The heating is the most expensive thing in a house that nobody looks at
Heating, cooling and ventilation across Rochester and Monroe County — plus the only page on the internet that tells you what to check before you buy the house, written by the people who get called after you have.
What we do, card by card
Furnaces, boilers and heat pumps
Gas and oil, warm air and hydronic, and an increasing number of heat pumps. A Rochester heating season runs most of the year, which means equipment here accumulates hours faster than the same equipment anywhere south of us.
- No-heat call-outs on any of them
- Combustion tested with instruments, before the season rather than during it
- Heat exchangers, flues and safeties inspected and tested
- Circulators, zone valves and expansion vessels on the boiler side
A short season that still has to work
Central air where ducts exist and can carry it, ductless heads where they do not. Rochester summers are short enough that people tolerate a badly sized system for years, and humid enough that they should not.
Airflow, measured
Static pressure against the blower’s own rating, airflow at the register where the complaint is, return sizing, and leakage into a cold attic you are paying to keep cold. Most comfort complaints here are about air that never arrives.
The winter fault nobody predicts
High-efficiency furnaces and boilers produce water, and in this climate a condensate line run through an unheated space freezes. The appliance then stops, in January, and it looks like a failure. It is a routing problem and it is preventable.
Before you exchange contracts
A general home inspection will tell you the furnace exists and turns on. It will not tell you the heat exchanger’s condition, what the ductwork can carry, or whether the thing was ever the right size. There is a page on this site that lists what to ask for.
Three cards we will not file
A guaranteed response time
We will tell you honestly where you are in the queue and call back. A printed number of hours gets broken on the first properly cold night, which is exactly when you would be relying on it.
A percentage off your bill
Correct sizing, sealed ducts and a correct set-up genuinely reduce running cost. What that is worth depends on your tariff, your building and your habits, so we put a figure on it after measuring — never before.
A number of years left
We will tell you what we measured and what it means. We will not put a lifespan on a machine we have just met, and neither should anybody standing in your basement.
Houses across Monroe County
Rochester, Brighton, Irondequoit, Greece and Penfield. Older stock, long seasons, and a great many houses on their third appliance connected to their original ductwork.
Shops, suites and light industrial
Maintenance with a record per unit, rooftop plant, combustion before the season, and work timed around when you trade.
Common questions
Can you check the heating on a house I am buying?
Yes, and it is a different visit from a general home inspection. An inspector will tell you the furnace exists and turns on. We look at the heat exchanger, measure static pressure, check what the ductwork can carry and read the data plate for the real age. There is a page on this site listing what to ask for.
My furnace stops in cold weather and restarts later. Why?
In this climate the first thing to check is the condensate line. High-efficiency furnaces and boilers produce water, and a line run through a cold crawlspace, garage or against an outside wall freezes. The appliance stops on a safety and it looks like a failure. Rerouting it is a small job and it is permanent.
Should my outdoor unit be up on brackets?
In Monroe County, yes. A heat pump or condenser at ground level spends part of the winter partly buried, and defrost water has to be able to leave the base rather than freeze underneath it. Raised mounting is not an upgrade here, it is the correct installation.
The upstairs is always colder. Do I need a bigger furnace?
Almost certainly not. That is an airflow problem — a branch added later, a crushed run, a damper nobody knows about, or a return far too small. Measuring the airflow at that register and comparing it with the others turns it into a number rather than an argument.
Why will you not quote a price on the website?
Because a service on a thirty-year-old oil burner and one on a two-year-old heat pump are not the same visit. We will give you a fixed figure on the phone once we know what you have.
Which areas do you cover?
Rochester, Brighton, Irondequoit, Greece, Penfield, Pittsford and Webster.
Rochester and Monroe County
28 E Main St, Rochester, NY 14614. We cover Rochester, Brighton, Irondequoit, Greece, Penfield, Pittsford and Webster.
Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 4.30pm.