Sturm Heating & Air Conditioning

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I have used this company to do a yearly check on a furnace I have in a house I am currently renting to someone. I also hired this company to install a new a/c unit a couple of years ago. The owner is very knowledgable on all aspect of heating and cooling, and has also been very kind in helping me with a couple of small issues I was having in the home while he was there. I would recommend Sturm to anyone.

Last December (2010), we had Mr Sturm replace our existing furnace, central air unit and hot water tank. The installation went well with it all being completed in a day. After installation, the closet where the furnace is located stayed very warm and was not that way previously. Mr Sturn said it was nothing to worry about and it was normal. After further investigation on our part, we found that there was a section where the furnace sits on the duct work that was not sealed. We called Mr Sturm and he came out and sealed it with some silicone. HE stated he might have to crank the blower up a notch. At that time we also told him that we really were not getting the same kind of pressure blowing out of the house ducts that we had with the old furnace and were told that the furnace was working properly. After a heating and cooling season and absolutely no savings on our gas/electric bills, we called Mr Sturm again stating our concerns. He again came out and this time stated that it was due to faulty cold air duct work of which he could not have possibly known was bad too and there not enough insulation etc. He sent his assistant up in the attic who claimed the duct work wasn't installed correctly and that was our problem. For $400 to $500 he could seal and insultate the ducts in the attic. He claimed the main fresh air vent wasn't working. I thought on that and later in the day I recalled when he had come out for our old furnace and the fresh air vent filter was plugged and that was why it wouldn't run, thus nothing wrong with the fresh air vent, it has always worked. I declined his offer once I realized that wasn't the issue and I did the insulation and duct work myself. When cleaning up the closet around the furnace, back in a isolated area I found that where the furnace sits on the duct work, there was approximately a 1/2" wide gap 6" long that was not sealed and that the connection for the duct work in the addition was not secured to the elbow and was also leaking. I called Mr Sturm, who by this time, was very adament that there was nothing wrong with the furnace, until I told him what I discovered. He came out very promptly and haphazardly sealed it. The next day it was still leaking, so I made the repair complete myself by adding more caulk.to the leaking area. I have used Mr Sturm many times before and had always found him to be very good, but this time I was not impressed at all, not to mention the time and money spent on upgrades in my attic that were not the issue in the first place. His installation was very poor and the pressure through the house vents is better with the caulked areas where the furnace meets the heat ducts but not as good as the old furnace. Very, very poor installation of what I believe to be a good product. we were sold on the unit through his verbal on how he installed one just like it and the woman saved so much gas heating $$ that they came out and checked her meter. Needless to say with the leaks all last winter due to poor installation, and even this summer with the a/c we didn't save any money on the gas/electric bills since the furnace was installed. .