The city of Pittsburgh located in the southwestern area of Pennsylvania is known to have an extremely fluctuating continental climate.
The summer temperature is either warm or very hot, and it isn’t strange to experience frequent thunderstorms. On the other hand, as expected, the winters are cold and snowy.
With such a dynamic climate, maintaining the temperature in your home can be challenging. As such, having an efficient HVAC system is crucial to dealing with these seasonal extremes.
To maintain these systems, finding and securing trustworthy services for heating and cooling in Pittsburgh is very important.
Therefore, in this article, we’ll share some tips that will help you find trusted heating and cooling services in Pittsburgh, PA.
Confirm that they are Certified, Licensed, and Insured
When you want to hire an HVAC service, the whole idea is to get professionals who are trained to handle such jobs. Therefore, it doesn’t make any sense to hire a professional that isn’t certified.
The certification these technicians possess is proof of their training and that they have been deemed fit to perform those kinds of jobs by higher authorities.
Therefore, do not just hire any technician you come across. You need to confirm that they are certified.
Ask them for their NATE certification from the North American Technician Excellence Organization as well as other relevant training certificates.
If the technicians the service company sends to you do not have these certifications, do not allow them to touch your HVAC unit.
The company must also be licensed to operate in Pittsburgh. Confirm that they are approved by the city council to work. Doing this is important to ensure you are hiring a registered company and not a fly-by-night service.
Insurance is of equal importance. The company must be insured and have coverage for its staff. Such coverage will ensure you don’t become liable if the professionals get injured when working for you.
If the company and professionals are not certified, licensed, and insured, do not hire them.
Check Reviews and Ratings
If you have a potential company you want to hire, it’s important to review them. If you know family members, friends, neighbors, or colleagues who have patronized their services, you need to find out what their experience was like.
Find out if the company did a good job and if they would hire them again if the need arises.
In case you don’t have such persons, who have done business with the heating and cooling service, you can check online. Check third-party websites to find out the ratings of these companies.
You can read this article to find out the best customer review sites for businesses. Do not use the reviews on the company’s website as a yardstick to assess them.
As you go through the review site, check the ratings or stars. If the rating is less than 4 or the star is less than 4, it’s usually advisable to avoid such services.
Furthermore, pay attention to the complaints the customers make. This will reveal the weaknesses of the professionals.
Assess Their Customer Service
A trustworthy heating and cooling service will be willing to answer any questions you have from the first time you contact them.
If you find it hard to contact the company (slow to respond, often unreachable, etc.) then don’t hire them. It’s a show that they aren’t serious about the business.
Furthermore, be careful of automated responses. Many companies automate their customer service channels. However, you need to be able to speak to a person and not only automation.
Feel free to ask as many questions as possible. We usually advise people to ask even annoying questions just to test the professionalism of customer service.
This is important because if there are issues after the job is done, you might end up sounding annoyed when you call to find out what went wrong.
Therefore, it’s better to be sure that the customer service representative will remain professional and handle your complaint.
Ensure they Inspect Your Home
Whenever you hire an HVAC company for the first time, it’s important to schedule an inspection of your house. In fact, the company should suggest this.
Any professional that gives you a quotation without doing this shouldn’t be trusted.
The inspection allows them to assess your house and the HVAC system. They’ll evaluate your home setup, and what is working and what isn’t working.
This will give them hands-on experience to help them decide the best action to take.
The inspection also works to your advantage. It gives you the chance to assess the technicians’ professionalism if they are indeed reliable. Ensure you ask them questions as well to test their knowledge.
During the inspection, ensure that you practice safety measures to protect your home, family, and property. You can check here to learn how to stay safe during home repairs.
Remember, you are still trying to assess the trustworthiness of the company, therefore, you don’t have to be careless in this regard. Even after you’ve officially hired them, you still need to follow these guidelines.
Compare Prices
Let’s face it, price plays a huge role in determining whether you’ll hire a service or not. But how does it help you determine if the professional is trustworthy?
The simple trick is to get quotations from more than 3 companies.
When you get the quotations, carefully compare them. The price range in most cases shouldn’t be so different.
If you find a company that charges way more or way less, throw their quotation into the waste bin. They might likely be trying to swindle you by either taking too much money or under-delivering.
Conclusion
Having your HVAC in proper working condition is important for Pittsburgh residents. The maintenance of these systems lies in the hands of HVAC technicians.
Finding a trusted heating and cooling service in Pittsburgh might be difficult if you don’t know what to do. Therefore, in this article, we’ve provided you with 5 tips that will help you find a trustworthy HVAC company.