Bower Heating & Air Conditioning Inc

The technician was on time and did a wonderful job of detailing what he was doing and why. He made a very reasonable recommendation on updating the humidifier, but no hard sales pitch, just made us aware of the options.

Technician diagnosed and explained problem and discussed remedial options. Service Dept:Demand Service PO # Invoice # Scheduled 05/02/2017 Start 2:00 PM End 3:30 PM Item Description Quantity Rate Amount 000A0100 Service Call: Diagnostic Analysis and System Troubleshooting. 1.00 $45.0000 $45.00 000A0410 Labor Only Repair. 1.00 $75.0000 $75.00 Job Subtotal: $120.00 Non-taxable sales: $0.00 Total Due: $120. The system Is low on freon.. 410-a. I leak tested and found the od coils leaking. The warranty is over. At this time the customer doesn't want the coil replaced nor any freon added. I advised him to have a salesman to come out to price a new system. He wants to think about it and will let us know.

Called Sherry at 1:30 PM. Courteous, helpful, and scheduled service call for 8:00 AM next day. John B called ahead, and arrived promptly at 8. John was extremely courteous, friendly, competent and helpful. He answered my questions, explained the workings of the heat pump and its components, efficiently diagnosed the problem, and accurately quoted the repair cost. The fusible links for both elements in the heater kit had burned out. Service Dept:Demand Service PO # Invoice # Scheduled 03/17/2017 Start 8:00 AM End 10:00 AM Item Description Quantity Rate Amount 000A0100 Service Call: Diagnostic Analysis and System Troubleshooting. 1.00 $45.0000 $45.00 01700400 Electric Heat: Electric Heater Package 8-15kW 1.00 $443.0000 $443.00 Job Subtotal: $488.00 Non-taxable sales: $0.00 Total Due: $488.00 The heater strips installed wholesale for approximately $100-$150. Service providers tend to quote services as "packages" rather than parts and labor and justify the seemingly high hourly rates involved by citing their overhead expenses; facilities, service vehicles, inventory, scheduling, personnel, etc. The only way to compare prices seems to be by obtaining competing quotes and paying "Service Call" charges if necessary to obtain them. The $50 - $75 service call charge can be a relatively small consideration in a multi-hundred dollar transaction.

Very well. Quality installation. System working flawlessly.

unknown

unknown

The sales and estimating process went smoothly.  The estimator arrived on time for the appointment and provided a timely estimate.  The installation crew arrived on time for the installation and completed the job in the estimated time frame.  The installation work was clean and neat.  They did a good job running the refrigerant lines in and around the building, keeping them neat and covered well with a trim product called slim-duct.  They cleaned up after themselves and left my building in good condition an hauled their trash away from the job.

unknown

unknown

My central heating went out in the middle of  cold snap, and Bower came out right away. I was dreading the news, as I had another provider come out from Westlake, that had insisted the unit had to be replaced and was going to eventually catch fire his quote was in the thousands!!!. I am so very glad I did not listen to the Westlake provider, he was clearly trying to use scare tactics to sell a new over priced system. Bower Heating and Air, inspected the system, and gave me an HONEST assessment, checking the entire system, checking every inch, and my system is only 12 years old, stated my system has many more years in it, and was in great condition. All it needed was an $80 fan motor. $80!!!!. The system works great. Bower Heating and Air are the True Blue HONEST Heating and Air specialists. Before you hire anyone around Smith Mountain Lake and Roanoke, or Westlake, Call Bower Heating and Air, they will actually check your system and give you the real truth.

We have used Bower Heating and Air for years now and have no intention of using anyone else.  They are always professional, prompt, reasonably priced and great to work with.  The installation of our new heat pump went smoothly.

Let me tell you first what happened.  I have fuel oil.   My gauge on the tank was not working and I didnt know it.   I have lived in this house now since September of 2012.  It was not properly cleaned before that date and little did I know how much of a mess this was until I ran out of fuel in the middle of a cold night the week before last.  I called Bowers first thing in the morning. they sent someone that afternoon to repair the boiler because it was smoking.  The boiler isnt that old 2007. so.  this person didnt fix it properly and called me and said they had but it "Might" smoke a little  and when I got home and turned it on it smoked up the whole house. I turned it off and called hiim and he came and told me that the boiler was bad and that he said there was nothing he could do.  I was horribly upset to say the least and asked him to ask them to give me a price on the boiler as well as converting over to electric heat.   The next day the salesman came and called me at work and said I am understanding you want to convert to electric heat?  I told him that I needed a price on both since the boiler was bad.  He said this boiler cant be bad its not that old.  Let me have another tech come on Monday.  He said you really dont want to pay 5,000 for a new boiler if you dont have to.  I totally agreed with that.    It was Friday by that time and we have been running electric heaters all through the house and thank God it wasnt that cold.  So we survived the weekend (do NOT want to see my electric bill) and Monday John came and checked it worked on it , got a couple of different parts and called me at 1 and asked me what I wanted my heat set on.   OMG>  I was doing a happy dance.    They dont put gauges on so I had to call someone else for that who put the gauge on and said he understood why it smoked if it ran out because there was mess in the bottom of the tanki.  
So.. Long story but here is what I am saying.  My first bill was going to be  $489 for the work someone did and didnt do.  Then on top of that it "COULD" have been an additional 5,000.   My point is.  Yes , the first tech messed up but the company could have lied to me and said, yup you need a new boiler.  They did not.  They fixed the problem and I got a bill today for 319.00 .  I think that was pretty much for parts.  I respect that .  We all make mistakes.  Luckily it wasnt cold.  I have a disabled Mom and I am darn happy to have heat again.   Thank you Bowers.  You will be my  company of choice.   This is why I gave top ratings.  You might not agree.  But its your choice.  I would rather not be lied to and taken to the cleaners because someone can.  They did me right

The work was done well (I watched) and as scheduled.    I would recommend Bowers, and would use them again, for HVAC work.

Service technician showed up as scheduled & was very polite. Explained what was happening as unit would trip breaker. He looked at unit in attic & outside heat pump as well. Expressed concern that outside unit was out of coolant and upstairs unit was not pulling right amount of amps in order to function properly. He also said we could piece-replace parts to fix but it would be better to replace entire unit (quoted $6,500). He said someone from Bower would call with parts estimate as well. $75 service call. Called another HVAC company for 2nd opinion same day...explained situation & they came out within the hour. Their diagnosis was faulty wiring on upstairs unit that they fixed immediately. Checked outside unit & only needed to replace about one pound of coolant, not 8 pounds, which shows unit wasn't empty of collant. Explained replacing breaker is most likely due to excessive tripping. Advised would replace for me if necessary. Advised units do not need replaced & fixed problem

The Bowers sales staff were the most knowledgable and their products (furnaces) the most affordable of the 3 Heating and AC companies that provided in-home estimates for us.  It was refreshing not to have the high-pressure sales tactics we experienced with some of the others.  I had the feeling that the Bowers staff felt their product and service could sell itself - and they were right.  The did everything on-time (installing two furnaces with the variable speed blowers we chose), although there was a small delay on one installation because the blower/motor looked imperfect (possibly heavily handled in shipping) when they unpacked it from the box, and instead of just installing it anyway, they recommended they obtain a different one for me so that there would not be any concern about hidden damages to the motor.  Both service calls were very satisfactory - they were able to come by in only a couple of hours or less and fixed the problem on the spot for minimal or even no cost.  Neither call was for equipment that they had installed.  The service staff were knowledgable, respectful, communicative, and professional.

Our heat pump had failed and we contacted three providers of HVAC services to review our needs and provide solutions. We had not been satisfied with the heat pump solution and were leaning toward a natural gas heat and a/c solution. Bower was chosen due to the detail of their heating/cooling solution matching up with our needs. The sales person was very knowledgeable, personable, and made numerous suggestions of the path to proceed. Comparing identical equipment from two of the potential providers, Bower was very price compeditive. Their installers arrived at the appointed time, completed the job in a very satisfatory manner. They cleaned up after themselves, and were very personable. The installation time was within the estimates provided and we had operable heat the first night. The system has operated in heating and cooling mode since installation and we're are very happy with our chose of Bower.

See above.

It was a very positive experience!

Bower Heating and Air installed a brand new Trane XL 15 heat pump in June 2012.  In January 2013, the compressor fried.  At first they blamed an electrical surge.  3 WEEKS LATER the compressor fried AGAIN and the head capacitor is blown.  They have the audacity to BLAME THE CUSTOMER for the failure.  Yes, it is covered under warranty.  Yes, they are replacing the broken parts.  BUT TO BLAME THE CUSTOMER IS ABSOLUTELY UNPROFESSIONAL!  

###Update###
I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Wayne Bower, owner of the company.  He apologized and made sure to tell me that that is not how he wants his company to do business.  He was very humble and wanted to make it right.  I greatly appreciate the call and his reaching out to make sure that it was resolved properly.

We called Friday around lunch and they got a serviceman out in an hour to complete the work. He serviced the furnace/ radiator system which needed draining and re-balancing. The serviceman was very friendly and happy to explain in detail how the system operated to my husband. He showed us how to balance the radiators ourselves to save us some money, although he would have been happy to do this himself. We would recommend them to our friends.

Initial installation went smoothly with only a few questions about my preferences on placing the duct work. After installation I went to inspect the work and found that there was a used pump installed which was broken. (Pump shaft was rusted so badly that it would not turn). This had to be a mistake and not intentional, as no installer would purposely do such a thing knowing that another crew would be comming back to start and inspect the installation. There was a percent deducted from the bill if cash was paid and the company sent an employee out to get my wife and me used to programming the thermostat. The unit is performing as promised and I trust it will perform for some time to come. I was told that if I had any questions or problems, to call the company and they would be glad to assist me.

see above

From the beginning, Bowers was professional, courtious, and most important, competent. I would recommend, without reservation,Bowers. They not only fix things that break, but they also can fix things that other companies have broken and claim are unfixable.

Everything went very well considering what the situation in which we were dealing.

See above.