Chicago Geothermal Heating Installation

I hired them as a subcontractor for a geothermal install in Wheaton and his drilling rig was not able to get the pipe more than 30’ deep. When he was done with the job the loop temperatures were immediately to cold for the system to operate. They came out to dig up the field and try to fix it but were unable to do so. We had to hire another driller to come out to do the work properly and they will not refund the money.

Rick and his crew did a great job. Our job involved removing an old boiler heating system and the pipe that went with it in our 2 flat building. They dug up our backyard to dig 5 holes for geothermal pipes as well as install duct work for the new system all over our home. We were picky about where the duct work was going to go, and they were very helpful. I also asked them to install a laundry chute, and they did that for me- I think they might have even thrown it in to the original price. The system works beautifully. We had one hiccup where it did not work and it was fixed right away. (This was after we had paid our bill in full, which I find impressive!) Our AC bill is now $6.00 per month, and we run it all the time in the day at 72, and at night 69. Our house is 4200 square feet. I was amazed! I'm excited for winter to see how low my heat bill will be, I have heard it will be 30% of our old cost and I believe it! Since then we have been doing a lot of cosmetic remodeling and every contractor that comes into our home sees the system and wants the name and number of Hollaway-Meyers because they are so impressed by the work. All of their employees are professional and smart. I was actually sad to see them done with the job because I enjoyed having them around so much. If you are considering geothermal- go with Rick. If you are on the fence about geothermal, remember the cost savings on energy bills, as well as the tax rebate the government gives you. When you factor those 2 things, geothermal is not more expensive than a furnace and AC system. It is also quiet- no loud AC machine running in the backyard. After you can re-cooped your investment, you will be saving a lot of money, and will avoid inflation on energy costs in the future. And, if you want to be selfless about it- it's good for the environment.

They were very competent and on time. They did good with the estimate, we thought it was kind of high and he seemed a little indignant that we did not go with him. They were very nice and professional.

Scott came to our home and evaluted our space to determine what ton system to use in our home. It was decided a 3-ton system would work best for our home based on age of house, number of windows, doors, insulation, etc. He determined where the best place to drill the wells would be based on the current placement of the furnace. The wells were dug in the front of our house between the entry walkway and driveway. What should have been a 3-4 week job turned into approx. 8 weeks due to weather, holidays, vacation, etc.

The rep spent a good amount of time taking picures of the house and taking overall measurements to help him size the units properly. He examined the existing equipment and ductwork and took the time to answer all of our questions. The rep told us he had only been working for the company a few months and was honest when he could not answer a question. He did answer most of our questions, though. He offered a couple of configurations. In the end, the price was reasonable. He admitted to not having the equipment brochures. It would have been nice to have them. I cannot say whether or not we would have hired Wuich for the job. During our research process, geothermal systems came up more that a couple times, and we decided to pursue that avenue instead.

It was a pleasure to do business with Environmental Comfort Team. They really know their stuff. They spent considerable time initially explaining what we were getting into with a geothermal system. The estimate and contract were very detailed and included guarantees of performance. They are one of the few companies we got estimates from that even mention the manual J heat load calculation. The biggest hangups came with the city and the drillers. The city had some trouble understanding what we were doing, so the permits were delayed. The drillers were also delayed on the job prior to ours. Since they drilled 5 holes at 150 ft deep each, unforseen circumstances come with the territory, but it did get frustrating. One thing feeds into the next. A note on the and quot;Band quot; grade for price: They were not the highest bid, nor the lowest bid. One normally cannot ask their neighbor and quot;Who did your geothermal and how much did it cost?and quot; So, I give them a B for being in the middle. However, I would give them an and quot;Aand quot; for value. You are paying for someone who really knows what they are doing and why they are doing it. So far we have only tested the system out for cooling. It works wonderfully. We look forward to the fall and winter. However, Environmental Comfort Team performed superbly.

This was a big project. It involved them ripping up my backyard and installing pipes below ground around my property. I believe some of the pipes went down over 100 feet. There were a few problems, but when they did crop up, they came out and made adjusments immediately. They were cordial, professional and very good. Rick Holloway said he would come back in spring and put my yard back together, and he did. The project did require me to get some additional landscaping work done, but that was explained up front and not a surprise. They installed the geothermal system at the end of December in frigid below zero temperatures so I could get my tax credit for 2010. In doing so, the weather cause a few issues, but once we realized it, they were rectified immediately with one phone call. Rick Holloway is everything you want in a vendor, his name is on the business and he comes out and estimates and does some of the work with a lot of pride. Definitely a job well done.

I had J&R Herra come in to do a yearly service/check up on HVAC/Air Exchange system that came with the home I had recently purchased. I was told to call them since they were the ones that installed the system, so I did. The gentleman that came in was punctual and went right to work, however his communication skills were horrible. He never really made us feel comfortable and was more concerned with finishing and leaving. When I made the appointment I told them that I was interested in learning how the system worked since I had never owned a geothermal unit before. They said sure but that never happened. A detailed invoice was left stating that I needed to replace a part. I assumed I would receive a phone call to schedule this service but I never did. I called back two weeks later to ask for the service be done. They said they would order the part and call me back. That was about 3 weeks ago and still waiting for that call. I prefer companies that keep their customers up to date and informed. The overall customer service has been the disappointing part for me. I will try some other company moving forward.

Bob King was outstanding. I first engaged him last spring (2009) when I was considering geothermal to replace my aging furnace and a/c. While the government tax credit was attractive, installation costs in the Chicago area put the payback from lower operating costs over higher installation costs closer to 10 years instead of the 4 to 7 I kept seeing touted online. I had engaged several different companies offering a variety of solutions. This digresses some, but it speaks volumes for Bob who helped me with designing an Earthlinked DX system. He was very straightforward that while these systems were good, they were pricy. His recommendation was that a high efficiency gas furnace/ac was the better value. In fall of 2009, I decided to wait it out til spring to see if prices would come down. Since they didn't, I immediately engaged Bob at Great Degrees to put in a conventional system. He prepared a menu of choices of two different manufacturers and varying efficiency levels. I selected toward the higher end for both for the tax credit and because I am on real-time pricing with Com-Ed. The installation was very smooth and occurred over three days. He consulted me on questions regarding where to place the new slab for my AC (same tonage, but bigger footprint than my previous unit) so I could mimimize landscaping changes. The same was done for routing of the exhaust pipes along the ceiling and out the back of the house. My wife unexpectedly had some friends over on the second day and Bob was very accommodating and cleaned up the common areas early even though he was still working in the utility room. He came back on the third day for tuning of the system to make sure it was running at peak efficiency. I would use Bob again in a heartbeat and would highly recommend him. On other note- I was unaware there was a special Nicor rebate for equipment installed during May. Bob brought it to my attention and printed out all the forms I would need to apply. It's just one more example of Bob looking out for his customers.