, our installer, called to let me know he was on the way. He took great care to make sure he laid drop cloths down to protect our house, got everything up and running and cleaned up perfectly. Before he left, he made sure to review the installation with me and made sure we had their contact information in case anything went wrong. I was very impressed.

My 23 year old garbage disposal finally started spewing out metal bits, so I purchased a new one through Home Depot. Accel Heating and Cooling performed the installation arranged through Home Depot. Scott and Isaac were extremely polite and professional. They took their shoes off at the door, and laid down a tarp in front of the sink before starting the install. The install went fine, and I have had no issues with the disposal in the weeks following. I would definitely want to use them again.

I was in the market to replace my 24 year old furnace and 10-year-old air. I contacted several contractors and stumbled upon Home Depot, which referred Accel to me. Adam was the sales consultant and was a great guy. He didn?t try to upsell me like all the other contractors and started with a base system at a reasonable price and guided me to several options. Because of Adam?s honestly, I choose Accel and decided to go with the higher end Trane unit (2 stage air XR17 and 2 stage 96% gas furnace XV95). Things were great at this point when I chose them as their price were reasonable compared to Michael and Son and CroppMetcalf. Things started to go downhill during the install and several follow-up?s after the install. I was told it would be an all-day installation and they would start early. To my surprise the installer showed up late around 11am (appointment was at 8am). They started to work promptly making good progress. They were fair at communicating with me during the install process. Bringing up some issues with re-wiring of the thermostat. They could have done better with communication. I was told that because of my deck, they would need vent past my deck; they never mentioned that they changed this and ended up venting directly under my deck. I found out the next day when I went to check it out. Progress started to slow during the day and they ended up working into the evening. It appears that as it got later, they started to rush though things. At the end of the day the installer mentioned that they didn?t have the correct pipe to connect the whole house Humidifier accessory that we purchased and would need to come back another day. I mentioned to the installer that my thermostat looked like the wrong model; as it was supposed to have Wi-Fi capabilities and a color touchscreen. They left me with a basic thermostat. After they left? I started to research the thermostat. I discovered not only was it not the thermostat that I paid for, but it wasn?t wired correctly. My furnace and air condition are both 2 stage units, but they wired both of them as a single stage unite. What?s the point of paying for a 2 stage unit if it is not wired correctly? I also noticed that there was a significant amount of air leaking around the humidifier that they attached to the coil unit. I ended up having to seal it myself with foil HVAC tape to reduce the air leak. They were also supposed to cut vents in my finished basement wall to vent the furnace so it?s up to code but failed to do that. The sales guy (Adam) also mentioned that they could not drain condensation into the floor drain as it was against WSSC code and needed to rout it to the sump pump. However the installer ended up draining into my laundry sink for some reason I called and made an appointment for Accel to come out a week later and took another day off of work. The appointment was supposed to me between 10am and 12pm... Conveniently enough, WSSC came out the same day of the appointment to inspect the unit and ended up failing it because it wasn?t up to code. It was getting late in the day and Accel had yet to show up. I called Accel to check if someone was coming, they seem to not have me on record for that day for an appointment. They asked me if they could come out another day. I advised them that it is not easy for me to keep taking days off of work and they needed to send someone that day. It appears that they did have me for an appointment that day, but confused me for another costumer when I called to make it. A few hours into the evening 2 new guys show up and confirm that the wiring is wrong (air was setup as 2 stage, but furnace was not) brought the correct thermostat. They also noticed my tape around the humidifier and asked me if I did that. I advised them yes and they seemed disappointed that the 1st guy didn?t properly seal it. They ended up connecting the humidifier, cutting the vents, rerouting the drain to the sump, and rewiring the furnace and thermostat. Like the 1st time it was late in the evening and they appear to hurry and rush to leave. They hooked up the new thermostat, but didn?t go through any of the setting to make sure it was working correctly. I asked the tech why he couldn?t connect the humidifier directly to the new thermostat instead of leaving it connect to the humidistat in the basement. I also asked if he could setup the thermostat and make sure it worked correctly. He told me that he didn?t know how to do that and that I would need to make yet another appointment with them so a Supervisor could come out and check. After they left I looked at the wiring of the thermostat and they appeared to be wired incorrectly yet again. I looked at the owner?s manual for the furnace, air conditioner, and t-stat and they all confirmed it was done incorrectly. I also noticed that my air was not working in the 2nd stage like it used to causing it to run much longer. I called and made a 3rd appointment for Accel to come out 1 week later. I made sure to ask for a Supervisor to come out. The Supervisor came out and noticed that the Humidifier was installed incorrectly onto the coil and placed an order for a new coil case. He also supposedly checked the wiring of the 2 stage furnace and cooling and corrected it. He advised me that he will order a new case and they would have to come out a 4th time to fix this problem. After he left I took pics of the wiring and did some research by reading the owner?s manual. I learned that the thermostat wasn't controlling the fan like I had thought and realized essentially they install the thermostat like a dumb stat. They also did not set any dipswitches to match my system and left everything factory default meaning my nice two stage system was not working optimally. I knew nothing HVAC Dip Switches and wiring a few weeks ago but learned a lot after reviewing these guys work. This is Nut?s, they sell me on a nice two stage system with a thermostat that was supposed to control it all, but they cripple the system my installing it to only allow the control board do all the work. What?s the point of buying this system, I might as well bought a basic system and had better luck. In Summary, the sale guy is great, they are reasonably priced compared to other contractors I spoke with, and their installers are good people but need more training on Trane. I kinda would recommend them because they are reasonably priced and seemed like some nice guys, but be sure to read the owner?s manual and check on their work, be sure to ask for a Supervisor to double check everything before the job is complete and make sure the Supervisor actually talks to you and confirms this. I assume the same is true regardless of which contractor you choose. Before this process I knew very little about HVAC, I know more now. I don?t claim to be an expert or know better than a trained tech, but I was kind forced to do research and read manuals because some of the work wasn?t done correctly. I thought this was supposed to be an easy process for the customer, but it wasn?t for me. I lost 3 days of work because of this. As I write this, I have to now take a 4th day off of work for them to come back and correct the Humidifier install problem. Update: Accel came back to reinstall the humidifier in the correct location on the coil case. I wasn't home for this install as this is the 4th time they had to come out and I can't keep missing days of work. When I got home that afternoon. I noticed the humidifier was very loose and wobbly compared to the last install. It was in the correct location, but didn't seem to be attached well. With on light tug, I was able to pull the entire humidifier off. The only thing that was holding it to the coil was foil tape. No screws... not even the plastic tabs were correctly placed. Seems like the cut the hole too large for the humidifier. Nevertheless I didn't even bother calling these guys back. Not worth having them come out a 5th time. I no longer recommend these guys unless you are buying a basic single stage unit with no accessories. Anything beyond a basic system is too complicated for these guys to install.

Very Well. I found Accel through Home Depot. I received a call within 2 days of calling Home Depot and the company sent out a representative shortly thereafter. The install went very smoothly. I am also using the company to service the system and have been very pleased with their customer service.

Very well. Eric Taylor did a great job. Like all contractors, he ran a little late or had to reschedule, but was generally close to being on time. He has a lot of knowledge about hot water heating systems, and does everything quickly and effectively. He want above and beyond in many ways. While giving me a quote he noticed that my sanitary line was leaking, and quickly helped me identify where the water was coming from.

Ed came to the house and spent about three hours for the estimate. Ed called ahead of the scheduled time to confirm which I appreciated. Ed is very knowledgable and he patiently answered almost all my many questions which helped me to make an fairly educated decision with limited time. Ed has been also very responsive by answering his phone and answered additional questions I had after the on-site estimate which helped me making decision to upgrade the equipements that I initially wanted to install. When his team of three came on the day of installation, Carlos called ahead of the time at about 8 a.m. to give me a heads up. Again I appreciated that! This team has been very professional throught out the day by my observation as followed: 1- Took off shoes when they entered the main floor upstairs 2- Put drop cloth in basement whereever they were walking on for the whole installation 3- During the installation, i went down to basement to check on status and observe periodically, and asked questions whenever it came up, and they are very knowledgable and provide explanations. 4- I pointed out some minor issues may be due to the previous installation and they fixed them right there without complaining such as "It is out of our work scope" or "It was not our responsibilities" etc. 5- I also had a minor leakage from a faucet on the ceiling. Dan, the plumber took a little time investigated and fixed it! It has been bothering for a while and I was happy that it was fixed just like that. Dan explained to me the possible reasons for the issue. Seems like he is more punctual than the other one I used before. He also provided some advice for another small plumming project I want to do. Overall, he did not have to do so, but he did. I appreciate it! 6- Carlos, the team leader stayed later than other two team members after more than 10 hours of installation, and he maintained professional throughtout the day. Carlos was working all day inside and outside, and climing through the small area in the utility room. It was tough. At the end, Carlos did a detail walk through as a routine process including walking me through the maintance of outdoor, indoor HVAC units, drainage near the indoor units; demonstraing how to use the newly installed thermostat which is more advanced. He explained to me how to register the equipments online and what codes to use, etc. I had additional questions during the walk through and he patiently answered all. Over all, this team was professional, knowledgable, respective, and pleasant to work with. I aslo noticed they helped each other whenever one of them needed an extra hand. I will use this team in the future and I will recommend this company to my friends.

Eric and Chris were very professional and arrived exactly when they said they would. Eric explained everything I needed to know and was a pleasure to work with.