One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning

Company has been a major disappointment from start to finish. During installation, they tracked mud throughout the house, knocked my dehumidifier out of place (which I had to repair), and left mold starting on the furnace room drywall. They also failed to complete the job on the scheduled day, never called me back to reschedule, and I had to chase them down myself. Not long after, the system broke down completely, leaving us without AC for a night with it being 80+ degrees in the house. I have young children who were miserable and couldn?t sleep as a result, and I?m not sure what their ?emergency? service is, because no one answered their phones until the next morning and I tried calling their emergency line. I then had to take time away from work to be home while they fixed what the technician admitted was an improper installation. In addition, the ?premium? system we paid extra for actually made the gap in upstairs/downstairs temp worse. No money back for wasted time. Stay away.

Unit was recharged. We opted to not search for a leak at this time. Fee for the recharge was reasonable.

Did great and explained everything well.

I am on a maintenance plan for my heating and air conditioning. There was no cost. One person usually comes out. He leaves the area very clean. They are through and pay attention to detail. That is the reason I took them over my previous provider.

They looked some things over and I paid for a maintenance plan.

The service call was great... the service guy named David that the company sent out was polite and friendly.  He answered all questions I had and everything went smooth and I had no issues with anything.  I will definitely have this service guy back out again to my house for another service call on my furnace.

One Hour surveyed the situation and made appropriate suggestions on how to heat and cool the new room.
Once a separate heat/cool unit was selected it was placed on order.  When delivered, One Hour promptly scheduled with us when to install it.  The installation took two days and was performed by knowledgable and skilled One Hour employees.  The unit was installed to our satisfaction and its performance was demonstrated upon completion.  All One Hour personnel involved, installers, supervisors, and office were proficient, professional, and courteous.  The venture was completed successfully, and we will continue with One Hour to service our units annually.

Follow up to original review and counterpoint to Provider?s response:

The second inspection was performed by a veteran technician with all the certifications and licenses required to perform the work. Not his first day at the rodeo.   He did a complete inspection (visual, flame deviation and gas leak) of the heat exchanger in particular and furnace in general and gave it a clean bill of health. Under the same cloud of liability as any company that looks at the furnace, he found no cracks, no leakage, nothing to merit shutting the furnace off or replacing it. 

 The advantage of using an infrared camera for visual inspection is the ability to share the view on the monitor with the customer and/or to record the inspection.  However, there is no industry standard that recognizes or promotes the use of infrared cameras over standard light and mirror visual inspection.  The camera does not provide a clearer visual, only one that is easier to share and/or record. 

 All Seasons did not record the inspection and nothing the technician showed me on the monitor was a crack. He did not threaten to disable the furnace because he didn?t bother to check for carbon monoxide.  My CO alarms are not conspicuous and the technician was not told of them.  You would think with all those cracks a CO test would have been performed.  Why just shut off the furnace when disabling it may be the safer route?  

 They don?t put safety switches on furnaces just for sh*ts and giggles.  They are there for a reason, can be tested and are fairly reliable for what they are supposed to do. 

 The following is from a blog by Watkings Heating and Air Conditioning of Springboro, OH.  The complete article can
be found @ http://www.watkinsheating.com/blog/cracked_heat_exchangers/

  Proper diagnosis of a failed or cracked heat exchanger.

Diagnosis of a heat exchanger crack typically starts with a no-heat service call. A cracked heat exchanger allows air from
the furnace blower to interfere with the flame causing it to flutter or even roll out. This trips a safety switch and shuts down the furnace. Beware of an unethical technician who finds a crack with a camera on a furnace that seems to be running just fine. While big cracks start as small ones, some technicians will search for anything that looks like a crack in order to sell a new furnace and earn a commission. We've even seen some technicians draw a line on the heat exchanger with a pencil, show the homeowner the line on a fiber optic camera, and convince them that it is a dangerous crack. In 2009, the AHRI published a guideline for inspecting heat exchangers which states: "Any crack or hole that is big enough to affect combustion will be easily visible to the naked eye. Do not use water, cameras or smoking agents to check for leaks. Furnace heat exchangers joints are not hermetically sealed, so a small amount of leakage is normal."

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The most important message in all of this is to have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home (no matter how new/reliable your HVAC system is) and to ALWAYS get a second opinion on the replacement of large appliances/systems. 

Original review:

There were no issues with the furnace when the service call was placed.  The unit was working fine--no unusual noises, turned on and off per the thermostat settings and did the job of heating the house.  The service call was for the annual inspection and cleaning of the furnace.  
Technician claimed to find "at least four" cracks in the heat exchanger.  He shut off the furnace and placed a "Danger-Operating this equipment without corrective action by a qualified person may cause serious property damage, personal injury or death". Carbon monoxide poisoning is the issue when a heat exchanger goes bad.  He stated that the furnace should be replaced as soon as possible and to keep the unit turned off until then.  
I was skeptical of the diagnosis because:  1) He was in the basement for half an hour and the only thing he did was check the heat exchanger (no cleaning, no filter change, no inspection of other parts);  2) The views he showed me on his remote camera did not show anything that looked like cracks--"See that one?"  "Um, no"; 3) The furnace is 12 years old and well maintained.  It undergoes annual cleaning/inspection; the filters are changed on a regular basis; and the humidity/climate in the basement where the furnace is located is well regulated.  All of these things contribute to the well-being of an HVAC system.  4)  There are more safety switches in today's furnaces than child safety locks at Kensington Palace for Prince George.  Most, admittedly not all, furnaces with "at least four" cracks in the heat exchanger would have shut down on their own.  5)  There are multiple carbon monoxide detectors on every level of my two story house and the readings are normal and they have not "peeped" once.   
 "At least four" cracks in the heat exchanger and the technician watched when I turned the furnace back on.  Dangerous enough to turn the furnace off and frighten the homeowner into an unnecessary furnace replacement, but not so bad to let her risk staying in the house with all the CO when she turns the unit back on.  Really?
Told the technician I would be getting a second opinion, but allowed him to schedule a salesman to estimate replacement cost just in case.  The One Hour salesman came the same night, told me how trustworthy the technician was and provided informal quotes (on yellow legal pad paper?) for furnace or heat exchanger replacement.  He offered temporary space heaters (talk about your CO levels) until the unit could be replaced.  Declined the offer.  
On 11/12/13 a technician from a different HVAC (reputable and licensed) company did a thorough inspection of the furnace and found no cracks in the heat exchanger; declared the furnace in very good working condition; and told me there was no need to replace anything.  
One Hour called today to follow up on their service and were told the results of the second inspection.  They didn't argue the point, but the owner called later to offer their 300% money back guarantee.  No thank you.  Cost me two service calls and an extra half day off work, but great value in knowing not to trust everyone with a company truck and yellow page listed service. 
Always get a second opinion for major appliance replacements.  Arm your house with smoke/fire and carbon monoxide detectors.  They are worth every penny and save you from calamities and unethical furnace people.  

The experience was good since it is a new furnace.  I will change out the next filter myself next time because it has to be cheaper than what they provide.

Went well.  I have bought a frunace and AC unit from them. They do a good job.

Go the system replaced with in days rather than weeks as quoted by other companies (faster than some would even come out to give me a quote).

When my air-conditioner blew, they came out and opened up my air-conditioner. They said there was 2 big fuses that needs to be replaced. And, the guy quoted me a price that was about $200.00 so I said no. Basically, these fuses needs to be replaced because they were about to go soon. It was a preventative recommendation. Though, they do try to up-sell.

The furnace is running well. I am very pleased.

See above

The service was fine. The punctuality and professionalism was all good. I would recommend them to others.

They came out within the hour to talk to us. They had it put in the next day, other places couldn't get us service that fast. They were very effecient and clean.

When we first started using them they did a great job and they continue to do good service. They come over whenever we have a  problem. They are reliable and punctual. We buy and have them install all our heating systems.

They did very good work. I was very satisfied with their work. They are very good. They came back several times to make sure that it works very well. Their professionalism and cleanup were all very good. I would use their services in the future too.

Very professional with excellent follow through.

This unit was warrantied for 20 years. It performed poorly. In 2008 I asked them to fix the problem. It was blamed on a dirty air filter and charged me for the visit. I didn't believe the filter was that dirty, but this spring a new one was purchased and and the AC performed even worse.

They are very reliable, you pay for what you get. They are a little higher priced than the other but they are dependable.

No comment.