Bethke Heating & Air Conditioning Inc

Despite the challenges to air condition an older home, the vendor was able to recommend and install two units that do a remarkable job at cooling the house. Workers were prompt and professional, left no mess and did excellent work.

Responded promptly when my furnace broke down in the middle of the night. Had a new one at my door with in 24 hours. I was super impressed with the professionalism of the group and they did a really good job cleaning up after the installation.

On the coldest day of last winter the installation techs had the new furnace running within six hours. They also explained how to use the new system, and the left behind all of the documentation I would need. I was very pleased with the product and the service.

They were able to diagnose the problem and also see some other potential problems. We had a leaking humidifier as well. They cleaned the mucked up part and got the furnace to operate again. It has run fine since through some very cold weather.

They came out to the house right away when we called them and told them our furnace wasn't working properly. The furnace started but then it would go off and the temperature in the house kept going down. They dismantled the furnace since it could potentially be leaking carbon monoxide although our CO detector had not gone off. The technician showed us the black soot in the exhaust pipe which, he explained, is what can happen as a furnace stops burning fuel properly and he showed us how the heat exchanger was corroded. One of the best things they did was leave us with space heaters since it was over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. The heaters worked beautifully! We were warm despite having no furnace for 3 days. Bethke let us know about all the local and federal programs which could help us pay for part of the new furnace and they found the heat exchanger was just under the 20 year Carrier brand warranty and so helped us get a $500 rebate towards our new furnace. They were careful and put dropcloths down to protect our carpeting and the new furnace was installed in about 3 hours. They also suggested new piping from our water heater to the chimney since it would not meet code. We had them do this too.

Jeff and his team are fantastic! They have twice helped us through emergencies with quick turn-around time (once, the week of Thanksgiving, just before a house-full of guests arrived) and have provided temporary fixes in the meantime. We've had various units installed by them and all of the work was done efficiently with great clean-up and follow-through. Bethke helped us make our steam-heated home (no ductwork) comfortable in the summer by introducing us to the single duct system and we are so happy with it. The technicians are knowledgeable, personable and professional. They never leave a mess, even after big jobs.

The first team determined there was a leak in the connecting pipes -- smart and efficient. To see me through an upcoming few days of high temperatures, Bethke sent out a workman to replenish the AC fluid, a temporary "fix." Another team then came out to do what turned out to be a five-hour job of mending the leak -- to accomplish which they had to break through the interior wall in a couple of places. One of them (over a cupboard) they mended with an unobtrusive metal grill. The other hole needed additional plastering and painting, and Bethke sent out a workman who came after hours for several days, as the different applications of plaster had to harden in between times and before the wall could be painted. It looks great; the AC works fine. Cost? Bethke charged me NOTHING because the leak was the result of a "joiner" that had split apart, a fault in the original equipment. However, I WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN if they hadn't told me!!! I paid the workman, who plastered and painted separately, a very reasonable $230 ($30 for the paint itself). Thank you, Bethke!!

The install went smoothly and we didn't have any complaints about working with them or their technicians initially.If I could break down our ratings above, I would give them an "A" for our heating system. Our cooling system has been a continual challenge but it seems now that Bethke has genuinely tried to help us find a solution that doesn't involve tearing out walls and more construction. We've had no issues with our furnace - it works great- but have had continual problems with our air conditioning, which seems unable to keep two of our zones at a reasonable temperature. This is the second summer where we've had this problem. We understand that air conditoning can keep a house only 20 degrees cooler than the outside but our two "bad" zones are often in the mid 80s even though set to 78 degrees when it's high 80s out. We take refuge in our basement zone or in our bedroom zone, where the temp can be maintained in the high seventies. We are not sure why precisely this is going on but speculate that our house just doesn't have enough return vents. It's a bummer that this wasn't identified as a problem before our basement was finished. Jeff, the owner, did replace our AC with a larger unit at his cost to see if that would do the trick. There has been some improvements to the ability to keep cool since that upgrade. We met with Jeff again in August and he offered to pay for our carpenter to increase the size of our living room return vent, add a return vent in our back hall and add a high end wall installed air conditionerat his cost to keep our common area cool. He knew that that unit would be sure to keep the areas cool for us. In the end, we decided not to go that route because we didn't want a unit in our wall for aesthetic reasons, but we appreciated his time and effort to try to correct the problem that we were having. We are going to go ahead and work with him to try to address the problems with some other fixes.

They followed through with everything that said they would do and it as a quality job.

Very good overall. Had a tuneup/yearly inspection and during that time was informed of the mechanical deficiencies plaguing my existing furnace (which given its 20 year age was expected). Service person was professional and pleasant demeanor, and he dispatched a person to consult regarding replacement, who arrived promptly. Once decision was made to replace, install crew arrived shortly after. The process went well, installation crew were great and professional, and they worked quickly and earnestly to install furnace, ensuring it was up and running correctly. Was pleased to find company listed in Dane BuyLocal guide.

We had worked with Bethke a number of years ago to have a new air conditioning unit installed. At that time, they had been top-notch as well. This second job they did was equally top-notch! From start to finish, from initial phone call to last bit of clean up, these folks were friendly, informative, highly-professional in their customer service and technical skill during installation!! They took care of all of my questions, gave good advice about the installation and products, and didn't make my house a mess while they worked (even though my old furnace was really a sight!). I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND Bethke! They are a pleasure to work with and offer wonderful, long-warranty products.

Great. Very happy with the estimate, installation, and followup.

The service was very perfunctory and very expensive. I have no confidence that repair will not fail again in the near future. The business model of this company is evidently to generate more business by doing work that will repeatedly fail, and to charge extortionist prices.

Work was prompt, professional and met all expectations

Great service, smooth installation, worth every penny.

They arrived 10 minutes earlier than the stated arrival time, ready to work! They were polite, friendly and efficient, completing the work in one day. They cleaned the site as they worked and left it in excellent condition. From the time Cary came out to give us an estimate, until the time John, Mike and Mark left after installation, we couldn't have been happier and highly recommend them.

It was a good experience for the most part. I called for an estimate and received a prompt call back to set up an appointment. The estimator did a thourough job looking at the project and noticed some things that other estimators didn't. He left an estimate with me that day and took time to answer questions. His estimate included making some changes to the set-up with the humidifier that none of the companies suggested. He left a product sheet for his recommended product. His estimate was not the lowest I received but seemed competitive based on the features of the furnace and what was included in the installation. Over the next few days I called a couple of times with additional questions and he was willing to answer my questions. I also wanted to update the thermostat with a two stage thermostat but also have it be 7-day programmable. This was not the standard thermostat that they usually included in the project. I found a thermostat elsewhere to order and so they gave me the credit for what they would have installed. I later ordered the new thermostat and installed it myself. The two guys who came to install did a good job and were willing to answer my questions. They were very friendly and helpful. They answered my questions about how the new thermostat I planned on installing and showed me some of the settings on the furnace control board that I had questions about. I did have to ask them to test the AC (which was not replaced) before they left at the end of the day and I am glad I did as there was an adjustment needed to the fan speed on the control panel. After they left, however, I discovered that the electrostatic air cleaner had not been hooked up correctly. It was being re-used from the previous setup. It requires power in order to function and is supposed to be set up to turn on when the furnace fan runs. But I found that it had been wired to be permanently on. I called Bethke back and they set up an appointment for someone to come out and take a look at it. The technician who came out a few days later was very rude. He was unfriendly from the moment he arrived. Then he insisted that the air cleaner must have been hooked up incorrectly before the new furnace was installed. This was very frustrating because even if it had been set up incorrectly before (which I am quite sure it wasn't) I was amazed that he would resent and resist setting it up correctly after a $3500 project. It only took a few minutes to get it installed and functioning correctly. Then he came out of the basement, yelled out that he was done, and left the house before I even had a chance to respond or check in with him. Aside from the negative experience with the return technician I felt that Bethke was very thorough in the sale and installation of our new furnace.

The owner came out and said that a two zone system would not be the best solution to our heating issues and instead recommended that we put in a fireplace, that he did not sell nor would he make a profit on, as our best solution. What an honest guy! Totally recommend this man for all your heating and a/c needs.

What I appreciated most about Bethke was that they listened to what I wanted and went out of their way to accommodate me. The service they provided was outstanding. Prior to the replacement of my boiler, I had Bethke come out to check on my old boiler which was leaking, and to fix two baseboards that weren’t heating properly. I was advised that I should probably replace the boiler since it was built in 1927, but they did what I asked and were able to find and repair a small leak on the exterior of the boiler. They also replaced 2 steam traps in the baseboards. I later discovered that the boiler was still leaking water through the heat exchanger and realized I had no choice but to replace the entire unit. Also, the replacement of the steam traps did not fix the baseboard problem. Jeff agreed that when they replaced the boiler, they would also work to get the baseboards working again at no additional charge. Here’s the great thing about Bethke: the crew sent over to replace the boiler did a fantastic job. They were punctual, friendly, answered all my questions and did a masterwork of plumbing. They left the area cleaner than what it looked like before they started. When I asked to see if we could test out the low water cut-off, they were happy to oblige. Here’s why I would recommend Bethke in particular: As part of the installation, the crew replaced the air vents, something I’m not sure other contractors would have done routinely. When they replaced the vents, the baseboards lit up! The careful and diligent work of the Bethke crew saved me a large sum of money: I had at least 2 other heating contractors from the area come into my home to tell me that the baseboards were not for steam (despite the fact that they had steam traps!) and that they would have to be replaced at a cost of several thousand dollars apiece. I would definitely recommend this company to anyone.

The call-out fee is reasonable for the area (I compared to several other companies) and the technician performed the work promptly although he came near the end of a three-hour window. However, it has been extremely hot here and they are probably usually more punctual. The technician also communicated to me that the repair might last for the summer but probably not after. For $100 worth of repairs that's not terrible. The company is also providing a replacement estimate.

They were really good in finding manufacturing rebates that were offered to reduce price. They also give a discount if they replace more than one unit at a time.

The work was okay but it was extremely expensive.

They did a quality installation. They removed the old unit and said that it will be recycled. They took the time to ensure that all the connections were perfect. They were friendly answered my questions and stayed until the unit was up and running.

A neighbor told me about Angie's list and I found Bethke Heating and A/C right away. I left a message for them in the evening and they called first thing the next morning. They had an opening for me right away and even worked around my schedule. The serviceman was very prompt and informative as he started his examination of our A/C. The outside fan wasn't turning on. Right away he found the problem (a critter that made a nest inside and chewed through the wires) and after another 30 minutes, had the A/C working. We talked about how to prevent it and he suggested a tune-up package which we ended up purchasing for a great price. It included a tune up for the A/C that day, a tune up for the furnace come Dec. and another tune up for the A/C next June. All that PLUS our repairs came to $282. I know those 3 tune ups alone could cost us $300 so this was a wonderful deal. He was pleasant, professional, and out of there in less than an hour!!

They are very good. They response time is great. I like that fact that they are locally owned. They have been around for 100 years literally.