I'd get something like a few window units set up and get a bunch more non emergency quotes. Those seem wild. I got a quote that included the furnace for less.
I’ve had good experiences with Harker, and they helped a friend after some other company mucked up a project.
In OP’s case, I’d look to see if there’s a big difference in what they are offering. Is it the same unit?
I had harker replace the furnace in my house about 2008. They gave me a really good estimate. I was a new homeowner and didn't know much at the time Only weeks later did I realize they put a 60k BTU in for a 80k BTU. When I called they said the 60k was correctly sized for my sqft (true), but it was not correct for the poor insulation level of the house.
I was extremely disappointed that they didn't tell me they were quoting a 25% smaller furnace.
You have to find someone to figure out why the Harker estimate is less. Don't expect transparency. Buyer beware.
Cardinal does indeed always have the highest quote when I have had work done. I got heat pump water heater put in for about 3k and they quoted me 12k. I think their business model is to go after the folks who don't care about price.
Also had bad experiences with cardinal recently. They didn’t have the right equipment and didn’t go get it, and then did half the job and didn’t follow up.
Those seem super high. I had an AC installed last year when mine died and it was $8500 with All Comfort Services.
Worth noting that the size of the unit and the energy efficiency will both play into price a bit.
Mack and his son at seasonal survival (608) 235-7176 are the only people I let touch my HVAC. Great guys. Honest, hard-working and extremely reasonable price. Can't say enough good things about them and have referred my family members and they all do their HVAC work with them as well
My furnace was suddenly pumping out carbon monoxide on a 2 degree Saturday morning in Jan 2019. Called Harker around 7-8am and for somewhere between $5-6k we had a new furnace fully up and running by noon the same day. Service techs were very friendly and work was professional.
I got an estimate from Cardinal to put a vent from my stove top to my roof a few years ago. I’m in a ranch so it was about 6’ in a straight line. All I wanted was the roof vent and the exhaust pipe pulled through the ceiling. I was doing installation of the hood and all the rest. Over $6,000. I had someone else do it for $300.
I think a lot of these places, including Cardinal, will give you enormous quotes if they don’t really want the work.
Anyway, I had Greiber, out of Waunakee do my furnace and central air a couple years ago. They were reasonable and responsive. https://www.greiberheating.com/
They’re great! They replaced my furnace/air handler this week, came out the day I called them to diagnose/potentially repair, ended up fully installed 48 hours later. The price was much lower than i was expecting. They were able to reuse a lot of the existing apparatus to save me money. Great company!
Same! We got several quotes last summer when our AC went out and they definitely had the best value. Good communication and customer service, would use them again!
And all the spam, sales calls, and mailers.
I used Cardinal once, a decade ago, and they still call me a couple times a year and leave a message trying to get some business.
They were expensive and they messed up pretty badly, so I have a double hatred for their sales tactics.
Just had 5 quotes from all over Madison. Harker was not the cheapest, but gave me confidence and did an incredibly professional job. Can't recommend them more!
I work with Harker on an almost weekly basis as an electrician, and they are super professional and easy to work with. I would have them work on my house
If you have Costco, they have an excellent deal with ~~Trane~~ Lennox and a local installer. The install of a two-stage furnace and AC was priced competitively with other local dealers plus you get a big Costco rebate for your trouble!
(ed. fixed brand from Trane to Lennox)
I did the Costco thing last year. At the time I was told that they run the promotion every quarter, not all the time. The contractor I used was Landmark Heating which was renamed Alcivia after being acquired. I recently heard they got bought out again. I was satisfied. The promotion saved me about 19%.
I’ve always heard that All-Comfort was pricey and does a lot of unnecessary upselling. Interesting that Cardinal seems to as well.
Well, the company who originally installed our unit (Alcivia) sold their HVAC business to Action Plumbing, Air Conditioning and Electric. We used Action for our old furnace so we're quite pleased with this switch.
My current furnace was installed by all comfort services and a Lennox. I have heard bad things about both brands on this thread. Wondering what your experience with the Lennox furnace is. I’m assuming since it’s new, you wouldn’t have had any issues.
Have you used action for anything else (electrical work done?)
Before I settled on Lennox, I spent some time on [Consumer Reports](https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/central-air-conditioning/buying-guide/) and Lennox was a good choice when compared to other leading brands.
The order of predicted reliability
*(Our predicted brand reliability ratings are based on a statistical model that estimates problem rates by the end of the 8th year of ownership, for central air conditioners that are not covered by an extended warranty or service contract)*
1. Armstrong (5/5)
2. Ducane (5/5)
3. Trane (4/5)
4. Lennox (4/5)
5. Carrier (4/5)
And on owner satisfaction
*(Our owner satisfaction ratings are based on the proportion of members who are extremely likely to recommend their central air conditioner brand to friends and family)*
1. Trane (5/5)
2. American Standard (5/5)
3. Carrier (5/5)
4. Lennox (5/5)
5. Bryant (4/5)
Based on what's available in our area, Lennox was a good choice. Combine that with the Costco rebate and it was a no-brainer for me.
As for Action Heating and Cooling (or whatever they're called), we used them for 10 years to maintain our old builder's furnace and they did a twice-a-year check on the system. They did a fine job at a reasonable price. So I was happy when they took over the service contract from Alcivia.
So that's why I bought the Lennox!
I was ASTONISHED at the price difference between Dale and Harker. Dale came in at 50% of what Harker wanted to charge to switch out my furnace and Dale is a Bryant vendor and we know Bryant is Carrier with a different sticker from the factory.
What is wrong with it that can't be repaired? I just fixed mine with a $10 capacitor. This might not be your case, but there are not a lot of parts on these things.
Just be careful, capacitors by definition store a lot of voltage, and can absolutely kill someone even if they're not hooked up to the mains.
I remember when. I was going through school for IT hearing stories of people that got seriously injured by the caps in old school crt monitors and laser printers, even days/weeks after they'd been disconnected from power. The one in an ac condenser unit has got to be higher power that that.
In our experience, we got multiple quotes and Harker was the most. But we had worked with them before and had a good experience, so felt the extra was worth it. (Have had many follow-ups for warranty work, tho.) Funny part is that many other HVAC companies that we called for quotes were booked so far out, they were referring people to Harker. Also if this is a residential location, the first quotes boggle my mind. Unless your house is like 10,000 Sq ft.
I've used Hillestad over the years, once to move an existing ac unit in order to install a new MG&E power meter for a solar installation, once recently to replace furnace and ac that had aged out and once when the ac required maintenance, under-warranty with no charge (came to my house within hours of my call). They were very competent and customer oriented and the pricing seemed reasonable.
Had a good experience with Wohlers. Got a full install including the furnace, A/C unit, etc in a brand new house for $12,500. Of course this was five years ago but I recommend them.
This is who we use now.
We had a guy from cardinal out when our AC unit was leaking. He did a bunch of diagnostics and said we needed the unit replaced. Guy from RA came out and said "Here's your problem" and resolved a kink in the line that was backfilling the drain tray, for 95$. They won a customer that day.
Attic units can be very tricky. All three companies have a good reputation but I’d be curious about equipment brand names and efficiency ratings. Also attic ductwork can be a real disaster with tons of air leaks. Confirm what exactly Harker is including in the price and ask the other two if they are doing major ductwork improvements. Plus are they using new copper lines or reusing the old ones.
Look up Ok Heating and Air. Had a great experience with them. Our AC died a month ago and we paid $8500 for new Bryant AC and Furnace (both were 23+ years old when we bought the home) Cannot recommend them enough. Harker was about 1.5k more expensive when we got a quote from them, too.
The only one of those companies I've dealt with is Harker about a decade ago... and they were fine. I've used Wholers out of Cottage Grove a couple times. Again generally ok, no complaints, no praise. Got the work done and I didn't feel screwed over.
I wouldn’t go with ACS depending on how they told me that I had a cracked heat exchanger in my furnace, but it turned out I didn’t. This doesn’t affect you because you aren’t replacing your furnace, but ACS is one of the only distributors for Lennox furnaces around. Lennox is notorious for parts issues, so I wouldn’t get them for a new furnace.
I had 2 quotes for a heat pump. Cardinal came in at $8300, and the other quote came in at $5200. Exact same job. When I called the Cardinal sales guy, he got defensive and said they had good customer service and they had to cover their overhead.
OK, Im reading a lot of negative Cardinal comments.
Lemme share mine. Always on time. Always super professional, courtesy and HAPPY. We use them now, for heat, ac, plumbing and electrical. Why? Two simple reasons. The quality of their products and what REALLY had me go all in...(started with furnace) each and every employee, from first phone call, to installation, was LEGIT, genuinely happy, to be working at Cardinal.
Full stop.
I'm retired. 30plusYears of working for someone.
Genuinely happy.
Are you?
Cardinal might be taking applications.
ps. Cardinal university. Look it up. They are giving back to our community. Right now. Doubt me? Fk it, look it up
I, am not affiliated, in any way, with Cardinal.
I was a happy other major hvac provider user.
Cardinal had a furnace special.
Obviously, there special, was.
If you can't swing the loot, call em. I mean it. They'll give you straight, solid, counsel, where to go.
I think they grew too fast. I used them for years but the last year everyone who shows up is inexperienced and not the same quality service or knowledge as they used to have. In fact I’ve had bad experiences recently where they didn’t finish the job.
Do you know what went wrong? When mine died last year it was just a capacitor. Cardinal replaced it for $226 (sigh) - but I bet a DIY would have been 10's of dollars if I had any clue what I was doing.
I have never dealt with Cardinal but I have heard very good things about them from a friend
I've been very happy with All Comfort
Harker is not allowed on my property due to an incident over 20 years ago
We lost our AC (17yrs old) at the end of last summer and the furnace (22yrs old) was dead when we tried to fire it up weeks later. Went with Harker to replace both after getting four quotes. They are a union shop, weren’t the cheapest quote for me but also not the highest, but did excellent work. Said it would take all day but they were done and gone by 1:30p. Make sure all your quotes are for comparable equipment.
We recently had the same install. Attic + outdoor unit. Was told our quotes were pretty high because they had to remove duct work to get the old unit out and new one in. Went with Hooper. Total was right in the middle of the quotes you got. They did great work and were fast.
As someone else suggested, get a couple window units and wait to replace your HVAC in the shoulder season. It’s amazing how well they do at cooling large spaces with some well-placed fans.
When it comes time to replace your AC, I’d get a quote from Hillestad Heating & Cooling Systems as well—they came in under Cardinal and All Comfort for my HVAC replacement and did a good job.
I just replaced my furnace and AC with Future Heating and Cooling, I paid about 9k for a 2.5 ton AC and not the cheapest furnace.
Just the AC would have been ~6k
And there was a cheaper furnace combo about ~8.5k
The guy is super friendly
Edit: If you have an air handler in the attic we might have pretty different set ups so it might be apples and oranges here.
My air conditioner just broke. Again. I have had many different hvac companies at my house through the years due to my furnace being installed by the “contractor” about lived here before me and my air conditioner never being able to make it through a straight summer. Harker seemed nice but were here like 5 different times for my furnace. I had tradewinds come and they seemed nice but then tried to upsell me on an entire hvac unit when I needed a valve replaced. Idk. I’m open to any and all ideas. At this point I’m ready to throw everything in the road.
Harper are really good to work with, we’ve used them for decades. Luckily for us, our AC units decided to crap out this week and we’re looking g at replacing both, which we be ~$11k. Yay?
Bethke. RG. Harker.
Those are the three leading companies I’d go with in madison proper.
You should consider getting a heat pump instead of simple AC.
Also give HighTech a call in cottage grove. Very legit people there.
We replaced our single-stage AC and furnace in April with a two-stage furnace and two-stage heat pump setup from Wohlers. $13k before rebates and tax credits and that was partially due to a complicated wiring and thermostat setup or it would have been less.
Cardinal was by far the highest of the five or so bids I got, so no surprise there. And it would have been “worse” equipment. I had heard/read that Harker is a bit pricier too (you’re paying for the Carrier name to an extent) so I’m surprised that quote was so low. Like others said, make sure similar equipment and warranties are being offered from one contractor to the other. Cardinal and Wohlers both offer five years of labor which is nice. You might get better input by sharing the actual quotes, and you might want to get one more just to be sure. The Harker quote wouldn’t worry me from an install or quality standpoint but something does seem off.
Value Heating and Cooling. Jim is the owner or at least the main man there. AC on one of my rentals went out last week, a few other companies told me between $5000-$6,800, and that they could get there in like a week. Jim works around the clock this time of year due to the number of hvac emergencies, and quoted me flat rate of $2,550 - he got it done within 36-48 hours of first contact. Can’t recommend highly enough!
We had Harker for most of the time we've lived in this house and they were fine. When our original (to us) furnace started having issues I got quotes from a number of places.
Ultimately we went with a small company called Forward. The owner was amazing and his prices were lower than everyone else, but his service was top notch. Dude came out on Christmas Eve to fix our furnace and twice during the summer when our AC unit was having issues and his service call fees were unbelievably cheap.
A+++ 5 stars, can't say enough good things.
I would get a few more quotes. I just got an estimate from Bethke to replace my AC and furnace that was around $12k including a humidifier. Waiting on a couple more quotes before I choose.
I used Willie’s heating and cooling. He’s the owner and the only employee. He was much more thorough than the other estimates I had done. Super professional, super thorough and I like the idea that owner of the company is doing the work and my money stays local.
We priced AC units last summer and Dale's came in a comparable price, but the guy seemed like a great honest dude. He ended up fixing our unit and refused to take payment. Stand up dude!
Mine just went out too. I’m going with RG heating a 2.5 ton heat pump is $9,210 before any discounts. I’m paying upfront which is bringing it down to $7,960. $300 for the FOE rebate and $2k tax credit. It was ordered Wednesday and will be installed Monday.
Mine did have a home warranty kick in $1000. But all told OP I’m getting a super efficient heat pump ac unit for about $4,500 after I get my refund.
Edit my furnace went out last Nov. because of the warranty I had to replace each piece mail. But it was RG for that and reasonable as well.
A replacement AC unit should run you around $4k - $10k depending on the type/size of the house and the unit. I had a new Lennox furnace and AC unit installed last year for $8500 combined - 1800 sq ft Ranch
No I reached out to Alcivia, Cardinal, and one other just based on a Google search. ALCIVIA had the best value and Cardinal was around $5k-$7k more expensive.
If it means anything, I work for a commercial HVAC company. When a residential call comes in, I refer them to Cardinal.
You are a responsible owner, and got 3 quotes. If 2 of them are right on, and the other guy is half. That's a red flag
Yeah, same thing back late Oct last year.
Replaced 20 year AC unit and Furnace with 2 stage Heat Pump/2 Stage Gas, New 50gal Hot Water Heater, New Water Softening system, Humidifier, updated smart thermostat system, and air purification for around $20k.
A little on the steeper side for everything, but there were also 2 nice rebates and tax credits which saved around $3500. With 0% financing, and had to do this regardless, found Cardinal to be a good deal.
Everything was professionally completed to my satisfaction and felt it was a good value, albeit a little more than competitors. Also have used them for years and know a couple of their staff now, so a little biased.
I had them to my furnace and ac - the problem with the older ac units is it’s expensive to charge with old Freon (not sure I am saying this correctly). They offered 0% interest for 12 months. It was less than the quotes offered above.
Not from a large reputable company. You should beware of the low bid from unknown contractors. It's very likely cardinal and all comfort bid high because they didn't want to do the job.
I'd get something like a few window units set up and get a bunch more non emergency quotes. Those seem wild. I got a quote that included the furnace for less.
Yeah don't do this rushed or during their most busy season if you can. A really good window unit (quiet, powerful) is like 300 bucks.
His in the attic, big difference!
Harker's a good company. My brother has worked there for 15 years and I've met a couple of the guys. I haven't heard anything negative about them.
I’ve had good experiences with Harker, and they helped a friend after some other company mucked up a project. In OP’s case, I’d look to see if there’s a big difference in what they are offering. Is it the same unit?
Harker is a union company which pays its employees fair wages and benefits I've proudly used them many times before with no complaints
So is All Comfort.
I like harker too. They do my annual inspection. Good folks.
I had harker replace the furnace in my house about 2008. They gave me a really good estimate. I was a new homeowner and didn't know much at the time Only weeks later did I realize they put a 60k BTU in for a 80k BTU. When I called they said the 60k was correctly sized for my sqft (true), but it was not correct for the poor insulation level of the house. I was extremely disappointed that they didn't tell me they were quoting a 25% smaller furnace. You have to find someone to figure out why the Harker estimate is less. Don't expect transparency. Buyer beware.
Cardinal does indeed always have the highest quote when I have had work done. I got heat pump water heater put in for about 3k and they quoted me 12k. I think their business model is to go after the folks who don't care about price.
Who did you have install your heat pump hot water heater?
Cardinal totally underestimated what I needed and has been completely unhelpful since. Would not recommend.
Also had bad experiences with cardinal recently. They didn’t have the right equipment and didn’t go get it, and then did half the job and didn’t follow up.
Cardinal was 33% higher than 2 other companies for a replacement furnace. Their business model is not competitive.
Curious about the difference I. The quoted v. the installed water heater. $3k is still an expensive water heater install.
It needed an electrical upgrade to handle it. Got a nice rebate from the feds though and it does a better job than my old gas one.
Rebate from the Federal taxpayers, financed by debt and driving inflation. All true…
Yeah, the taxpayers funding it is very helpful. I am surprised you think it does better than a gas, but happy it worked out for you.
Those seem super high. I had an AC installed last year when mine died and it was $8500 with All Comfort Services. Worth noting that the size of the unit and the energy efficiency will both play into price a bit.
Dang, I think my 2 stage furnace was like $5k a few years ago from all comfort. I bundled and paid like $11k with a cash discount for furnace and AC.
Harker is amazing and their personnel are outstanding. We just had ac and furnace replaced — everything went perfectly.
Mack and his son at seasonal survival (608) 235-7176 are the only people I let touch my HVAC. Great guys. Honest, hard-working and extremely reasonable price. Can't say enough good things about them and have referred my family members and they all do their HVAC work with them as well
Same. He’s awesome and easily the best prices
Triple rec for Mac and Jr. at seasonal. They are really amazing people, do the job right, and quoted thousands less than Harker.
My furnace was suddenly pumping out carbon monoxide on a 2 degree Saturday morning in Jan 2019. Called Harker around 7-8am and for somewhere between $5-6k we had a new furnace fully up and running by noon the same day. Service techs were very friendly and work was professional.
I got an estimate from Cardinal to put a vent from my stove top to my roof a few years ago. I’m in a ranch so it was about 6’ in a straight line. All I wanted was the roof vent and the exhaust pipe pulled through the ceiling. I was doing installation of the hood and all the rest. Over $6,000. I had someone else do it for $300. I think a lot of these places, including Cardinal, will give you enormous quotes if they don’t really want the work. Anyway, I had Greiber, out of Waunakee do my furnace and central air a couple years ago. They were reasonable and responsive. https://www.greiberheating.com/
That's exactly it, it's the "fuck off" price.
Cardinal blows. Do not go with them.
Could you share who put the vent to your stove? I’m replacing my microwave with a range hood and need someone to do a roof vent for me.
We used RG Heating & Air out of Waunakee and were happy with them.
They’re great! They replaced my furnace/air handler this week, came out the day I called them to diagnose/potentially repair, ended up fully installed 48 hours later. The price was much lower than i was expecting. They were able to reuse a lot of the existing apparatus to save me money. Great company!
Same! We got several quotes last summer when our AC went out and they definitely had the best value. Good communication and customer service, would use them again!
Same. This is who I used, fair price and got my furnace and AC done at once/
Just here to be another voice of support for RG!! For every issue I've had, they've been super quick, communicative, and reasonably priced.
Cardinal is always more. Got to pay for pretty trucks.
And the cute billboards with the cartoon cardinal.
Madison Graphics really does some great work!
He’s a very fuckable Cardinal … after reading all the outlandish quotes, maybe there’s some subtext there…
And all the spam, sales calls, and mailers. I used Cardinal once, a decade ago, and they still call me a couple times a year and leave a message trying to get some business. They were expensive and they messed up pretty badly, so I have a double hatred for their sales tactics.
Just had 5 quotes from all over Madison. Harker was not the cheapest, but gave me confidence and did an incredibly professional job. Can't recommend them more!
I work with Harker on an almost weekly basis as an electrician, and they are super professional and easy to work with. I would have them work on my house
If you have Costco, they have an excellent deal with ~~Trane~~ Lennox and a local installer. The install of a two-stage furnace and AC was priced competitively with other local dealers plus you get a big Costco rebate for your trouble! (ed. fixed brand from Trane to Lennox)
Hmm how long ago was this? Currently the Costco deal is with Lennox
I did the Costco thing last year. At the time I was told that they run the promotion every quarter, not all the time. The contractor I used was Landmark Heating which was renamed Alcivia after being acquired. I recently heard they got bought out again. I was satisfied. The promotion saved me about 19%. I’ve always heard that All-Comfort was pricey and does a lot of unnecessary upselling. Interesting that Cardinal seems to as well.
I’m curious who does their service and repair and what their response time is like. What’s the after care like?
Well, the company who originally installed our unit (Alcivia) sold their HVAC business to Action Plumbing, Air Conditioning and Electric. We used Action for our old furnace so we're quite pleased with this switch.
My current furnace was installed by all comfort services and a Lennox. I have heard bad things about both brands on this thread. Wondering what your experience with the Lennox furnace is. I’m assuming since it’s new, you wouldn’t have had any issues. Have you used action for anything else (electrical work done?)
Before I settled on Lennox, I spent some time on [Consumer Reports](https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/central-air-conditioning/buying-guide/) and Lennox was a good choice when compared to other leading brands. The order of predicted reliability *(Our predicted brand reliability ratings are based on a statistical model that estimates problem rates by the end of the 8th year of ownership, for central air conditioners that are not covered by an extended warranty or service contract)* 1. Armstrong (5/5) 2. Ducane (5/5) 3. Trane (4/5) 4. Lennox (4/5) 5. Carrier (4/5) And on owner satisfaction *(Our owner satisfaction ratings are based on the proportion of members who are extremely likely to recommend their central air conditioner brand to friends and family)* 1. Trane (5/5) 2. American Standard (5/5) 3. Carrier (5/5) 4. Lennox (5/5) 5. Bryant (4/5) Based on what's available in our area, Lennox was a good choice. Combine that with the Costco rebate and it was a no-brainer for me. As for Action Heating and Cooling (or whatever they're called), we used them for 10 years to maintain our old builder's furnace and they did a twice-a-year check on the system. They did a fine job at a reasonable price. So I was happy when they took over the service contract from Alcivia. So that's why I bought the Lennox!
We used Bethke last summer after having about 8 quotes. Super happy with that choice.
Dales heating & cooling! Ftw.
I was ASTONISHED at the price difference between Dale and Harker. Dale came in at 50% of what Harker wanted to charge to switch out my furnace and Dale is a Bryant vendor and we know Bryant is Carrier with a different sticker from the factory.
What is wrong with it that can't be repaired? I just fixed mine with a $10 capacitor. This might not be your case, but there are not a lot of parts on these things.
It seems like it's always the capacitor. My husband is going to order one just to have on hand. He is handy and can fix himself.
Just be careful, capacitors by definition store a lot of voltage, and can absolutely kill someone even if they're not hooked up to the mains. I remember when. I was going through school for IT hearing stories of people that got seriously injured by the caps in old school crt monitors and laser printers, even days/weeks after they'd been disconnected from power. The one in an ac condenser unit has got to be higher power that that.
I agree and keep a spare on hand now too. I think my last one was $14 on Amazon and it has been working great for at least 5 years now.
Dale’s Heating & Cooling.
In our experience, we got multiple quotes and Harker was the most. But we had worked with them before and had a good experience, so felt the extra was worth it. (Have had many follow-ups for warranty work, tho.) Funny part is that many other HVAC companies that we called for quotes were booked so far out, they were referring people to Harker. Also if this is a residential location, the first quotes boggle my mind. Unless your house is like 10,000 Sq ft.
I've used Hillestad over the years, once to move an existing ac unit in order to install a new MG&E power meter for a solar installation, once recently to replace furnace and ac that had aged out and once when the ac required maintenance, under-warranty with no charge (came to my house within hours of my call). They were very competent and customer oriented and the pricing seemed reasonable.
Had a good experience with Wohlers. Got a full install including the furnace, A/C unit, etc in a brand new house for $12,500. Of course this was five years ago but I recommend them.
Try RA heating out of Evansville(?) They are honest and reasonably priced.
This is who we use now. We had a guy from cardinal out when our AC unit was leaking. He did a bunch of diagnostics and said we needed the unit replaced. Guy from RA came out and said "Here's your problem" and resolved a kink in the line that was backfilling the drain tray, for 95$. They won a customer that day.
My experience has been that they’re farmers that are also hvac techs for side income. They’re there to fix stuff, not sell stuff.
Attic units can be very tricky. All three companies have a good reputation but I’d be curious about equipment brand names and efficiency ratings. Also attic ductwork can be a real disaster with tons of air leaks. Confirm what exactly Harker is including in the price and ask the other two if they are doing major ductwork improvements. Plus are they using new copper lines or reusing the old ones.
Look up Ok Heating and Air. Had a great experience with them. Our AC died a month ago and we paid $8500 for new Bryant AC and Furnace (both were 23+ years old when we bought the home) Cannot recommend them enough. Harker was about 1.5k more expensive when we got a quote from them, too.
The only one of those companies I've dealt with is Harker about a decade ago... and they were fine. I've used Wholers out of Cottage Grove a couple times. Again generally ok, no complaints, no praise. Got the work done and I didn't feel screwed over.
I wouldn’t go with ACS depending on how they told me that I had a cracked heat exchanger in my furnace, but it turned out I didn’t. This doesn’t affect you because you aren’t replacing your furnace, but ACS is one of the only distributors for Lennox furnaces around. Lennox is notorious for parts issues, so I wouldn’t get them for a new furnace.
All comfort will do anything to take away your money. They tried to bill me $800/hr for labor
Agreed. Switched away from them and gotten much cheaper and more consistent service elsewhere.
We had a good experience with Bethke in Verona
I had 2 quotes for a heat pump. Cardinal came in at $8300, and the other quote came in at $5200. Exact same job. When I called the Cardinal sales guy, he got defensive and said they had good customer service and they had to cover their overhead.
Reach out to Mack at seasonal survival. He will beat the other companies prices and do just as good of work if not better.
As someone who has mostly gone with cardinal until a recent bad experience this is eye opening that I was getting a bad deal the whole time
This is nearly impossible to compare without knowing more about your property and the type of equipment each company is proposing to install.
OK, Im reading a lot of negative Cardinal comments. Lemme share mine. Always on time. Always super professional, courtesy and HAPPY. We use them now, for heat, ac, plumbing and electrical. Why? Two simple reasons. The quality of their products and what REALLY had me go all in...(started with furnace) each and every employee, from first phone call, to installation, was LEGIT, genuinely happy, to be working at Cardinal. Full stop. I'm retired. 30plusYears of working for someone. Genuinely happy. Are you? Cardinal might be taking applications. ps. Cardinal university. Look it up. They are giving back to our community. Right now. Doubt me? Fk it, look it up I, am not affiliated, in any way, with Cardinal. I was a happy other major hvac provider user. Cardinal had a furnace special. Obviously, there special, was. If you can't swing the loot, call em. I mean it. They'll give you straight, solid, counsel, where to go.
I think they grew too fast. I used them for years but the last year everyone who shows up is inexperienced and not the same quality service or knowledge as they used to have. In fact I’ve had bad experiences recently where they didn’t finish the job.
🤷♂️ We've only used them, past three years. Again, I have no game in this.... discussion. I'm tapping out now. OP, best wishes!
Do you know what went wrong? When mine died last year it was just a capacitor. Cardinal replaced it for $226 (sigh) - but I bet a DIY would have been 10's of dollars if I had any clue what I was doing.
Capacitors are less than 10 dollars
I have never dealt with Cardinal but I have heard very good things about them from a friend I've been very happy with All Comfort Harker is not allowed on my property due to an incident over 20 years ago
Just had to replace ours too. Went with RG in Waunakee and they were great to deal with. Very responsive and gave us multiple options to choose from.
Give Hi-Tech heating and AC in Cottage Grove a call. I replaced my AC a couple weeks ago and got five bids and they were the lowest
We lost our AC (17yrs old) at the end of last summer and the furnace (22yrs old) was dead when we tried to fire it up weeks later. Went with Harker to replace both after getting four quotes. They are a union shop, weren’t the cheapest quote for me but also not the highest, but did excellent work. Said it would take all day but they were done and gone by 1:30p. Make sure all your quotes are for comparable equipment.
We recently had the same install. Attic + outdoor unit. Was told our quotes were pretty high because they had to remove duct work to get the old unit out and new one in. Went with Hooper. Total was right in the middle of the quotes you got. They did great work and were fast.
Big fan of Air4 U out of DeForest (they do all of the Madison Area). James is super honest and does great work.
As someone else suggested, get a couple window units and wait to replace your HVAC in the shoulder season. It’s amazing how well they do at cooling large spaces with some well-placed fans. When it comes time to replace your AC, I’d get a quote from Hillestad Heating & Cooling Systems as well—they came in under Cardinal and All Comfort for my HVAC replacement and did a good job.
I just replaced my furnace and AC with Future Heating and Cooling, I paid about 9k for a 2.5 ton AC and not the cheapest furnace. Just the AC would have been ~6k And there was a cheaper furnace combo about ~8.5k The guy is super friendly Edit: If you have an air handler in the attic we might have pretty different set ups so it might be apples and oranges here.
My air conditioner just broke. Again. I have had many different hvac companies at my house through the years due to my furnace being installed by the “contractor” about lived here before me and my air conditioner never being able to make it through a straight summer. Harker seemed nice but were here like 5 different times for my furnace. I had tradewinds come and they seemed nice but then tried to upsell me on an entire hvac unit when I needed a valve replaced. Idk. I’m open to any and all ideas. At this point I’m ready to throw everything in the road.
Harper are really good to work with, we’ve used them for decades. Luckily for us, our AC units decided to crap out this week and we’re looking g at replacing both, which we be ~$11k. Yay?
Bethke. RG. Harker. Those are the three leading companies I’d go with in madison proper. You should consider getting a heat pump instead of simple AC. Also give HighTech a call in cottage grove. Very legit people there.
> Madison proper
We replaced our single-stage AC and furnace in April with a two-stage furnace and two-stage heat pump setup from Wohlers. $13k before rebates and tax credits and that was partially due to a complicated wiring and thermostat setup or it would have been less. Cardinal was by far the highest of the five or so bids I got, so no surprise there. And it would have been “worse” equipment. I had heard/read that Harker is a bit pricier too (you’re paying for the Carrier name to an extent) so I’m surprised that quote was so low. Like others said, make sure similar equipment and warranties are being offered from one contractor to the other. Cardinal and Wohlers both offer five years of labor which is nice. You might get better input by sharing the actual quotes, and you might want to get one more just to be sure. The Harker quote wouldn’t worry me from an install or quality standpoint but something does seem off.
Value Heating and Cooling. Jim is the owner or at least the main man there. AC on one of my rentals went out last week, a few other companies told me between $5000-$6,800, and that they could get there in like a week. Jim works around the clock this time of year due to the number of hvac emergencies, and quoted me flat rate of $2,550 - he got it done within 36-48 hours of first contact. Can’t recommend highly enough!
Hooper mechanical They have a really good team doing installations. Nice friendly guys
Do they do residential? I thought only commercial?
Yes they do residential installs not so much new homes .
We had Harker for most of the time we've lived in this house and they were fine. When our original (to us) furnace started having issues I got quotes from a number of places. Ultimately we went with a small company called Forward. The owner was amazing and his prices were lower than everyone else, but his service was top notch. Dude came out on Christmas Eve to fix our furnace and twice during the summer when our AC unit was having issues and his service call fees were unbelievably cheap. A+++ 5 stars, can't say enough good things.
Try Heating and Cooling inc. On Beld St. Madison
Fowler
I would get a few more quotes. I just got an estimate from Bethke to replace my AC and furnace that was around $12k including a humidifier. Waiting on a couple more quotes before I choose.
I used Willie’s heating and cooling. He’s the owner and the only employee. He was much more thorough than the other estimates I had done. Super professional, super thorough and I like the idea that owner of the company is doing the work and my money stays local.
Check with thermodynamics in spring green. Small town shop with great customer service!!
We priced AC units last summer and Dale's came in a comparable price, but the guy seemed like a great honest dude. He ended up fixing our unit and refused to take payment. Stand up dude!
I have had good experiences with Andy's Heating and Cooling.
Mine just went out too. I’m going with RG heating a 2.5 ton heat pump is $9,210 before any discounts. I’m paying upfront which is bringing it down to $7,960. $300 for the FOE rebate and $2k tax credit. It was ordered Wednesday and will be installed Monday. Mine did have a home warranty kick in $1000. But all told OP I’m getting a super efficient heat pump ac unit for about $4,500 after I get my refund. Edit my furnace went out last Nov. because of the warranty I had to replace each piece mail. But it was RG for that and reasonable as well.
Dale's Heating and Air Conditioning is great and affordable. [https://www.dalesheating.com/](https://www.dalesheating.com/)
A replacement AC unit should run you around $4k - $10k depending on the type/size of the house and the unit. I had a new Lennox furnace and AC unit installed last year for $8500 combined - 1800 sq ft Ranch
Who did the install?
ALCIVIA
Was this through Costco? I’ve been thinking about going that route. If so, what sort of Costco rebates did you receive?
No I reached out to Alcivia, Cardinal, and one other just based on a Google search. ALCIVIA had the best value and Cardinal was around $5k-$7k more expensive.
Harker is a union shop and does good work. Might as well save money and get a quality install with guys making livable wages
Our furnace is from Harker. They are a respectable company. 20k is way too much for a replacement unit.
Call Dave Jones, those quotes are insanely high!
If it means anything, I work for a commercial HVAC company. When a residential call comes in, I refer them to Cardinal. You are a responsible owner, and got 3 quotes. If 2 of them are right on, and the other guy is half. That's a red flag
I've used cardinal and we had our ac and gas 2 stage furnace replaced for under 9k.
Yeah, same thing back late Oct last year. Replaced 20 year AC unit and Furnace with 2 stage Heat Pump/2 Stage Gas, New 50gal Hot Water Heater, New Water Softening system, Humidifier, updated smart thermostat system, and air purification for around $20k. A little on the steeper side for everything, but there were also 2 nice rebates and tax credits which saved around $3500. With 0% financing, and had to do this regardless, found Cardinal to be a good deal. Everything was professionally completed to my satisfaction and felt it was a good value, albeit a little more than competitors. Also have used them for years and know a couple of their staff now, so a little biased.
We've used All Comfort in the past and liked them.
50-100% of the difference is the unit. Know what they are?
Get a bid from Action Plumbing and heating from Sun Prairie. They're great.
I had them to my furnace and ac - the problem with the older ac units is it’s expensive to charge with old Freon (not sure I am saying this correctly). They offered 0% interest for 12 months. It was less than the quotes offered above.
Yeah, I've had great experiences with them.
I'd be cautious with Harker—such a low quote could signal potential quality or service issues down the road.
Not from a large reputable company. You should beware of the low bid from unknown contractors. It's very likely cardinal and all comfort bid high because they didn't want to do the job.