When you need an HVAC contractor for work on your home’s heating or cooling system, or help with air quality, energy efficiency or ventilation concerns, you may be looking at considerable expense. You’ll be trusting a contractor to come into your home, troubleshoot your HVAC system, make recommendations, and perform work that you aren’t able to do yourself. Unless you have a trusted HVAC company whom you’ve worked with in the past, it’s important to get several quotes.
So now that you have several HVAC service quotes from contractors, how do you decide which contractor to use?
Tips for Selecting a Contractor
• Make sure the company you choose works with manufacturers you trust, such as Lennox. You’ll be assured the best service and pricing when the HVAC contractor is a dealer for a respected manufacturer.
• Only choose a contractor who has proper HVAC certification and licenses, has a good Better Business Bureau rating, and has pulled the necessary permits for your area.
• Ask how long the contractors have been in business in your area and select one who has been in business at least 10 years.
• Ask to talk to customers who have used the contractors and call them with questions about service and satisfaction. If the contractor doesn’t provide any, that should be a red flag.
• Contact your Better Business Bureau for information about consumer complaints and use a company with a clear service record.
• Be wary of the contractor whose bid is much lower than comparable contractors. Be sure to ask why, and compare the equipment, services and warranties they offer to ensure you aren’t shortchanged in important areas.
• A good way to compare quotes is to make a chart or spreadsheet. Title columns for dealer type, equipment price, equipment size and power, warranties available, and all other comparison points, and plug the information from the quotes into it so you can easily compare contractors.
For more information about choosing a reputable HVAC contractor, please contact us at Ernst Heating & Cooling. We provide quality services to Glen Carbon, Highland, Bethalto, Hamel and other communities in southwest Illinois.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Hamel, Alton, Glen Carbon, Highland, Greenville, and Troy, Illinois and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about choosing a contractor and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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