Choosing Heating And Air Conditioning Contractor
Building and homes these days have sophisticated mechanical and plumbing systems to centralized heating, cooling and ventilation services. There are various measures available to evaluate the efficiency of your heating and air conditioning unit. For air conditioner, the efficiency is measured in SEER and efficiency of heat pump is measured by HSPF.
Whether installing a new heating and air conditioning system, or looking for a heating and air conditioning service, choosing a good heating and air conditioning contractor is as important as choosing the unit itself. Proper installation and maintenance is a must for the equipment to operate reliably, safely and with maximum efficiency.
Suggestions To Select A Heating And Air Conditioning Contractor
If you are looking for a heating and air conditioning contractor for the first time, you can ask your friends or relatives living in the same area who can recommend someone with whom they have had a good experience.
There are two sites, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractor's National Association (SMACNA) and Air Conditioning Contractors in America (ACCA) and most of the leading residential contractors belong to them. These sites provide the detailed listing of cooling, heating, refrigeration and ventilation contractors in all the areas. You can look for the contractors whose technicians are certified by some reputable agency.
Make sure that heating and air conditioning contractor visits the place where the unit needs to be installed and then gives the quote accordingly. A good and well trained heating and air conditioning contractor will encourage you to buy the high efficiency equipment with new and better designs.
A good estimator will come for the survey of your house and the proposal will be based on the heat-load calculation. If you are getting the old unit repaired, the estimator will ask the problems regarding heating and cooling problems of the old equipment and then offer understandable solutions or explanations.
A good heating and air conditioning contractor will be able to estimate the annual operating costs or energy bills for the proposed equipment based on the heat-load/cooling-load calculations. A written bid will include details of equipment to be installed, price, work to be done and total costs.
It is advisable to get the estimate from multiple contractors but do not make low cost as the only deciding criteria. Reliable heating and air conditioning contractors are professional and rather expensive. The reputable contractor will have an office and some staff members.
The schedule of payment varies from company to company but is should be easy to understand and make sure to get all the receipts. It is important for the heating and air conditioning contractor and sub-contractor to have public liability and property damage insurance. Ask for references and clarify any questions you have.
