I’m exhausted. And I think you will soon understand why.

TLDR - Aire One doesn’t deserve your business. Let my story be a cautionary tale.

I want to share the horror story in the hopes that no one has a similar experience going forward.

I had to decommission my furnace for a renovation in 2024 and I decided it was a good opportunity to have a new furnace installed rather than recommission my older one.

I originally was quoted for a Carrier brand furnace which is what I specifically asked for. I eventually decided to get a heat pump too but on my new quote, it was very light on the furnace details. I mistakenly assumed it would still be a Carrier furnace but it was swapped for a far inferior Blade X furnace. I didn’t realize the bait and switch until it was too late.

The furnace had issues immediately after install. It leaked constantly, soaking my floors and even soaking up into drywall. There were stretches that first year where we had no heat in the winter and no cooling in the summer. I had to take countless unpaid days off from work to make sure someone was home during the constant work the furnace needed.

My concerns were brushed aside, I was told I should be grateful that they were ‘helping me out’ and no one acted with human decency.

It’s just me and my daughter and I’m also responsible for tenants who have the furnace in their unit. I felt very alone and also very dumb for falling for this. Nothing was wrong with my old furnace. I wish I hadn’t replaced it.

This wasn’t just some minor inconvenience. This
greatly impacted all of our lives.

Issues continued for nearly two years. Eventually once the blower motor had gone twice and the circuit board had gone once, Aire One finally agreed to replace my furnace ( with the same inferior brand ) but informed me I would have to pay $1000 to have it installed.

I was shocked but not surprised. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place because we needed heat and the furnace was completely broken so I negotiated the best I could and got them down to around $300. Still too much but I didn’t really have any other choice.

The furnace was installed incorrectly and someone had to come out two days later to fix it after it leaked AGAIN all over my flooring.

It would be funny if it wasn’t so devastating.

The furnace was installed a few months ago but I received an interesting call from Aire One today after posting publicly for the first time on social media and getting a good amount of engagement ( more than 100 comments).

I spoke to someone who said they wanted to make it right and asked me how they could do that.

I said a Carrier furnace is what they should do but I knew that wasn’t on the table. Having the install refunded ( the install that was done INCORRECTLY) would be a good start as well as some amount of additional financial compensation for the cost of this issue - financial and emotional.

I knew better than to get my hopes up.

They came back offering me $150

LOL

and if I accepted it, I’d have to sign a document saying I was satisfied with the resolution.

Hard. Pass.

Im sharing this far and wide because Aire One doesn’t deserve your business. They don’t deserve your hard earned money. You don’t deserve the stress and financial burden that dealing with them could bring you.

The insulting amount they offered to ‘make me whole’ has just reignited my rage.

Save yourself and give your business and hard earned money to literally ANY other HVAC company. You won’t regret passing on Aire One.

Goodman OEM 2 ton compressor quoted at $2865. 4.5 pounds of 410A at $250/pound. Located in MA.

Hey everyone, I have an old (20+ years) split unit that is cooling intermittently. For a little while I have noticed that sometimes the condenser fan would be running but the evaporator fan wasn't, but I would turn the fan on and no problem. Within the last few days it has seemed to stop cooling altogether at certain times, and I am pretty sure the compressor isn't coming on when it is very hot outside, because the lines feel neutral temp. It does seem to come on later, which makes me suspect the capacitor is going bad, or that is my hope at least instead of the compressor itself. I am going to check it and replace tomorrow if needed, but I am wondering if there is a connection to the first issue I mentioned? Could it be related to the thermostat somehow? Any suggestions for how to approach it are appreciated.

Working on home automation with a Midea U window ac and some PV panels and battery. I’d like to set automations to where if the solar coming in is in a certain range for 8 minutes then change the power draw of the compressor. I’m thinking that because it changes the speed of the compressor gradually then it would be safe. But need someone who knows for sure to help and tell me if that is the case or not. Thank you

We are changing the ACs in our villa and would really appreciate your advice

1. Carrier or O General?
2. GI ducts or Pre-insulated phenolic ducts? Previous ducts had mold growing, especially in areas where the duct surface was not smooth
3. If GI ducts, whats the best type of internal sound insulation material? Previous ducts had rockwool sound insulation that all fell apart and were blowing harmful particles everywhere
4. If GI ducts, whats the best type of external thermal insulation?

These are ducted split ACs (with outdoor unit on the roof and indoor FCU in the ceiling, so no central chilled water system if it’s relevant).

Appreciate your advice on the above and any other suggestions!!!

Im a smartish guy, but am in a 10 month HVACR course and have a hard time grasping things in class at the same speed as everyone else. I'm always the last person to understanding things and have to study more than them. Im just wondering if this is a bad omen for my actual career once I graduate or if it is easier to grasp things once you start working, even if I will have a harder time finding a job...

Hi,
Yesterday the water heater started leaking in the drum and they came to stop the water in my condo unit. I have no water as of now and I think they may get the cold water running.
But they said my water heater has to be replaced and are quoting me 8,750-14,750. I have no idea if this is average or not in northern Virginia
I was thinking instead of the company the condos provided if I should maybe call Home Depot?

Any info will help me out because I want to talk to the company about a specific price breakdown. Before I do, is it possible they made some kind of billing mistake?
I work in the trades, and I don’t want to be one of those PITA customers. Please give me some guidance on what to ask. Thanks in advance. This could save me money I really don’t have right now.

When I bought my house in South Florida, the A/C had been installed by a local small business who offered to honor the warranty. So far, it’s run fine. A few years ago the compressor needed replacing and last summer they replaced a capacitor. I would’ve done that myself but I’m in a townhome and the condenser is on the roof and owners aren’t allowed on the roof (for insurance).

The system: Rheem RCHL-48A1GH24 and RBHP-24J11SH4.

Fast forward to this summer and I texted the owner who got flaky with responses so I texted the manager asking if they could come and clean the condenser coils, vacuum out the evaporator drain pan, and install a C wire to my thermostat.

It literally took them 6 weeks to finally commit and put me on the schedule. I’m seeing that as a red flag as I’m writing it, but you have to understand how hard it is to find a small local HVAC guy who’s honest and not been bought by private equity and turned into a salesforce.

So a tech shows up, removes my evap coil cover and finds an additional metal guard in front of the coil with a zip tie securing it. Instead of clipping the zip tie, he pulls with all his might on the metal guard which comes out after snapping the bottom of the plastic drain pan. I watched him do this and it was alarming, but he vacuumed it out and it seemed fine.

We had to run out and were barely gone for an hour, and when we returned our A/C closet was absolutely flooded. Turns out he snapped the coil guard so hard there was a crack down the entire front of the drain pan.

So I tell manager, tech comes back and says the drain line wasn’t primed so water was flowing backwards (apparently defying physics since the drain line outside was bone dry). He agrees to replace the drain pan on the evap coil and I told him I think snapping the cover off did it, and he reluctantly agreed. Said he’d be back in a few hours.

As the day went on, the house got hotter, eventually reaching 87F. I tell the tech & manager it’s not cooling, manager says he’ll replace the whole evap coil with the drain pan (no duh) but can’t get one til the morning. I also noticed the compressor getting louder and louder so I turned it off and just used the fan. It was sweaty night #1

Next morning comes, tech shows up and installs brand new coil in 3 hours. I tell him not to leave because it’s not cooling, just blowing hot air around. He tells me to give it time. I know what it feels like when A/C doesn’t work, and this was it. I ask what his thermal gun showed for the closest vent, he said 60F, mine said 80F and I'm still standing there sweating. Just a week before I have pics of that vent reading low 50s from a comfortable distance.

I ask him if he pulled a vacuum before filling the refrigerant, he deflects the answer and says he’s gonna go add more. Keeps going up to the roof and coming back down and the temp inside isn’t budging at all and this guy is BSing me nonstop to my face. I asked him for the superheat subcool readings, couldn’t tell me what they were. So I called supervisor and when the tech heard that he just packed up and bailed.

Supervisor gave me the runaround saying “it takes time, your house has been in the heat all day and it’s a hot day.” Total BS, thermostat still showing 87F inside after running for 4 hours and a brand new coil.

I call owner, he says he spoke to the tech and all is well, "it just needs time." I told him I’m not going to argue and the system is not cooling and he needs to come. He says he’ll come in 4 hours.

Meantime I call another company, tech shows up within an hour, takes his readings, shows me all gauges within 5 minutes and reads a subcooling of 2.8F and says they didn’t add enough refrigerant. All I asked him to do was diagnose bc the first company blew their trust when the tech said he hosed down my condenser coil but my camera system showed him pack his ladder and leave 10 mins after we left without ever getting out a hose.

So owner finally comes, says “wow it’s hot” when he comes in, gets people on the roof and they start troubleshooting. Long story short, he discovers that the coil requires a TXV kit addon to work with my system. So we wait while the supervisor brings the old coil, they remove the TXV from that and put it on the new coil and the system finally starts cooling. I definitely think the tech who did the install knew or should have known this was a required step for my system, since the outgoing damaged coil had a TXV kit.

But wait, there’s more.

I insist before owner leaves to show me the manifold readings and he’s about to leave and I put my foot down, so he shows me a subcooling of 3.1F and goes to leave. I said no, it needs to be 8-12F and he gives me a song and dance about how “it’s cooling so the house needs to cool off and it’ll get there” nonsense. I tell him unacceptable. He says if he adds more refrigerant (system has been running over 30 mins at this point) then the temperature might go up! I said add it anyway. He kept pointing to the probe in my plenum saying the temp is dropping but it’ll just take time bc the whole house is so hot and it’ll take hours to get the subcooling "dialed in" so they'll just come back the next day, says that's how they do all their jobs. I said no, finish this now. He starts practically crying saying he has a doctor's appointment and how he did me such a big favor by replacing the coil WHICH HIS TECH BROKE!

Finally I said if you leave, the job isn't done, but leave if you must. And then I showed him the report from the other company. He had an answer for that too. "Who charges $185 for a service call? What's that guy's license number?"

So I told him if he leaves that he better show up tomorrow with refrigerant, prepared to give gauge readouts before and after any work on the system begins, and with a check for the second opinion.

He has the nerve to say what about my check to him for the new coil and the routine maintenance they did?

At that point I asked him to leave, told him be here at 8:00am or sooner and if he's not here at 8:01am I'm having someone else do it and suing him for that invoice and the diagnostic invoice (and I absolutely will).

An hour after he left, the system definitely was cooling, but it stopped getting much cooler and I could tell the compressor was getting louder and louder.

So, now it’s sweaty night #2 because I hear the compressor getting loud again, so I’m shutting it off until these scumbags come back tomorrow morning.

I’d like to hear from pros: the owner and this company are totally unprofessional and incorrect, right? Or am I just overly demanding because I want my A/C to work like it did before these people ruined it?

My understanding from a lay perspective is that the subcooling is meant to measure the physics balance in the refrigerant line and is independent of the temperature inside the home, is that right?

What would you do or what would you recommend I do?

I searched for an answer on this sub but could not find one here.

Home is a 30's era single story plaster/lath construction, 1800 sq feet. I have a (guessing) 40's era gas gravity furnace that does the job just fine. We use it only in the winteriest months (Dec - Feb), are close enough to the ocean to get cooling breezes in summer so no AC. I need to remove the asbestos ducts, etc. and have found a licensed contractor to do it.

Questions:

After asbestos abatement, and assuming there are no issues that arise from CO testing, etc.:

- Can I (legally, code-wise) keep the gravity furnace?

- Is it possible to just replace the existing ductwork with new, non-asbestos ducts?

- Like everyone, we are considering solar but are undecided and waiting for a new incentive program after 2028. How should I think of this decision with solar in mind?

- What else should I be considering instead?

Thanks very much!

Hello,

I'm considering a portable A/C for a finished attic office with no window. The unit would sit directly below a sloped roof. Instead of using the supplied window panel, I'm considering having a professional install a full-diameter, weatherproof roof termination directly above the unit.

The OEM exhaust hose would remain approximately 3–5 feet long, would not be extended or reduced in diameter, and would rise gently at less than ~45° with minimal bends.

Manufacturers I've contacted (Frigidaire, LG, Whynter) only document window installations (Whynter also documents a modified wall installation), so none will officially approve a roof termination.

From an HVAC/airflow standpoint, is there a technical reason a properly sized, low-static-pressure roof termination wouldn't work? I'm particularly concerned about exhaust backpressure, condensation/rain management, and whether the upward slope presents a problem.

I'm not planning to DIY the roof penetration. I'm trying to determine whether the concept is sound before getting an HVAC/roofing contractor involved and am looking for some opinions at this point.

Thanks!

I had an HVAC company do a free inspection of my ac and furnace last week. After the inspection, they said they found that the blower wheel was leaking oil and the condenser fan motor was also leaking oil. They recommended I replace both immediately. The furnace blower motor is the original and 25 years old. The ac and condenser fan motor are roughly 10 years old. There is minimal evidence of leakage on both. Maybe an ounce each. certainly nothing pooling. Is this necessary or is it normal for both the blower wheel and condenser fan motor to leak a little oil?