Green Home Solutions

My house is warmer already. The Green Home Solutions team did an excellent job at my house, the techs were courteous and careful in my home, and we are very happy with the results of the air sealing and blown-in insulation. I can't wait to see the cheaper energy bills!

Initial energy audit was free and comprehensive. The salesman (Ross) took a variety of measurements and pointed out areas where air was leaking into or out of the house. He prepared and explained a detailed estimate and discussed various incentives and financing plans available in New Jersey. The experience with the workers (Alex and Felix) was tremendous as well. They started by performing a seal test and explaining the current score. Alex was very attentive to detail, very patient, and explained things well. He also noticed and took the time to point out that the electrical contractors (working on the same day) were venting bathroom exhaust fans to the soffit, explained why it was not ideal, and helped to address it even though it wasn't part of the original plan. They were very careful in our home, put down drop cloths to protect the floor, and vacuumed afterward. Alex showed us all of the work performed and also let us know about a miscalculation in the original estimate and contract (regarding the amount of insulation needed), and how the original contract price was honored. They also installed insulated boxes over several recessed lights which were missed in the original contract. After all of the work was complete, they performed a followup seal test and we noted the significant improvement. We really appreciated the team and the company going the extra mile to be sure tings were done properly and honoring the original contract.

I cannot begin to express how dissatisfied I am at the work that was done on my house. I am reminded daily of the shoddy work that was done, the lack of care and attention to details, and the general disregard for my property. Every day I find new places where GHS employees left spray foam residue where it shouldn't have been. On a shelf, on the walls, on the handrail and the door casing to the basement, on various items we stored in the basement, including my daughters boots. This is in addition to the various places where they left drops of spackle in my wife's office, including her brand new lamp which was nowhere near the work area, and the scuffed paint on the window sill where they dragged the hose for the blown insulation. They didn't ask me to move anything out of the way when they were sealing various areas, even though I repeatedly asked them to let me know if they needed me to do so. So who knows how they were able to complete the work. There are certainly many areas where I can see the sealing was poorly done, or not done at all. Basically, GHS employees showed no care for our personal property and no pride in their work. In addition, I am also very dissatisfied with what was accomplished with my home. I originally decided to have some weatherization done to address 3 specific problems: the cold temperature in the dining room, the very cold/freezing floor in my daughter's room, and the large temperature difference between the ground floor and the 3rd floor. While the work done has impacted the temperature profile of the house, it's not clear that the new conditions are any better. During the cooling months, the ground floor is now several degrees hotter than the top floor, which makes me concerned about what the conditions will be in the winter. Time will tell, but so far my air conditioning bill has not changed vs. last year. As for the other 2 areas, i.e. the cold spots in the dining room and the floor upstairs, absolutely no work was done in those areas which were critical to me. Proposals were made which were either impractical (the work team didn't even attempt the original proposal because "it makes no sense") or would have required significant demolition with no repair included and no guarantee of success. So I am basically left with a bunch of money spent and none of my original concerns addressed. Finally, I am extremely upset at the business transaction aspect of this. Part of that is on me. I should never have signed that contract, never should have moved forward given all the red flags. But as the contractor was chosen and presumably vetted by PGW, I just assumed they would be diligent and trustworthy. Yes, I should have known better. I should have known better when they didn't call me back after going over the "proposal", which was nothing more than a price and a verbal promise to address the issues I wanted addressed. I should have known better when the "contract" included a bunch of items and prices that had not been described and discussed in detail with me. I should have known better when the price on the contract was $1000 more than the original proposal, and I should have known better when the correction was made without any other explanations. I should have known better than to rely on verbal assurance that the overall price would be adjusted if part of the work (the impractical one mentioned above) couldn't be done, only to be told after the fact that "we'll take $300 off". Once again, after I challenged this the price magically changed to $850, which is not a lot given that 2/3rd of my requirements were not met.

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Let's start with the specs on the house:  Electric heat, central air, unfinished basement built in the mid 80s still with original windows.  I'm not ready to replace my windows but I was looking to reduce my electric bill especially in the peak winter and summer months.  I've been getting the mailer in my PECO bill for months about the energy audit and I got a coupon for 50% off the audit if I scheduled the inspection before Christmas.  So there you go. I was looking for some lower cost solutions to "tightening up" the house in hopes of saving on my energy bill.  
A PECO guy came an spent about 4 hours with me walking around inside and outside the house.  He hooked up the blower door and we walked around the attic, basement and everywhere in between looking for obvious air leaks.  He took time to answer my questions about various problem areas or cool spots in the house and gave me great suggestions.  The thing you need to know about PECO is their incentives are for improved energy efficiency (i.e reduced power usage) not creature comfort issues.  What that means is they are interested in helping my heat pump run more efficiently more than they are interested in warming up my kitchen.  
I was impressed by his level on knowledge on the subject, his openness about rebate and incentive programs and his assessment of return on investment.  We talked about possible solutions and he emailed me a 7 page report complete with pictures of my house about two days later.  What I really liked in the report was the detailed cost analysis breakdown.  For example, If I spend $1, 200 to insulate the attic to an R-value of 39 then I will save approximately $60 annually.  Great information for making calculations and trade offs and honing in on what will save you the most on your energy bill the fastest.  
*The only thing PECO didn't do which I would have liked is walk around with a thermal camera and image the house.  
After the Meeting with the PECO rep I was sure I wanted to do some work on the house, so he showed me a list of their chosen contractors and I picked the first one: GHS.  They were nearby and that's about all I knew about them.  The PECO guy mentioned that their list of contractors are good because PECO leans on them to get the work done, since the government incentives are awarded after work is complete.  I didn't independently verify that statement.  
Here's the stuff I had done:Seal the leaks in the Top Plate (Attic), Sill Plate (Basement), an in the garage.Free - heat pump inspection and tune-upSealed the joints in the exposed duct work of the HVAC system. - freeInsulated the Attic access hatch And install propovents in the attic (Soffit vents)All told it was about $1800 worth of work for half of that with incentives and rebates.
**I did not add insulation to the attic, as recommended, because I'm still working on few projects there.  When I'm finished with the second story and attic improvements that I want to make I'll look at adding more blown in insulation.  
Two guys from GHS showed up to do the work on the appointed day.  They were courteous, respectful of the space, and pretty quiet.  Get in, work, do no harm, get out.  They laid down drop cloths where ever they went inside the house and had booties on their shoes.  They worked diligently, taking one 20 minute lunch break in a five hour job.  I was impressed by their professionalism and hard work.  
To start the process the GHS guys again attached a blower door and tested the space.  At the end of the day after they had spray foamed and sealed everything they hooked up the blower door for another reading.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the airflow coming out of my house was reduced by 25% after their work.  I thought that was pretty good since I know I have old leaky windows.
**I watched the guys in the attic, I was impressed that they moved all the insulation to seal any place where a wire or tube came through from the house below and then at the end they replaced all of my insulation!
** They only foam what they can see, so you need to clear space in the basement or garage so they can get in there and work.  
Overall, I was very satisfied with both PECO and GHS in this hole process.  I haven't gotten an energy bill since the work was done, so the jury is out in terms of how much savings I'll get on a monthly basis.  
I liked everyone that I dealt with at GHS, Danielle, Ross (sales guy) and the two workers, Alex and Marcus.  Professional, friendly and helpful.  Nothing bad to say about them!  

Had to keep coming back. This year (2014)I experienced a problem Green Home Solutions did not respond to my phone calls and I had another contractor come in to resolved the problem. The new contractor found they had not connected the heat pump as my primary heat source and they had added a return duct and put it over the oil line for the oil backup. I was told it was rubbing on the oil line and could rub whole in the line and cause an oil leak which could catch fire. I had to pay another contracted to correct this problem. I cannot recommend this contractor.

Green House Solutions performed some work on my house: thermo-insulation and installation of furnace and water heater. Their work failed city plumbing inspection. Despite my repeated requests, they do not fix the problems. This drags for more than 4 month with no end in sight.

UPDATE: The work was eventually done and passed the inspection.

When we used them they were in the middle of management and other changes.

It was great!  everything went smoothly and quickly.They were great!  We dealt with Ross Lopez.  He did our energy audit, which was extremely thorough.  Then he produced a complete report on our house, and what was needed.  He sat with us for an hour or more to go
over everything.  We decided to have insulation on our third floor and basement, and a new furnace, since ours was ancient and inefficient.  He arranged all the financing, and he supervised the work.  He then came back to inspect.  We are so happy!  Our home is warm in the winter, at last!

They did a very thorough review of my house. The person who did the review and tech work was very nice, knowledgable and easy to work with. The sales person who came in weeks later was terrible, he was very aggressive and irritable that I did not want to purchase. The quote was gigantic which they did not describe up front. I think the company overall is fine. The sales person was about a hour late and took twice as long as he said it would whereas when the tech came he was very puncutal.

They were fine to work with. I declined any of the work that they wanted to offer. Their professionalism was acceptable but I was expecting a little bit more.

he came in a did a thorough job of going up into attic to look at the insulation, they checked the furnace.  when it came time to have the work done they were very clean and neat.  Our house is much more energy efficient thanks to Green Home Solutions.  Ross is a great guy to work with and is very knowledgeable about his business.

Insulated attic and basement.
While in the attic they stepped off of the support beams and damaged newly painted second floor ceilings.  They patched some, but never returned to finish the job, or paint the damaged ceilings.
They damaged an expensive item in the home and said they would pay for replacement and never did.
They never provided final documentation and environmental certificate needed for tax credits.
An apple gift card was promised upon completion and payment of the job, but was never issued.
They were eager to get all payments and all payments were made in a timely manner based on their promise to complete work.
There have been numerous attempts to receive all of the above mentioned items. They say all the right things, but never follow through.
WE WOULD NEVER USE OR RECOMMEND THIS SERVICE TO ANYONE!