TOTAL HEATING & COOLING

Company owner called, we arrived at a reasonable price for service. He cares about his reputation.

He was here twice and completely neglected to check the Freon level on the first trip until my husband asked him about it on the second trip. He also did not check the leaks like my husband asked. When he did what my husband asked, it did help. When my husband mentioned the Freon to the technician he stayed on the phone for quite a while with a more experienced person in his office.

Total Heating & Cooling was the OEM installer of our HVAC systems in a 3000 sq.ft. home built in late 2003. Both systems are heat pump systems with aux. heat. Propane downstairs and elec. strips upstairs. A little over 3 years after the original install the downstairs heat pump/AC compressor failed (shorted out). Total H&C replaced it under warranty (part was free but labor cost us $630 to R&R). 6 month later the upstairs heat pump/AC compressor failed with the same cause of shortening out. Total H&C also replaced it under warranty costing us again ($630) for R&R. In Jan. 2009 just 1.5 years after it was first replaced the downstairs unit failed again for the same reason. The HVAC tech said that there must be power surges in our area that shorten the compressor out (this was also the reason they gave us when the first round of replacements was done). Our question was: Why does no household in our neighborhood have similar problems? Total Heating & Cooling diagnosed again a shorted compressor unit and recommended to replace the unit again. Part would be free under manufacturer warranty but labor would cost us again $630some dollars. At that point we became suspicious of what is behind these failures and asked another company to do a check. They diagnosed that the cheap thermostats used in the original installation are not adequate to run heat pumps. They do not have an external temp. sensor and appropriate compressor cycling timing even though they had a dual fuel control board installed. So the heat pump would run no matter how cold it is outside even though it should not run below 40F ambient temp. since it will not generate heat and only wear the compressor. The other issue was that these thermostats would not allow for required recovery times of the system after shut off. This time is required allowing pressure to bleed before restarting the compressor or the system pressure will cause compressor shock. The compressor will then shut on and off rapidly causing excessive loads. In conclusion to the whole experience here are our thoughts: We had a long standing relationship with Total H&C. (We had an annual service agreement with Total H&C and they did all service and repair on our HVAC system). Their people were always very courteous and friendly. They also always responded very quickly to our calls. Why did they not install thermostats with outside temp sensors and appropriate recovery time cycling in the first place OR after the first failures the compressors? Our electricity bills have gone down by 30% since new thermostats. The aux heat kicks in when ambient temps. are too low for the heat pump. After cancelling their services we tried to get a refund on the unused half of our pre-paid service contract, but they have stalled. We are no longer hopeful to get a refund. It cost us over $2700 what could have been fixed with an additional $ 500 for installing the proper thermostats when the first compressor went out.

I FELT THAT TOTAL HEATING & COOLING WAS EXCELLENT, BECAUSE THEY WORKED THE WHOLE TIME THAT THEY WERE HERE. THE WORKERS WERE VERY POLITE, AND I DIDN'T HEAR ANY FOUL LANGUAGE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.