Hello dear members of the forum,
My name is Meni and I wanted to share my experience here and say some good words about the company that Installed our Geo Thermal system.
If someone from New Jersey is looking for a very fine contractor, here is my testimonial:
Twelve years ago we bought our 2600
sf
house, which used propane as its heating source, the tank is owned by
the supplier (one of the major companies). For 12 years we had aggra
vation
every time we saw the tank filled. Prices went up every single year,
from $1.99 back then to $4.8 the last time we filled it in
January 10th.
At that time, we payed $1800. This was for the month of December, one
week of which we were away (We set the thermostat at 55 degrees). Not
only did we pay thousands of dollars every year for heating, but we were
also not comfortable, because we set the temperature in the house at 68
during the day and 62 at night to save money.
The last fill was the last straw, and I decided that I would
not be a slave to the propane companies any longer and I would go in a
different direction.
There is
no city gas in my street, so the other obvious option was oil. I didn't
want to go in that direction because oil is also very expensive and not
as clean as what I was used to with propane.
After some research, I found out about geothermal and I was
very intrigued. From what I have learned (every single page of this forum and all pages of the geoexchange forum) is that geothermal is
expensive to install and there are many contractors that are either
unreliable or not knowledgeable enough.
Equipped with my knowledge, I started to look for a
contractor and one of the offers I got was from Ryan company. Their
offer was not the cheapest but the reasons I signed a contract with them
were as follows:
1. The company is very established with many years of experience and is family owned.
2.
Patrick Ryan was very responsive to every phone call, answering every
question I had with amazing patience (and I had so many), and with vast
knowledge.
3. Ryan was taking care of all the procedures of the rebates
from the state, getting in advance the 30 percent tax rebate from the
bank (which we will pay later, when we get the rebate from the IRS),
getting us a $10000 zero percent loan for ten years, as well as getting
all the permits required by the state and the town.
4. The company got our house energy star certified (and helping us get the rebate for that).
5.
The most important thing for me was the fact that Ryan took care of the
whole process from start to finish, from the paperwork with the banks
and the state to the actual installation, which included the drilling.
Other contractors hire well drilling companies to do the drilling, which
is not ideal to say the least. Unexpected problems during the drilling
can make the process cost more, not to mention delays associated with
dealing with a 3rd party.
Payment were divided into 5 equal parts according to the progress in a very fair manner.
A
few days after signing the contract, their trucks were in my back yard,
starting to drill in the low 2 digits temperature, every single day,
even when it snowed. It was a very difficult job; I know because I saw
the process. It took longer than what they expected and worked much
harder and all that time I was thinking that if the drilling was done by
an outside company, it would have cost me much more. I knew that
because I read other peoples experiences.
Ryan was extremely generous with the number of the wells and
their depth, which was I would say at least 50 percent more than what
was required by the manufacturer.
When the drilling was done, I had 1
2
professionals working in my house, installing the system, doing the
plumbing and the electricity part. All of this was done in one day. I
can not say enough how professional, friendly and kind these people are,
keeping it all clean and neat and doing all they could to please us.
The installation in our utility room was meticulous; I never
saw anywhere (I was also watching so many youtube video clips of
installations...) anything so nice and neat.
I
wasn't an easy customer, calling Patrick almost every single day, but I
could always reach him with ease. He always answered his phone, and in
rare cases of getting his answer machine, he would call me within few
minutes.
The office
staff were also so kind and patient with me. I am not exaggerating when I
say that every single person I dealt with at this company was amazing.
And finally, the best part:
Ryan
installed a WaterFurnace series7.As you all know, this is the most advanced and
efficient system in the market today, giving real time information about
the performance of the system and the electricity use (instant, daily,
weekly, etc) so I could see how much energy I use at any given moment.
During half of the month of February, when the temperatures
outside were between 20-30 degrees, the system was using usually
anywhere from 1.5kwh to 2.5kwh , and that was to heat my whole house as well as our
water!
From paying $40-50 a day for not much heat in the house we
went to $2-3 a day and having constant comfortable heat and hot water.
That was beyond my expectations.
I
would also like to mention that there was a timing issue with the
propane amount that was in the tank. I didn't want to refill before we
were done with the installation and Ryan was always on the watch to make
sure that I will not get stuck without heat and I felt that they really
cared about me and my family.
Our System: Waterfurnace series 7, 3 tons unit.
4 vertical wells, each 250 feet, 1 inch diameter.
I cannot say enough how happy and fortunate I feel that
I engaged with this company. My house is open to anyone who wants to
see how a professional installation should look like. Ryan company has
my information.