BrightHome Energy Solutions

I used an Angie's List big deal for this. I was not happy for one major reason: when the guy came he put some kind of probe into our furnace to test it and broke something within the furnace. Then we had to go back and forth for over a week with the company to get them to come and fix it. The guy claimed it was not his fault and we had no heat for a couple of days so that was not positive. They did come and fix it eventually but it took them over a week and I have never received the report from them that they promised me as far as the energy audit. It is now December and they did the energy audit in late October so all in all I will not grade them very well. The price was reasonable but I still never got a report from them. I will not use them again in the future.

The audit itself went fine, though I believe it was a bit difficult to get things scheduled. After the audit, the first thing that came to me was a proposal for future work, not the report that I was expecting. After having to request the report that was promised with the service, I received a document that substantiated some of the work being proposed. I requested a meeting during which I reviewed the work being proposed item by item. The estimate was - coincidentally, or not - exactly the amount available through state rebates and financing. I contacted a few other contractors and requested quotes. The proposed measures were different, including a strong disagreement with the effectiveness of blowing insulation into my walls on top of already existing insulation. In any case, the other quotes were considerably lower and I ended up moving ahead with some energy saving measures by using another company. The deal for the energy audit was a good one, but everything after that was questionable. UPDATE as of 12/30/11 It's been brought to my attention, as I contact other contractors to get competing bids for work that needs to be done, that the audit Bright Home performed was incomplete. My reading of the situation continues to believe that Bright Home tailored the audit "report" to reflect the needs of their particular proposal without any analysis and data on my HVAC systems, etc. They simply told me verbally they were "fine." Turns out that's not the case and is potentially causing some issues with my eligibility for rebates, financing, etc. This all comes back to shoddy work on the energy audit. I guess when you only pay $99 (and true value according to the company is $299+) you only get $99 worth of work and attention -- not what I expected at all. I cannot recommend this company whatsoever.

After scheduling the appointment, I was contacted and told they would need to cancel because my home is not located in their area of service. They told me they only service eastern Suffix county, which is only five minutes away from my home. I feel they should be more specific about their boundary because it appears they're picking which jobs to perform.

I had an appointment scheduled. I even took the day off work to have this service performed. He called me before the appointment, cancelled, and said he would call back to reschedule. He never did. They are unresponsive and I had my big deal refunded.

Everything was completed quickly and professionally. They were very courteous and very informative.

The energy audit lasted close to three hours. The gentleman was very thorough and meticulous. He asked for all of the energy bills. He recorded everything on a netbook pc type device. He used a thermal detection tool. He also hooked up a giant fan to my front door to get a reading on circulation. Very cool stuff. He showed me where the drafts are in my house. A few days later, I received two estimates for recommended work. One for about $4000 and the other, which included in wall insulation, for over $12,000. There were rebates from the state, and interest free loans, which made either plan more palatable. I had a friend who worked in construction for over 30 years come over and look at the estimates and my home. Thank god I listened to him instead of spending thousands of dollars needlessly. Just one example among many: My home was renovated in 1998 and already had insulation. To blow in foam over it would not significantly save me the type of money he was suggesting. I was promised a 40% reduction in energy bills, but they would not put that in writing because "people would add appliances and lie to get refunds, etc...) Ok fair enough. Some of his recommendations were spot on, others were nuts! I ended up going with Weather Seal in Oakland- for about 1/4 of the price of Brighthome's lowest estimate, they accomplished what needed to be done: foam around the basement perimeter and installation of an attic seal above the drop down stairs. The energy audit for $99 was a fair price, but I believe there is a conflict of interest in some of these Angie's deals. They will suggest all kinds of work which may or may not be necessary. For the record, I never received a report, just estimates for work. I cound not recommend this company.

The appointment process over the phone was easy and accommodating, the Company's representative came to my house as schedulled and stayed in the house over three hours, performing the audit. He promised that I will receive the audit report in 2 weeks. As of today, it is almost 5 weeks passed since the audit, and I still have not received anything from the Company. My emails and phone messages have been ignored. I request my monies be returned, as I paid not for the visit to my house, but for the audit report, which I never received

The first contact, they explained that they were unable to be there for almost 6 weeks. At which point, I decided to cancel and then got a phone call back saying they could be there Saturday. After I received a window for their arrival, I waited at home for 4 hours on a Saturday for a no show and no phone call. I would never do business with them again.

This is a bit overdue, but here it goes. I ordered an Angie's List Big Deal for an Energy Audit by BrightHome. They're actually still offering this deal for $99, but when I purchased the deal it was valued at $199. Anyway, the actual audit was fine...the gentleman who came out was a smart, knowledgeable guy who seemed to conduct a good audit. However, once the audit was completed everything went downhill. I never received a report regarding audit findings/recommendations, even after they sent someone out a second time because they "needed to check the attic to finalize the proposal." The timeline was as follows... May - Audit completed, was told I'd have the report in a couple of weeks. June - no word on anything, but when I called I was told that I would have the report "soon" and they were just finalizing some numbers. I later found out out that the guy who performed my audit was no longer with the company so another lady by the name of Nancy was handling my case. I spoke with her a few times but mostly waited because I figured they need some time (gave them the benefit of the doubt) July - continued back and forth with Nancy several times, with multiple assurances that I would have the audit report with recommendations "tomorrow" of "by the end of the week". This is around the time they called me to schedule a second visit because they needed to check the attic. I cooperated. August -- still no report, same as the last couple of months... then I find out that Nancy was no longer with the company and that the owner (maybe he's a supervisor) would handle my case now. The lady who answered the phone was rather rude, acting as if I were imposing on them by asking for my overdue report. At this point I'd had enough of being strung along and I called Angie's List to complain. They eventually convinced the company to give me a refund since they did not fulfill their obligation. They also had the audacity to say "We can come back and do another audit if you like." First off, why would you need to do another audit if you have my report "almost finalized"? My home hasn't changed since the first audit. Second, do you really think I would want to work with your company again after what I had to deal with? In the end, I spent about 3 months going back and forth with Bright Home, having them come out to my home twice (which by the way, I had to take time off from work for). During that time, I listened to a bunch of empty promises and ultimately wasted my time. I would NOT recommend Bright Home for an energy audit based on my experiences. If the company is willing to leave a customer waiting for months, then what's to say that won't happen again with future customers. Also, staff turnover seems to be a big problem with this company. Buyer beware!

While eager and polite, I remain unconvinced of the conservation and economic benefits and of the company's expertise in general. They recommended installing a new energy efficient boiler. It took them weeks, literally -- in mid-winter -- to get the new one to work properly, due mostly to my insisting and pushing. Never did they suggest that mid-winter was a bad time to install a new boiler and that we should wait a few months to avoid exactly such problems (i.e., they wanted the money in their pocket). They suggested installing storm doors on two main house doors but for one of them they could only get a door that opened the wrong direction and would not or could not change it despite my complaints. Perhaps most galling, they suggested that we inject insulating foam over the garage to improve the coldness of our son's bedroom above it. The bedroom above showed and shows no change whatsoever, unfortunately. When I pointed all this out to them, they said it was probably because the room has no insulation in the walls, though they knew that from the infra-red heat scans they did at the beginning of their energy audit. When I said I wouldn't pay for this segment of the work, for which they charged me some $1,700, because it was completely ineffective, their legal department called me to harrass me for the money. After much review of my ConEd bills, it is obvious that the energy conservation savings have been negligible, at best. One company representative had promised savings of around 15% (he disappeared from the scene shortly thereafter). The company owner (?) was much more cautious about promised savings -- basically refusing to offer numbers -- and now I know why. In actuality, it will take decades for us to pay off the money we spent for this job. In short, I am not sure these people really know what they're doing. I would recommend that potential customers think carefully about the company's promises. (I say this as a committed environmentalist who was and still is eager to reduce my house's energy usage.)

All went very well. Did a thorough walk-through in advance of the work - made sure the crew understood each step. Crew arrived promptly each day a behaved professionally.

Very good............Showed up as promised, workers did an excellent job on a very hot day......In attic removed stored items and put them back.

They said everything was fine. They came when they said they would come.

The gentleman was ontime and very thorough My house is fairly large, he took pictures onthe outside of my house as well as attic, two living floors and basement. Infared pictures were taken to document heat loss. The entire audit took about 4 hrs He came back the next day with a written report and went over each area.

Excellent. Checked internal and external components of my central air conditioning system as well as electrical connections and discussed results with me. Took time to answer any questions raised. Polite and professional representative.

Brighthome was professional and responsive from the energy audit to installation to clean up, They gave deadlines and met them. The price quoted did not change during the project. This past winter we noticed that our home was less drafty and that our use of energy for heating was less.

I am very dissapointed--and this contractor is recommended by NYSERDA? What a waste of my time.

The process took 2-3 hours, and was conducted thoroughly, transparently and professionally. Patrick is a great guy - easy to engage, honest and responsive - and he completed the analysis of the energy audit within two business days. The results in my case were favorable; our home is well insulated, but BrightHome did not try to game the outcome to suggest investing where investment wouldn't make sense. Overall, a positive experience.

The work went well. The crew arrived on time daily (8:30am) and worked till 5pm. The were very professional, courteous, and most importantly, they cleaned up every day. Extra work was done to alleviate potential/future issues at no charge. Thank you Nick, Patrick, Ed, Fernando,Tony and Matt for making my house warmer and more comfortable for my family.

I am trying to improve the energy efficiency and costs in heating and cooling my house. These guys are the right touchpoint to get the process started.

They were very professional. The entire staff was A+ , very knowledgable. I had numerous questions and concerns which Nancy, who works in the office at BrightHome, responded to instantly with the answer. She even drove to my residence to hand-deliver some documents I needed. Where do you ever see that level of customer service. Ed & Grant , who did the audit, were outstanding as well. I would highly recommend them to anyone. It is not often you will find a contracting company of this caliber.They are an honest, honorable group of people working at BrightHome and you should have all the confidence in hiring them, you will not be sorry.

They asked me questions and made some recommendations too. The price that they charged was okay. I do plan to have them do some work for me.

BrightHome staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable. I had an emergency situation and these guys really went an extra mile (or two) to help out with space heaters and visits during horrific storms. Unfortuately, I had a few problems with the Boiler that required the guys to return to my home several times. However, in each case, BrightHome was very quick to respond and correct the issue -- it turned out to be some issues with the original parts and some delicate settings. I highly recommend this crew... (Andrew, Jay, Gary - Thanks for all your help and support!)

Once the date was set (two weeks after contracts were signed) they began the job. The men came every morning at 8 and worked all day long for 5 days. Insulation was forced into wall spaces and the attic floor was covered with about 18 inches of insulation. Storage space was maintained and a zipper cover put over the attic entry to prevent leakage. Most of the insulation was put it through holes drilled on the outside of the house and capped. In some cases it was necessary to do it from the inside. In all instances it was done neatly and efficiently. The men always cleaned up after themselves. Since it was performed in the middle of winter it is difficult at this time to evaluate the savings in fuel. However, I had a new high efficiency heating system installed and before the insulating it was running constantly. Now it comes on occasionally and the house holds the heat very well. I have tested the house by turning the thermostat down and the house maintains it the warmth all day. It is also much more comfortable. The people at Brighthome are extremely professional and helpful. The house was damaged by the recent storm and I called Brighthome and they came back to help repair the damage and insure that the insulation was intact.

My husband and I hired Bright Home to perform an energy audit. Andy was incredibly thorough and patiently answered all our questions. He was sensitive to the fact that we were working on a limited budget, and gave us a solution that took that into account. He even threw in some extra work (some carpentry work in the attic for additional storage space) that my husband & I originally decided not to pursue because we thought we could do it ourselves. We did encounter some difficulty determining the amount of the deposit. They originally wanted 50% - we felt more comfortable with a deposit of 1/3, and finally after a couple days they agreed. The crew was great, but they could work on their punctuality. However, Andy took great pains to find out where they were when they were late. Of the crew, Elmer in particular took great pains to go over his work with me to make sure everything was progressing in a mutually agreeable manner. It was evident he took a lot of pride in his work. My husband and I love the way the house is actually warm now. If we turn off the heat overnight, the place is still comfortable the next morning. If we're cold inside the house, it's by choice and nothing else.