Modern Heating & Cooling Inc

"You either trust your service technician or you dont." Carrier's response. Literally the worst "professional" or any company I have ever dealt with. Will find any reason to blame anyone besides themselves. If safety, quality, efficiency, logic/common sense, money, your time and your sanity are worthless - i still would not recommend. Read as much as you want. Good luck. Problems with the installation/equipment of your installed new HVAC system began the first day of the installation and continue with a cycle of repeated defects and operating problems. You even installed a lesser furnace and only after we brought it to your attention after install; you stated your quotes/contract were a “typo.” Further, your company was not authorized to replace our more efficient larger custom efficient plenum with its’ trunk and branch system and manual dampers with a non custom ‘junction box’ style with no manual dampers. I never had a problem when General Heating, now Hooper, installed and the service of our old HVAC system for numerous years. General Heating created the phlegm with its’ trunk and branch system and dampers specifically for the house at [], that kept the zoning that the house was designed for. The new system is supposed to be more efficient than our old system and according to our bills and the system itself; it is at least 20% less efficient. We’ve exchanged numerous telephone calls and emails. The first and second controllers installed were defective. It appears that the third controller is also defective. Your company has been out to service numerous times and you even arranged phone conference and meeting, including the Carrier Representative. We have requested a fully detailed account of each service call - and all you have provided where employee time sheets. Your company did not provide a startup sheet and had to come back to run and provide one. Your company refuses to give us the settings on the controller. The city inspector also noted a few issues. On November 28th, we discussed the urgent error messages appearing on the third controller (an additional new one appearing after your tech came out the previous day). You further stated you would message me the following day. It was also understood that a tech would come out to the house and try and correct the problem. [] took off work(2nd that week), and was present the entire day waiting for a service tech as requested by Chad. No service tech arrived and no contact from your company. You may not have intended this, but your telephone call with me on November 28th was hostile.It is beyond any reasonable doubt, that Modern Heating has no intention of providing a properly working system that is balanced, fulfilling their legal obligations under their own specified quote, and now apparently any further service that has become beyond any reasonable burden to us, your client – which we have extensively and accurately documented. I demand that Modern Heating Remove its defective and faulty equipment – with the coordination of another HVAC company Return the full payment of $18,800.00; in, with additional sums to be determined to reinstall a proper comparable trunk branch style plenum with manual dampers of our old system. Sincerely, ________________________________________ I apologize about your frustration here, but I think having the Carrier Rep out will ease a lot of your worries and ours. Scott Mickelson - Owner 5/8/23 - 9 weeks after install. To set the tone for this last service call; At this point me and my mother both prefer if everything is uninstalled, Modern heating and cooling [MHC} pays to reinstall our effective and efficient plenum with balanced zone dampers. We have spent an exceptional amount of time trying to get our contractor; Modern Heating; to do what was agreed to in our signed agreement. I, Ron, feel - especially with all the research i have had to do and confirmation of outside auditors - that Modern has fallen short on any standard - especially in their rationalizations and falling far outside of 15 working days to fix ongoing reported problems (3 months and waiting till heating season is over). If this was an internet review - readers who have a standard of logic and basic math - would be greatly influenced not to hire this contractor and the carrier brand. Quoting a 98% furnace unit, not providing the model number when customer specifically requests model numbers before install 2/28/23 and confirms it again with Scoot on 2/23/23 for the 12/6/22 quote of a 98% efficient furnace. This alone - singularity has put MHC in breach of contract. When we (customer) brought to Scott Mickelson's (owner's) attention that a 97% furnace was in fact installed on 5/23/23; "Please see attached, only the 60MBTU Infinity hits the 98% AFUE rating, sorry that is a typo[S] on my bid that I should have changed with the furnace size. Please see attached. The furnace only needs to be rated at 97% AFUE to qualify for the FOE and Federal tax credit." But to mention the federal tax credit that MHC failed to submit correctly 2x, and we had to do it ourselves with only 10 days when received a letter from energy company on 5/8/23. For background work construction and have taught science and gave the (2)installers 200$ tip in advance to do a good job, helped significantly during install (help move/balance outside unit, help run coolant lines, help support/attach ductwork, remove material) - and have had an ongoing nightmare. We have giving MHC every benefit of doubt in their profession and every time we did this it was a mistake. Contractor has been out multiple times to fix their stated errors before we paid in good faith 3/28/23 when requested; and zero service calls for the exact ongoing but better documented problems after. Unit was installed 2/28-29. Nothing in the house has changed besides the install of new system. "Had/has" incorrect exterior sensor, bad thermostat, uninsulated/ripped lines openings to exterior, did (still) not pass electrical inspection. Focusing on 6 items (1,2ab,3ab,4) below which I believe you are able to make assertions of your expertise if attached evidence; ie bills, pictures, pdfs, email statements, basic math/logic; is not contested. This review is also of Carrier. We had an older, rated less efficient Carrier infinity furnace which operated correctly and vastly more/20% efficiently. Carrier customer service is nauseating at best; Customer care call at 1800-277-7437 4/24/23 9:21am Case # 04946796 "Customer Care Relations does not have contact with distributer[carrier representative]." "You either trust your service technician or you dont." "What does [customer service] do?" - "I can quote your warranty/take a look at technicians local to you." "Take your installer to small claims court." "Would void Warranty if misinstalled." "Contact a different company for a 2nd opinion." "Hire a different[a second] company." "Paying 2x and going to small claims?" "Really nothing else i can do." "Anyone with a license in HVAC can install our product." "[Modern heating and Cooling] is a carrier operated company - they should be familiar." We are seeking a written report of some kind confirming and recording; i) the cause of the problem/ or a record of the things an auditor and us have no written records of 1-9, and 6 items (1,2ab,3ab,4) below ii) how it is corrected iii) how it is or will be verified iv) confirmation that our warranty for both labor and products (if warranty still exists since installed wrong - see #4 - request a longer warranty to compensate) will start when problems listed are/can be verified corrected by 3rd party As I mentioned, If I was to send a tech over to go through the system, these are the things I would ask them to look for and otherwise test, Some are other things that would be done before the install but often are not. In my previous company I required our sales folks to perform heat gain/loss calculations, often times measuring supply and return ducting to verify proper air flow to each of the rooms etc. These may not be in exact order. 1. Inlet gas pressure test 2. Manifold gas pressure test 3. Verify furnace BTU matches the house loss calcs. 4. combustion analysis 5. static pressure test 6. verify temperature rise 7. adjust fan speed accordingly 8. balance airflow to the rooms based on the measured requirements( heat gain/loss calcs.) 9. Verify low temp and high temp operating set points for the heat pump Testing and verification of these may lead to other things to check out, they may also solve/satisfy any concerns you may have with the operation. I would suggest you test the cooling side of the system when you can, that may be perfect, it may also need some tweaking. In Addition; 1.) System is not operating efficiently. Efficiency.zip       (no evidence that new heat pump/gas system is operating as efficiently as our old gas furnace - note graph change at end of February)       I used $0.17 per kwh and $0.80 per therm 2. April '22   Heating degree days 753 (76therms x .25) 19kwh        x $0.17 = $3.23 (4 therms per 1kwh to run furnace fan) (96therms -20 conservative Threms water heater)  76therms   x $0.80 = $60.8 (water heater usage 20-50 therms a month) [*** Link removed ***]                                           +                                        = $64.03                                April '23   Heating degree days 546                   294kwh      x $0.17 = $49.98                   24therms    x $0.80 = $19.20                                           +                                         = $69.18 64.03 - 69.18 = -5.15 5.51 / 64.03 = -0.08 -0.08 x 100 = 8% decrease in energy cost for April '22 vs '23 ------ Heating degree days change April '22 vs '23 753 - 546 = 207 207/753 = .275 .275 x 100 = 27.5% decrease in heating days for April '22 vs '23 ------ 27.5% - 8% = conservative 19.5% increase of cost per heating degree days for April '22 vs '23 Modern Heating's response after payment; "What calculations are you using to determine the new system is less efficient than the new system?"5/8/23 "I can assure you that this system in NOT less efficient than the old system. You also may want to consider getting an energy audit done on the envelope of the structure to test the insulation and air leakage as a whole." 3/31/23 -Scott Mickelson - owner --- I looked up the weekly average temp for the week of March 26th 2019 the average temp was 43 degrees you used about 6 therms 2020 the average temp was 41 degrees you used about 5.5 therms 2021 the average temp was 42 degrees you used about 4 therms 2022 the average temp was 39 degrees you used about 5 therms 2023 the average temp was 33 degrees you used 3 therms Chad Peterson 3/31/23 [inferring that our system is working correctly/more efficiently but not even mentioning electric cost from heat pump - not that the average therm per week deduction from a monthly bill is accurate either] --- 2.) System is not operating correctly a) Attached are pictures (operations 1) of the thermostat readings for 3 days after new thermostat/controller install. Using [*** Link removed ***] to find madison's daily average temperature; 3/29 average was 31 degrees with a total cost of $3.35 3/30 average was 32 degrees with a total cost of $7.76 (cost should stayed the same or gone down slightly, not double)       Unit control was not touched/changed- set at 64. Obviously windows we not opened to complain that this is not right. Modern Heating's response after payment, "I do not understand the cost differential unless the control is being turned up or you had a window open" "The heat pump runs 100% on electricity, so Kwh should increase. As far as the high rate on 3/30, keep in mind it got down into the teens early Thursday morning meaning longer run times. " - Scott Mickelson - owner 3/31/23       b.) System switches to gas when should stay with heat pump (maintaining 63 while 46 outside). Attached Pictures 1,2, 3 3.) Contractor was wrong to replace without notice/authorization; our trunk/branch phelum that had dampers/zone control - with a junction box style plenum without dampers/zone control - only "PLENUM TRANSITION" vs Plenum replacement/install/uninstall dampers (hvac quote attached)             Modern Heating's reason after payment to remove our plenum and zone control, "The modulating Infinity system is unique in how it works in regards to air flow and trying to restrict some of the main supply trunk lines with just a single zone system would be problematic to the system." - Scott Mickelson - owner - 3/23/23 "I can give you pricing to give you an Infinity zone system.... I just dont want to ADD (after taking our out that were properly balanced) manual dampers right off that main plenum." - Scott Mickelson - owner - 3/24/23  a.) Junction box style plenum not as efficient as trunk/branch style (Attached; old, new plenum) "Junction boxes are popular and, properly designed, can result in an HVAC system that performs well. However, junction boxes that are poorly designed can have high pressure losses relative to other duct fittings. That is, each junction box creates a higher resistance (e.g., duct friction) that may impede the ability of the air handler unit (AHU) to move the air through the ducts, which in turn may result in occupant comfort complaints. With any duct runout, balancing dampers are needed to adjust the pressure of airflow through the outlets because self-balancing systems are not realistic. "p.2 "1.4Risk Factors If HVAC systems are not sized correctly with appropriate ELs as defined by ACCA Manual D (Rutkowski 2009), additional equipment may be needed to achieve the design goals. This could range from the need for larger equipment and larger duct sizes to a greater number of runs to accommodate increased system airflows, increasing energy use and possibly resulting in occupant comfort complaints. Another concern is the increased noise that results from the higher fan power needed to operate an improperly sized system. Junction boxes are not necessarily the most energy-efficient option for an HVAC system. It is important to weigh their benefits as a low first-cost and easily installed option versus the benefits of using a trunk and branch system that will provide more certainty to EL values. ACCA Manual D procedures (Rutkowski 2009) process information provided by other calculation tools and information provided by manufacturers’ performance data. This measure guideline assumes that designers have an understanding of load calculations for system and room airflow requirements and duct run attributes such as airflow rate, velocity, and friction rate.If proper balancing is not accomplished, an HVAC system may not function effectively. Installation and adjustment of balancing dampers are required to effectively deliver air through the duct system. "p.4 2.2Choice of System Type and Configurations A decision must be made about whether to use a trunk and branch duct system or flexible duct junction boxes. Although a trunk and branch system initially may cost more than a system with junction boxes, it can provide greater certainty of EL values and greater efficiency. p.5 ...On the other hand, junction boxes are flexible and can be quickly fabricated on site, but they add significantly more pressure to systems compared to trunk and branch systems. To account for the increased pressure drop resulting from the use of junction boxes, a designer may need to specify larger duct sizes [kept same ductwork-obviously not going to rerun house ductwork]than those in a trunk and branch system. Also, junction boxes must be optimally configured to minimize pressure losses and the difficult task of balancing of dampers. Thus, the achievement of consistently even airflows and better air distribution for occupant comfort should be weighed against ease of installation and cost factors. p.6 {does not meet any of the standards outlined for rectangular junction boxes below} 4.2.1 Size of the Rectangular Junction Box - p.9 4.2.2 Position of the Outlets with a Rectangular Junction Box p.9-10 [*** Link removed ***]             b.) Zone control is needed when 3 zones are very different sizes but have near equal size supplies 2. a.) with only accessible dampers on largest zone, 1st floor - location of thermostat - with vaulted roof approx. 1,160sqft with 10ft ceiling- with vents for basement with also 1,160sqft (2,320sqft), vs b.) den/lower level of 592sqft; 8ft ceiling, vs c.) 2nd floor of 1248sqft; 8ft ceiling This duct sizing without damper/zone control is in direct contradiction; "The previous installer - I don't know when the house was built - but they should of designed it - when I come onsite I make sure all the ducts coming off the main plenum are big enough to handle my air flow and statice pressure of my new furnace. So the reason they size ducts differently for each direction is for the numbers of supplies (equalize 'duct area divided by footage - obviously using above graph - ducts are not sized correctly without damper/zone control') that come of each individual trunk line. So we have new houses that one duct might be 12x10, the other might be 20x10... I don't know if all your heat runs or supplies - the 6" rounds that go into each register - they should have a damper but the house might of been before that was state code... I don't know when the code... what branch supplies go to your registers there's a volume damper in that - and that's how we balance systems." Scott Mickelson - owner - 3/23/23 House was built in 1960; 6" volume dampers for 2/3 zones/the smaller zones do not exist or are not accessible - so MHC has not balanced our system. This should have be recognized by MHC's prior to install "duct assessment," as they are stating no way to balance house after removing our zone control plenum dampers that the house and house hvac system was designed for and every hvac professional for 63 years prior to MHC has kept the zone control. MHC gave absolutely no notice to remove our balanced zone control in any way; because we would of said "absolutely no," and would have chosen a different contractor - that was competent to know that was the only way to balance the house as they have afterwards admitted. HOW is MHC going to balance the house that it made it impossible to do? 4.) Plenum should not be getting 'too hot to touch' when unit is gas heating - unit temp is fine with heat pump heating       Vocs from abs uv light housing only when gas heat engaged (plenum is about room temperature when in heat pump mode) - have had to uninstall and night after install had a "chemical cloud' even after uv light uninstalled when told "smell would get better." After 3 months can still smell vocs with gas heat even with uv light not installed. The commercial grade 'odorstop' uv light ([*** Link removed ***] is made of high quality abs plastic; which has safe working temp bellow 176 degrees. [*** Link removed ***]       Attached picture of 'temp read out' of at least 147 degrees (with indoor/return air at/around 63). A difference or delta T of at least 83 degrees; exceeding maximum recommended of (60). [*** Link removed ***] According to the attached "furnace data sheet;" on min fan speed (the speed the fan has ran to maintain a temperature) , states 'air temperature rise(delta T)' should be between 35-65 degrees; equaling a plenum temperature of 98-128 (or 123). Recorded delta-T is at least 18 degrees hotter than the maximum specification of unit - since install. Have repeatably reported to Modern since the night of install - and has voided the furnaces warranty and has decreased its lifespan. Regardless of the delta t; the plenum should not be getting too hot to touch. Modern's response after payment; 'At low heat we recorded temperature rise at 55 (28 degree difference from customer reading after "comfort setting adjustment" which increased airflow/lowed delta temp)' - Scott Mickelson, Owner 3/24/23 "What we will be addressing, Temp rise on the furnace. (you said it seems too hot still)" - Chad Peterson 5/1/23

Sharing this review on my mother's behalf. This past July Modern Heating and Cooling went to my mother's home to perform installation of new air conditioning system and furnace. First issue occurred when my mother went to use the dishwasher and noticed water was not running to the machine. Minor issue, but the technician failed to turn the water back on. Fast forward to September when my mother noticed the thermostat was not working. Apparently, they never even went inside to check that the thermostat was working properly after installation. They CHARGED her a service call for this at $72.80. This should have been included in the initial service!! Moving on...my mother noticed leaking coming from the exhaust pipes in the basement. Another technician came out and discovered the EXHUAST PIPES WERE NOT SEALED! They literally fell apart in his arms as he was inspecting. Lastly, on January 3rd of this year she noticed blinking lights on the furnace. Yet another technician came to her home. The technician discovered that two wires were not hooked up right from the furnace to the aprilaire. The solenoid valve now needed to be replaced!...thankfully she wasn't charged a service call this time! My mother is on a fixed income and lost her husband a year prior. She trusted the recommendations of others who have used Modern Heating and Cooling in the past. And being a local company, she thought she could trust them. Their complete negligence and incompetency caused undue stress. Avoid them at all costs.

About 2 weeks ago (2/17) we woke to a burning plastic smell coming from our furnace. Modern came up in a HVAC near me search so we called them. They did show up quickly to service our furnace. I’ll give them that. The tech that came did a less than thorough service on the unit. The tech found some wrappers one of our children put in the return vent that must have been sucked in when we change the filter recently. The tech pretty much stopped his service at that point. He recommended at that point we replace our burners due to servere rusting. He closed everything back up and was on his way. A few days later, happening to be a Saturday (2/20), we woke to find our house not heating. Of course we called Modern back. We had to pay a $280 fee to the tech at the time of arrival plus time and materials to be billed later. Wowza! We paid it because we couldn’t be with out heat. A different tech came, also pretty quickly. He did a more thorough service on the unit as well but said nothing was wrong. He was happy to answer all questions we had. It was noticed that the filter was in backwards- we had not touched the furnace since the first tech so it’s safe to assume he put it in backwards. Because of this we had to replace the brand new filter we had just put in a week or so prior to the first tech. He also noted that our burners were fine and did not need replacement. He even took the time to show us how NOT rusted they were. By this point we were not happy to have had to pay a weekend fee to find out the filter was backwards and that nothing was wrong despite the heating issues and the continued burning plastic smell and to be told a repair was not actually needed. Throughout the next week we made multiple attempts to resolve this with Modern as we shouldn’t have had to pay a fee for something that they did. It felt like we were just getting tossed around and not taken seriously. Not to mention the less than thorough service. Little did we know at this point how much they actually missed. Finally on Friday (2/26), we received a call from the owner expressing his concern over our issues. He seemed to care about where we were coming from. It was agreed to settle the bill for for just the check they were holding for $280. This was supposedly less than his labor cost. Both techs were here for less than hour. I wish we had the second opinion out before we agreed to this. Fast forward today, we woke again to the extremely strong burning plastic smell. Let’s be honest, it never went away but had not been as strong, we assumed because the furnace was not running as much due to warmer weather. This time we decided to call another company to come give us a third opinion. Their tech showed up pretty quickly. We talked about the happenings of the last couple weeks and immediately he got to work, digging apart our unit and completing a much more thorough service to determine the cause of our plastic smell. I have no idea how Modern missed this other than they just didn’t look. This tech found that our evaporator drain pan was melting because the heat exchanger was too hot. This was the source of smell. Not only did he find the source but also the cause. He found that the heat exchanger was overheating because there was too much gas pressure and not enough airflow being caused by a failing capacitor on our blower motor causing it to not always start or not run how it should and a too high filter MIRV rating. This was causing the furnace fail safe to go off constantly and while the blower was still running we actually had no heat most of the time.

It was excellent, they gave me advice and they were very professional.

We could not have asked for better service. Our whole house air conditioner was over 25 years old and, despite keeping it limping along for the past few years, we suspected it was time for a replacement. We called Modern Heating & Cooling and got a visit the next day from their President and Owner, Dave Olson, who, thanks to his 30+ years in the field, proved to be extremely knowledgeable about air conditioning, including our multi-zone duct system, and Carrier systems in particular. He agreed, immediately, that, while we might be able to keep our existing Carrier unit going for another year or two, it really was time for a replacement. We wanted to match our existing Carrier furnace for maximum efficiency, and Dave suggested a simple mid-range Carrier unit at a very reasonable price for the unit and the installation labor, He also, at our request, offered to provide a couple of more efficient units at slightly higher prices, which we were happy to consider, but Dave ultimately dissuaded us from getting any of the "deluxe" units, convincing us that our needs really did not warrant the additional expense (how often will a contractor talk you out of requesting a more expensive job that will result in more profit for him?). Instead, with the savings we would be making on the A/C unit over what we had estimated it would cost us, Dave suggested that we would benefit from an air purifier, since my wife is extremely allergic to matters in the air that a good purifier can minimize, if not eliminate. We (particularly my wife) are thankful for that suggestion. After determining our needs, Dave was able to order the new units and to arrange for his two-man crew (Modern apparently has several knowledgeable crews providing these services) to install our new equipment within 10 days from our agreement. The installation went efficiently and flawlessly. The installation crew was friendly and took care to leave our house spotless after they had completed their work. Now that we have had our new unit in place for several weeks, and having used it to survive a few periods of extreme heat (and my wife's allergies are under control thanks to the new air purifier and no longer having to keep the windows open on hot days), I wanted to sing the praises of Modern Heating & Cooling. You simply could not ask for better service. I would be remiss if I did not mention that we also talked to Harker Heating, who had installed our Carrier Furnace and our multi-zone ducting system, and their Director of Residential Sales, Jason Phillip, and Jason also provided us with excellent and responsive advice concerning the new A/C unit (recommending the same less expensive one recommended by Dave Olson). We would have used Harker on this project without question, given their excellent service of our system over the years, but they simply could not come even close to the price offered by Modern. You will not go wrong using either Harker or Modern for your heating and cooling needs.

They were very good.

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Service technician identified and fixed the problem quickly. He was respectful and made suggestions about what to look for in the future should we have problems again.

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Fantastic. There was 40 minutes in between calling their emergency line and Roger arriving at our door. We showed him the air conditioning unit and he got to work instantly. We have a relatively old machine (15 years) and were worried it needed replacing, but a few tweaks and new capacitor, and Roger had it up and running again. He was very friendly, professional, and knew exactly what he was doing. The service charge for a Sunday call out wasn't outrageous, which we were pleasantly surprised with. We would highly recommend Modern Heating and Cooling based on this experience.

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They were prompt and efficient in installing the new furnace. We are satisfied with their service and product.

They were very good. They were extremely puncutal and came out the day after I called. They were very responsive to my needs.

We're always pleased with their service and have used them forever!

I have only a heating system and a window air conditioning system. I contacted Modern Heating and Cooling Inc. to install an air conditioner in the most effective and reasonable way. They were very professional and responsive. They came personally for the discussion, did the job and followed up very well. I liked their services and will use the same in future.