
Burkhardt Heating & Air Conditioning
About us
Full service heating and cooling contractor serving entire metro Milwaukee area since 1961. Milwaukee's only HVAC contractor who has earned Angie's List "Super Service" award every year and two time Bryant "Medal of Excellence" award winner. Always open by appointment.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Air Conditioners, Air Conditioners & Heaters., Air Duct Cleaning & Gas Piping, Boiler, Boilers, Gas & Oil Furnaces, Install And Repair Gas & Oil Furnace
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
---|---|---|
89% | ||
6% | ||
1% | ||
1% | ||
2% |
"Thank yo for taking the time to rate our company with other Angie's List members. Glad everything went fine and there were no surprises."
"Thank you for trusting Burkhardt Heating for first a service call, then to install a new furnace for your family and sharing that with other Angie's List members. Glad you are enjoying your new furnace."
"Thank you for sharing your experience with Burkhardt Heating and taking the time to review our company. Glad we could be helpful for you and pointed out where you could save a few dollars."
"Thank you for choosing and trusting Burkhardt Heating for the repair of your furnace. Glad we could make the repair sooner than scheduled."
"Sorry, you have the wrong company. We were not at your home anytime this fall for either a tune-up or a repair."
"Thank you for choosing Burkhardt Heating with our Angie's List special of "Deal ID #128373 ( $69.95 Heating or Cooling Diagnostic Service Call!) ". After the diagnosis, it was recommended your gas boiler to be checked. Total came to $100.00 which is 15% less than our price of $115.00. Sorry you felt that wasn't much of a deal, yet we are glad you were happy with our service and took the time to write a review."
"This homeowner scheduled a check up on his boiler. When our technician Terry arrived, who has 40 years of experience on working on boilers, the homeowner told him that he himself had cleaned the boiler, but it still wasn't working. Terry inspected the boiler and immediately found the boiler unsafe to operate because the heat exchanger was plugged up. Obviously it wasn't cleaned properly by the homeowner. Then Terry cleaned out the heat exchanger so the boiler could be started. Then he found the ignitor would not ignite and quoted a price for the repair. The homeowner said he already knew the ignitor was bad and had a price quoted from the internet. He said he would order one from the internet and do the repair himself. Terry then submitted the homeowner a bill for cleaning the heat exchanger. The homeowner said he would only pay for 1/2 of the bill because his boiler was not operating and promised to pay the balance when the boiler was back operating. This homeowner has confessed to all of us his boiler is working now. He still hasn't paid his final balance. That is why he is still getting a bill and will continue to receive bills until he pays the final balance. If not, his account will be forwarded to a collection agency. This is the reason companies don't bill out customers anymore because when you trust customer to do what they say, some don't do it, and it wrecks it for the vast majority of honest customers. Also this is an example where a homeowner tries to service and repair his own gas appliances when he isn't qualified. The American Gas Association recommends only those who are trained and qualified should work on gas appliances. Thankfully, nothing catastrophic happened in this case."
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review on your experience on the installation of your new Burnham steam boiler. I am glad we we exceeded your expectations and hope you enjoy the many years of comfort on your new system."
"Thank you for sharing your experience and trusting us on our service to your air conditioners at your rental property. Glad things went well and no surprises were found."
"I am glad you are extremely happy with your new heating and cooling unit. Thank you for taking the time to write a review on your experience with our company. You will enjoy many years of comfort and energy savings on your new system."
I called Burkhardt on a Friday and they were able to send a technician, Kurt, the same day I called. Fortunately, the furnace refused to kick in while the tech was here. The technician diagnosed a problem with the ignition part, which of course isn't made anymore. He wired in a new Honeywell S8610 Continuous Retry Pilot Module. The price of that part online is around $175. Burkhardt charged me a flat rate of $381 to install the part plus a $69.95 diagnostic charge, for a total charge of $450.95. The tech was at my house less than an hour. To my knowledge, he did not check that the damper and damper actuator were working properly, nor did he check the exhaust duct from the furnace to the chimney.
That very same evening, my furnace would not kick in. The Honeywell S8610's diagnostic LED said the problem was a damper error. I called Burkhardt's after-hours emergency number and talked to a different technician, Rick. He was very informative on how the older furnaces worked and suggested courses of action that I could take. He also thought the cost to replace the damper actuator was in the $300-400 range. He took my details and said the earliest another tech could come out was Monday afternoon, but the office would call me Monday morning to schedule an appointment.
On Saturday I discovered that the damper couldn't turn, which was preventing the ignition switch from allowing the furnace to kick in. It turned out that the exhaust duct was full of rust debris and that was why the damper was not able to open easily sometimes. I replaced the rust-filled ductwork from the furnace to the chimney, thus allowing the furnace to reliably kick in again.
Burkhardt's did call me back first thing Monday morning. I asked how much it would cost to have the old Johnson Controls damper actuator (M15AC-1) replaced.. The office lady said she'd check and get back to me with a quote. She got back to me the next day - $550!! The M15AC-1 is no longer made, but the Johnson Controls M35BE-1 part that replaces it is $176 online. I read the installation sheet and the part takes about 5 minutes to install. Installing the new damper actuator is not nearly as complicated as installing a new optical drive in a computer. I realize Burkhardt has a business to run, but their markup, cleverly hidden inside a "flat-rate installation" charge, is ridiculously high.
The Burkhardt people I spoke to were professional and courteous, but the ridiculously high flat-rate charge has soured me on ever using their services again.
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review on your experience with us. Compare a 'price' of a part found somewhere on the internet with the 'cost' of actually doing the repair will result in homeowners always thinking they paid too much for a repair."
They carefully put down tarps and coverups for areas where there would be heavy dirty traffic.
They talked over the installation, modified the original plan to deal with things they found during their survey and work. Each modification was discussed and agreed.
They cleaned up, with the exception of vacuuming the basement carpet. I needed to clean up the area after moving furniture, so it was not a problem with me.
"Glad we met and exceeded your expectations on the work done with the installation of your new furnace. Thank you for sharing."
"The customer set up an appointment with us requesting that we install a thermostat she bought. Upon inspection after the thermostat was installed, found a failed heat exchanger was the reason why her heat wasn't working, not the thermostat. Our technician informed the customer that someone from the office will call to set up an appointment for me (Doug) to come out and to discuss her options. The technician called Scott at the office to relay the information. Scott mistakenly thought Terry said the repairs were $600.00. So Scott thought there must be some other repairs in addition to the heat exchanger that was needed. The $600 amount is also the trade in value towards a new furnace which makes the base furnace around $2000.00 installed. Scott called the homeowner, relayed the information he thought he heard and attempted to set up a time for me to come out. She said she would call back, and when she did about an hour later, she exclaimed "thanks for trying to f****** rip me off." That is why Scott was speechless. She then hung up. Scott talked to me further about this and had no idea why she would curse for no apparent reason until we read this response. I do apologize for the misunderstanding and miscommunication from our staff to you. If I would have come to your home, all the options would have been explained with you, with one of them being 'no-charge' for a new heat exchanger. And no, this homeowner is not 'out' $110.00 because we did install their new thermostat. No matter what happens with anything in life, it doesn't justify cursing anyone out."
This was going the extra mile for October in Wisconsin. Only one other contractor on Angie's A-list even called me back, and I have only had Burkhardt in here once before. They came through with prompt service.
Terry (the technician) has been at this for years, replaced the valve and got me up and running. What I appreciated was his honest advice about this 18 year-old furnace. Terry (like his colleague Rick, last year) gave me a run-down on the the failure modes that I will be seeing as I run down the clock on this unit. Everything they predicted is happening - fixing it has been justified but it this furnace is ready for the scrap heap.
To me, this was a great and honest level of service. With this level of service, I sure cannot question their markup on the valve and labor to install it. It would have gotten awful cold if I had sourced this part myself (shipping time).
I am a mechanical engineer with gas train experience, and this was a square deal that only cost me 3 hours away from work.
Thanks Terry, Scott and all at Burkhardt. I will call you soon to set me up with my next furnace.
Doug M
Germantown, WI
"Thank you for sharing your experience with using Burkhardt Heating and explaining the 'value' of a furnace repair compared to the 'cost' of a part. Glad we met and exceeded your expectations and glad we could get your furnace repaired in a timely fashion."
They seem to be very reputable, and I will definitely be using them in the future.
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review on your experience with us. All of our men take the time to explain different suggestions to make your home more efficient and more comfortable."
I just want to add three things here that I *did* have issues with:
1. I was told the thermostat that I'd be replacing my Nest (Learning Thermostat) with makes the Nest look like a Honewell manual thermostat. This is untrue and I don't think it should be used as part of the "pitch." After having had the system in the house for a couple of months and having played with it, I can tell you that while it is a nice thermostat, it is no Nest. It just has the ability to handle the humidity control which the Nest did not. Having used both now, I still believe the Nest to be a superior thermostat.
Also, the online app for my Android phone did not work until just the past few days. The Nest, as they say, "just works."
2. My wife gave a B on professionalism. I am fairly certain they would have gotten an A, but there is no place for people to be dropping F-bombs on a job site with customers around. Especially when those customers have kids.
3. After the installation of the A/C, we were THEN told that we needed a return on the second floor and that this was something they couldn't have foreseen until the work was done. I get it. We're no stranger to old homes and know that the exception tends to be when a job goes as planned, so to have added "gotcha" expenses once we were knee-deep, was not a surprise. My only issue was that I had to call two weeks later to get them to follow up (it may have been three weeks - not sure). They then got someone out here to get the return in.
Two people that should be noted for being not only competent but clearly people who take pride in what they do are Andrea and Curt. They both seem very conscientious and customer service driven.
"Thank you for sharing your experience on the installation of your new heating and cooling systems. I respect your opinion of the Nest thermostat, yet the Bryant Evolution Connex Control outperforms the Nest with the system you chose, and will make your home more comfortable and energy efficient with more features for many years to come. We do apologize for words being used by our employees that don't belong in a customers home. Employee was reprimanded for this behavior. Regarding the missing ductwork that was found to be insufficient to the 2nd floor, what changed is your remodelor blocked off all the returns to the 2nd floor for your remodeling project after I first met with you and before our men did the installation. I am glad we were still able to work about that obstacle. I know you will enjoy the new system for years to come."
"Glad we met and exceeded your expectations on the duct cleaning we did at your home. Thank you for the review."
"Thank you for choosing Burkhardt Heating and for submitting a review. Glad we could take care of your water leaking and have it included with the checkup."
"Thank you for sharing your experience with Burkhardt Heating. Glad we could guide you to have the repairs done under your factory warranty and that we saved you over a $1000.00!!!!!"
"I am glad we could take care of your air conditioner needs promptly and efficiently. Thank you for taking the time to submit a review on Burkhardt Heating"
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review and sharing your experience with Burkhardt Heating. Glad we exceeded your expectations"
"Thank you for sharing your experiences with Burkhardt Heating on the installation of your two new furnaces. It is always better to take advantage of doing this type of work on your terms rather than having to do this work in an emergency situation."
"Thank you for sharing with other Angie's List members your experience with Burkhardt Heating. Glad we could resolve your unusual issue of your air conditioner being overcharged quickly and happy we met your expectations."
"Glad we could take care of your problem at a reasonable price and thank you for taking the time to review our company."
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review on your experience with Burkhardt Heating. We do try to be prompt and treat all of our customers with professionalism whether they are Angie's List members or not."
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