Hetter Heating & Cooling

The part they replaced broke four months later and they said they only warrantied it for 30 days. Which is kind of a load of crap to me. When they came out and worked on it they did a good job. They seemed very nice and everything, but then it broke. They were punctual.

To the best of my knowledge they provide a full range of services pertaining to heating and cooling and venting. I have never had a bad experience with any of their workers. I have been using them for several years. It isn't always the same person, but everybody has been very good.

Everything went smoothly from the initial meeting for an estimate to the installation. Rick was patient and went through the various equipment options as well as answers our many questions. Installation was scheduled within days of our contacting him to approve the estimated cost. The configuration of our back yard deck posed some issues with the placement of the new AC unit. The installation team called the owner and he was at our house within 30 minutes to work with us on a solution. The installation team did a great job of keeping us informed and they cleared all the debris before leaving. I have been impressed with everyone at Hetter and would not hesitate to recommend them in the future.

The actual repair went well, just wished it could have been fixed the next day. With being in construction, I do understand it takes a day or so to get the required parts. The person who came out was very nice and professional. The only thing that we were disappointed with was when the person came out to fix the unit, it had been raining all morning and he didn't wear boot covers when he entered our home, in which he tracked mud all over our carpet. In my experience, everyone who has done work in my home brings boot covers to protect the flooring from mud. This is the only reason I didn't rate this experience as an A, but would hire them again.

They are punctual and just do a really good job. They could be a little lower in their price.

Showed up on time. Completed work as expected.

Mike showed up on-site on-time and took a look at my HVAC system. His immediate diagnosis, after only asking the square footage of my home and doing nothing but looking at the condenser’s nameplate, was that my system was undersized! This was an immediate red flag for me. I didn’t say anything, but after he mentioned that I need to go up a size, I told him that a load calculation (i.e., Manual J Calculation) would need to be performed to properly size the unit and that I would want that done. Given his previous comments, I was surprised that he agreed. He hooked up his gauges to the unit and later told me the pressures initially were high. He cleaned my A/C condenser coil with the garden hose. He got some debris out, but I had already done this three weeks ago. I do it every year. He thought it was “very dirty,” but if he saw the amount in years’ past I’m hoping he would disagree. The unit cooled sufficiently in years past with a dirty coil too. I should have done this myself again. Apparently the pressures went down, but I wasn’t paying attention to them myself. I have some small holes in my A/C condenser coil due to a previous owner’s dog urinating on it. They account for less than 3% of the surface area. A previous A/C tech had blocked those holes off with a piece of shingle to prevent the airflow short circuiting the coil. He took these out and partially blamed my problem on these being present. I tried to explain the rationale for them, but he told me that it needs airflow. I let it go. I later confirmed with an HVAC engineer that it would be better to leave them in provided that they don’t block too much of the remaining coil. The coil dissipates heat and the air flow drawn through its fins encounters resistance so it tried to take the path of least resistance, through the hole, and that results in a loss of efficiency. I will be replacing them. His lack of thermodynamics was alarming. He was very concerned about my Nest thermostat and told me that I need to insulate the interior of the wall with “newspaper or cloth!” It was located on an interior wall, as it should be. He removed the unit from the wall and showed me the hole where I can stuff it in. Apparently according to him, he sees it “all the time” and it senses the temperature inside of the wall instead of the ambient room temperature. I doubt this, but even if it did, in a steady state condition, it should read the same on both sides. At this point I just said okay and was left scratching my head. I have a 4” cartridge style air filter on the air handler which I’ve always changed every 12 months, per the filter manufacturer’s recommendation. He recommended every 6 months because I have a cat. He was probably not aware that the air handler furnace has an ECM motor meaning that it modulates its speed in response to torque (which comes from the system’s static pressure). In short, the unit will always (to a point, of course) maintain the proper airflow across the indoor A/C coil. He pulled the air filter out of the system while it was running to check it! That’s a good way to dislodge crud that will coat the in indoor A/C coil and cause it to loose efficiency, clog its drain, etc. After he left, I went to the store and bought a new filter. I probably should have done this on my own just to rule this unlikely thing out. After I properly shutdown the unit and replaced the filter, I noticed that the old one was dirty, but it really wasn’t too bad. The $20 I paid for a new filter probably won’t break the bank. So, at this point he was pretty much done and it’s not likely that anything was fixed. He was surprised that after 5 years I’ve never had a problem with it cooling. His answer to why the unit was working in years’ past was because it’s getting old and the compressor’s valves are wearing. That may be, but I don’t think it would have a sudden onset. I asked him if there was rule of thumb for loss of effiency over the age of the unit and he told me there wasn’t any and he mentioned those small holes again as being the problem. We further discussed the age of the unit and the situation and he mentioned that it was loud—apparently more than it should be. I’m guessing this supports his wearing valves theory. It’s really not any louder than a unit from this era ought to be in my opinion, but my ears must not be calibrated as well as his. Usually amp draw and voltage are measured as well as the pressures and its compared to the manufacturer’s published compressor curve. Subjective audible and visual assessment does play a part too. That’s how a compressor is trubleshot, not with hearing alone. Oh well I’ll also mention that he told me to get an Energy Audit because I have an older house and I told him that I did in 2013 by both Columbia Gas and AEP. We added some insulation, but the home was pretty good. He later wanted to give me a coupon for one, but since it was for Columbia Gas, I didn’t need it. He mentioned that he wasn’t sure what they did. I don’t work on these systems myself, but I’m disappointed that I seemed to know more about the system than Hetter’s technician. Hopefully this wasn’t their best guy.

Our existing furnace and AC unit were over 20 years old, and the pilot light kept going out on the furnace. So we knew it was time for a replacement and we decided to do it before something finally broke in the middle of a heat wave or a cold snap. Because we were doing the work on our own schedule, we had the luxury of taking our time and getting it right. That meant getting A LOT of quotes. So the fact alone that we chose Hetter means that they really stood out from everyone else we talked to. One of the reasons we chose them in the first place is that Rick, the salesman we worked with was clear and up front about some of the challenges posed by our house specifically. He didn't try to hide anything and let the installers worry about it later. That fact alone signaled to us that the company cared about doing a good job, not just getting our business. Rick was also incredibly responsive, and he put up with the many many many questions that I had as we worked through the process of figuring out what best fit our needs. The installation crew was also top notch. All of the research I did said that more than the equipment, it is the installation that matters. And, even though I'm a layperson, the installation was incredibly well done. We have an old old house, and the crew didn't bat an eye at it. (One of them referred to our basement as looking like Castle Grayskull, and he was right). They were also prompt, arriving right on time. They were friendly and professional, and worked hard throughout the day. Then, when they were done, they cleaned up and left the work areas looking as good or better than when they had started. Finally, we had some miscommunication about a couple aspects of the install. To Hetter's credit, they worked quickly to address those issues. There was never any question about it, and their primary goal was to make sure we were satisfied and got what we had wanted. Much like their willingness to give us some difficult news during the sales phase, their handling of a tricky situation at the end really reflects the character and customer service of the company.

Good. VERY FAST identifying and fixing issue. Driver was early and brief (few words) but it's working and he was quick.

We have a home warranty service, so we don?t pay anything out of pocket. We didn?t have to pay for anything. They were not able to produce what we were looking for.

Quite well. Rick (Sales) was very helpful in helping evaluate options, suggesting that some I asked about were essentially a waste of money, and that others just didn't work together. He was quick to respond to several emails inquiring about a variety of possiblities that I asked about. Guys that did the installation were very nice and good to have working here.

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Hetter installed my HVAC 2 years ago and I went back to them when I needed to move a cold air return. They responded quickly even though they were unable to help me at this time. They explained that this was their busy season and referred me to another company that might be able to help. I think this speaks highly of their professionalism and customer service.

Completely honest. Came out right away to inspect. Tech was really great.

Excellent! Price was competitive. We have an air conditioner that sits outside the house and they were able to recommend a model that fit into the landscaping and looked nice. The York system was the high efficiency for the heaters and central air, and the package together was a good price. They provide ongoing maintenance and service whenever we need them.

There was a part that was defective with the battery, so that wasn't their fault. I had some trouble with them calling back on an issue. The salesperson specifically. The owner was very responsive, but the salesperson sort of tweaked me in the wrong way. The owner finally got engaged and fixed something that sales kind of dropped. There was a potential problem with something. We charged that and went "Look, we just spent over $5000 with you guys and you're going to nickle and dime me for something that should have been done before?" And the sales guy said, "Well, we'll schedule it". When they came out a week later, on schedule, they had a whole different plan than what we had in mine that we had discussed with the salesperson. It was a $5 fix, not a $300 fix. That was not acceptable. That's when the owner got involved because I called the owner and explained what happened and I said, "This is a communication issue. It shouldn't have happened and the guy shouldn't have come out to my door, which was the salesperson, not the technician's fault. The technician shouldn't have been sent out here to do something totally different without communicating to us. It was resolved by the owner. We're with a warranty with them right now. Compared to the other options, I would absolutely use them again.

Happy with their professionalism and quality of workmanship.

We signed a yearly contract with them.

Great, they indicated the other company didn't even clean out the furnace and thus that was part of my issue but most importantly they checked the furnace thoroughly and it is working just fine and especially I don't need a new exchanger let alone new furnace. Thank you Hetter.

Went well, Waited a few days to get part.

The repair went well. Ten minutes. Poor communication with this company.

Great! We went with Trane XL18i and XV95.

It was excellent. Their bid was the best of three others for the same equipment, and their installers (Walt and Scott) were professional, timely and thorough. We couldn't be happier.

Please see above. Couldn't have gone better. I paid $82 for the heating and air conditioning service, and the diagnostic assessment was no charge. Thank you Hetter!! When I think of AC-your company is my A/list!

Everything went great! Our 30 year old A/C unit stopped working in the midst of the late July heat wave. Even though all the local HVAC contractors were swamped, a Hetter technician was out within a day or two to diagnose. We have a Home Warranty and once the technician made the diagnosis and the Warranty company approved replacement, we were on the schedule for install for a week later. Rick dropped by with a packet of information and answers for our many questions. There was NO pressure whatsoever to upgrade over the base model. We opted for an entire system replacement so we could have the A/C unit we preferred paired with its supporting furnace/blower. I mentioned that our son and daughter-in-law would arrive that night for a visit from out of state and they made sure that the job was finished and all cleaned up in time for their visit. We appreciate that the technicians are certified and highly trained and have passed a national background screening. Every single person we spoke with/met at Hetter was professional while at the same time made us feel like family. I'd recommend this company for your HVAC needs any day of the week!