Watervale Heating, Air Conditioning & Geothermal

I called Watervale around 830am and left a mesg and was called back within a half hour. The young lady indicated that Jordan maybe able to stop out sometime later in the day. He called me and was able to come out within the hour in between jobs and fixed our heating issue. Every time I have used Watervale Heating I have been 100% satisfied.

Called Watervale at around 9:00AM on Friday looking for service on two systems in residence that were inoperative. Was told by employee that they could have a technician to home by noon. Learned that I reached Watervale by mistake as mis-dialed number. Representative was very courteous and said I could have time to do research on them and if uncomfortable could cancel order. I was satisfied with what I learned about Watervale and confirmed order for technician after being advised of cost. Their technician, Jordan, arrived promptly and first took on system on first floor. Problem was low refrigerant level. System topped off and restarted and tested out. Then technician went to work on system on second floor that had a non-operating fan. Jordan isolated problem to a bad capacitor on motor. Had a spare on his truck that solved problem after installed. System tested out. Jordan was very courteous/took his shoes off when coming inside. So in about an hour’s time both systems brought back to life and are running fine now. Can recommend Watervale and the technician highly. They don’t come any better. No runaround’s on work and pricing. Reasonable charges and no surprises.

Watervale installed our geothermal HVAC system in June 2020, replacing an oil-fired forced hot air heating system and a traditional central air conditioning system. They did a great job. It was a large project involving drilling two 280-foot wells, trenching to the house, and installing a WaterFurnace “split unit” into the garage and basement. (Ductwork already existed.) The team was honest, friendly, competent, and—of great importance—They consistently wore masks against sars-cov2. Their price was about &30,000 lower than the highest estimate we received. Their office staff helped with applying for federal, state, county, and BGE credits and grants.

I put my money where my mouth is and went geothermal. I would give them an "A" across the board. It has been wonderful. There were several of companies I looked at for the job, and they were by far the most knowledgeable, professional, and environmental (with the solar and geothermal stuff). There are a lot of "fly by night" and people selling in a hurry and not as professional. I did get some tax credits from the state after it was all over. I am getting ready to call them to do a check-up soon to make sure everything is functioning perfectly. It is a great system. It keeps this house (and I have two zones) at rock steady temperature, and it's so quiet. It's not like those air to air heat pumps outside. It has cut my utility bills by 30%, and I am all electric.

They're coming in October to do the furnace. Their pricing is fair. They always return calls. They're local, it's not a nationwide company. We like the service. I will definitely use them again.

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We had an outstanding experience with Watervale.  We got three estimates for the project - Joe came out and spent two hours with us - in addition to discussing the geothermal work and rebates, Joe asked us about any other issues we were having with our 43-year old HVAC system.  Joe's suggestions for fixing our problems with noisy air flow and uneven heating in the house were practical and low cost.  He saved us lots of money, as we decided against doing a complex zoned HVAC system and the higher ton unit that another contractor recommended.  The wells were drilled and pipework trenched to the house with minimal disruption to our lawn - Watervale buried the stone dust that resulted from the well drilling and we were able to smooth the disturbed area and re-seed the lawn ourselves.  After the geothermal system was installed, we had some questions and an issue with noisy air flow when raising the thermostat.  Watervale quickly came out and made some adjustments to the system and answered all our questions.  We now have a lovely, quiet HVAC system that heats the house evenly and efficiently.

As a 57 year old, this is the first time I have been compelled to publicly voice my opinion concerning a service company.  However, given my experience, I feel unsuspecting consumers should be made aware.
Never has the adage "Penny wise, Pound foolish" been as appropriate as when dealing with Watervale Heating and Cooling.  Their quote on our Geo Thermal system was thousands less than their competitors, but unfortunately after six years we have spent countless thousands on getting our system to operate properly.
Inadequate follow up resulted in a collapsed ceiling causing $10k in water damage and poor installation resulted in having one of our units re installed for thousands more.  There were numerous other issues as well adding to the overall cost.  Throughout the years Watervale has not accepted accountability for anything as the costs for our decision to go with the less expensive quote has continued to teach us a valuable lesson.
The folks at Watervale are courteous and friendly, which makes this difficult to write, but their service will cost you both emotionally and financially.

They did a great job. They're very responsive when we call. We quote and it was great. It took them a long time for them to get started. But once they got started, they were very quick and responsive. They really did a good job.

I knew (in May 2014) that the humidifier on my heating./cooling system was not working, and I also wanted to have my cooling system checked  I contacted Watervale Heating and made arrangements for service.
The repairman arrived on time on June 3rd.  He found that the Freon was low, and that I had a leak in the line.  He added dye to the system to help locate the pinhole leak, and said he would return in a few weeks to fix it, after the dye had time to circulate and leak out at the pinhole.  He also checked the humidifier and found that the control was not working.
On July 14th, the leak was repaired and the system was made fully serviceable for the summer.  I was advised that another visit would be scheduled before the heating season to replace the humidifier control.
On Sept 2nd, the humidifier control was replaced..
Note that I started this process in mid May; the beginning of the cooling season, when there is a push to assure that AC Units are working, and when many people discover that they need service.  I believe that Watervale did a magnificent job in scheduling my "Non-critical" repairs.  The office called to schedule each appointment, well before hand.  The service person arrived within the scheduled time frame and he always called at least once on the day of the service to keep me advised of his progress and of the time that I should expect to see him arrive.
Based upon my experience with Watervale Heating & Air Conditioning, I would highly recommend them to anyone in their service area.  I intend to have them maintain my heating & cooling system, including spring & fall checkups.

They are wonderful company! Scott and Debbie were also very helpful and great. They were really good, helpful, and responsive. They were very nice to work with, professional, responsive to any issues that I may had. I am very satisfied with their service and I highly recommend them.

I shopped this project to death and did alot of web research before doing it.  I spoke with five contractors and got four estimates since it was so much money.  I went to the Timonium Home and Garden Show and Daren Harbaugh was there representing Watervale.  He was very knowlegable about Geothermal and its alternatives.  He was very accommodating and we were able to negotiate a contract over the next couple of weeks.  Once we got the contract signed and a deposit was made the permits for the well were submitted.  The permit process can be slow so it does not hurt to call the county and check on the status but be friendly. 
Watervale installed the additional returns while we were waiting for the permit for the well.  Note a permit is also needed for electrical in my county.  When the permits were obtained the well driller came out. ( Note I was told the well drilling truck weighs about 68,000 pounds.)  Although I only needed 2 wells they had to drill 5 before they got 2 that were usable and those two were approximately 250 ft from my house.  The well truck made a mess but Daren subsequently resolved this issue to my satisfaction.  If you get  wells they will pump bentonite clay into the ground around the GEO pipes.  Mine sank / was absorbed by the ground and the well driller came back two times to fix this.  They also filled the unsucessful wells with concrete.  The excavator then had to dig a trench five feet deep and two feet wide to get to the wells.  (Note that it takes time for the dirt to settle after they backfill the trenches.)  Whenever you do Geothermal regardless of who you choose expect that you will have costs to do some minor regrading, fertilizing, seeding and straw. 
The Watervale team that did the mechanical and the ductwork was run by Al Eaco.  He has and abundance of experience, is professional and accomodating.  Al is the best!!!  The rest of the team was teriffic too.  Once again all professional, courteous and knowledgeable.  They took appropriate steps when working in the house to make sure that tarps were put down and the carpets and floors were protected.  Their team work and coordination with the subcontractors was excellent.  First they got the ductwork in place, the wells drilled, the water heater moved and the plumbing in place.  Once this was done they came in and in one day installed the Geothermal unit in my home so that there was not one night that I did not go without heat. They also helped me with the electric company and state grant paper work.
Two last things to consider.  Filters for the GEO units are expensive.  Your best bet is to order them on the web.  Even on the web they are about $37. Second even though the contract says "2 year labor  warranty from Watervale"  this does not cover a service agreement which is $280 a year.
There is no question in my mind if I was to do this project again that I would select Watervale to do the installation.  One of the things that I learned in my web research was to select a contractor with plenty of experience and Watervale has it.  They have an experienced team in place that works well together.  They have subcontractors that they have a track record with and that are reliable.  As far as price like I initially said I contacted five contractors and got four estimates.  Watervale was not the cheapest but they were also not the most expensive.   I am very happy so far with my Geo unit! 

They were very thorough.  They seemed extremely competent and did a good job.  They detailed the job well and followed through on it.

We used Watervale when we bought our central AC system 24 years ago and we were very pleased with their clean and efficient work at that time. 
For the past several years we've needed freon to make our AC work, especially on super hot days.  So we were surprised at the high cost this time.  We had no problems with the service performed and our AC is working fine.  The unit is 24 years old so we plan to use this company to have a new system installed before next summer.  Hopefully our AC costs will go down with a new system.

Their estimate for the geothermal unit was roughly the same as two others. 
They did the work quickly, when they said they would, and cleaned up well except for the area where the wells were, which it was clear was mine to deal with.
They fixed a few minor problems that came up. 
They have so far followed up well to get the airflow adjusted. 
This winter, the heat function seemed to work really well and I saved a LOT on my oil bill. We shall see how the AC function works this summer. 
I would recommend this company for geothermal installation.

I wasn't too pleased with the professionalism of the technicians that came out. I thought the work that they did was shoddy. They had left a bit of a mess when they left the premises. There were a couple repairs I had to make because of things they had done.

Very well, and looking forward to this company servicing our home from this point forward!

It went great. They were good to work with and it was a positive experience. We would recommend them.

We have been very pleased with price and workers for this project. The owner, Joe, estimated the job and was very helpful with suggestions for changes we might make if we finished our basement. The main installer, Al, is very nice, and we know he enjoys his job because he sings while he works, which was nice to hear. The process was a little slow because Al also did the repairs if someone was without heat, but since we weren't occupying the house yet, it wasn't a big problem. They get bonus points because Al suggested a much better place to put the outside A/C unit which took more time and effort for him to install because it was on the other side of the house. Other companies were going to put it where it was more convenient for them.

WE HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY PLEASED WITH THIS COMPANY. THEY ARE ALWAYS RESPONSIVE AND PROMPT. IN ADDITION TO HAVING THE HUMIDIFIER ON THE FURNACE, WE HAVE HAD OTHER EMERGENCY WORK ON THE FURNACE AND AL IS ALWAYS WILLING TO FIT YOU IN FIRST THING. HE MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR HIS ONLY CUSTOMER.