Thank you Jim , Larry, and most of all Pedro aka Pete for most of all making the experience of putting in a whole new system painless. Your care to details absolutely fantastic. Thank you for allowing me to have some say so . Having a friendly installer is ok ...but having one that knows what he's doing at every step of the project was phenomenal. I look forward to having you guys service my cooling and heating system in the future when needed . Glad I went with you guys. Eddie Perez read more

After buying a new house and finding out the furnace was cracked and leaking CO2 in our house, I did a lot of research and met with about 5 different companies. Jim Carney was our contact at American Home Heating & Air Conditioning. We initially trusted him, more so than any other person we met with. He looked at our current situation, offered 3 different options and explained the pros and cons of each. He was patient with my inane questions and explained things in such a way we all could understand. We had our new furnace installed this week (in anticipation of the winter) and everything is working wonderfully. The installers cleaned up after themselves; I couldn't even tell they were there except for the new manual on the counter. We'll be having them install our AC if/when that fails us too. Highly recommended! read more

I called American Home after waking up to realize my heat was off again, only this time it obviously wasn't going to simply kick back on. Now, I've been having issues with the heat turning off randomly since I purchased this 2 flat a couple years ago. The flame sensor was replaced, and the issues continued. I made the mistake of using a guy on Craigslist last week who basically made a quick 100 bucks to tell me he'd fix it for 500. Fast forward to Julian from American Home. To be frank, I pretty much assumed try and sell me a new furnace, and at the very least, that I'd end up dishing out half the cost of a one. Not the case. Julian was highly professional, he knew exactly what he was doing, and had my heat on in about 60 seconds. Turns out a tube was clogged. I greatly appreciate that this company clearly does not create a culture among it's employees that encourages needless gouging. In these times, that says a lot. I highly recommend this company. read more

I had them install a boiler over 20 years ago and have used them for service ever since. Never had a problem getting service when needed. They always check with you to set up an appointment for an annual inspection. Service is always great. Steve the service technician is great to work with. He really knows what he is doing. Wanda S. read more

In some ways I feel a little bad about writing this update. In other ways, I feel a little deceptive in leaving my original review at 5 stars. I feel bad because these people were great the first time and are nice. We've moved since my first review, to a flip, everything is new. Problem is we're not getting much heat or a/c to the second floor. I called here to see if someone could come take a look. Granted it was the beginning of heating season so every place is swamped, bad timing on my part, I know, I understand and can be patient. I got put on the board but call back if you don't hear from us in a week and a half or so they said. Called back since I hadn't heard from them and they begrudgingly made an appointment for us, though they pretty well predetermined over the phone that they didn't know what the problem was, they didn't think they could find the problem, and this was wasting everyone's time. The guy came out, did a lot of walking around (the husband tailed him around, not me) inside and out, determined that it was a bad duct design, the only thing we could do is install a second furnace on the second floor but that's not code and is illegal. $95 please. I feel a little taken. I dunno. I'm getting conflicting opinions about the problem from various sources so I still have no real idea. I mean, they were really great the first time. Not so great or helpful the second. The search for a fantastic HVAC company continues I guess. read more

A nice little family run home heating and air-conditioning business. Pros: Friendly Cons: None Cost: $$$ of 5 Overall Rating: 4 of 5 Recommendation: Recommended read more

American Home Heating installed two new central air conditioners and a new boiler in my home several years ago and have been servicing both ever since. I shopped around a lot before giving them my business, and, in retrospect, I think that I made a very good decision. Their installation work was great and after sale service very good too. I'd give the five stars if I hadn't needed a couple of call backs, both of which were completely resolved at no further cost to me. If you need a new installation or you're looking for a service company, give them a call. read more

I own several apartments in Chicago and have been using Am. Home Heating for 15 years. "Bob" who dispatches the crew, is a courteous and ethical man. They are timely and very honest. Over the years, I've called this crew at least 2 dozen times and they also service my home. They have performed everything from easy fix-its to installation of A/C's and new furnaces. If you want an ethical and honest outfit, don't look elsewhere. read more

I recently had some issues with my A/C after having just moved to Chicago. I had installed a Nest unit and didn't think that could have been related since the installation was simple and straight forward. Steve Cathers was the technician I worked with and he had extensive knowledge of some common issues that can occur when installing a Nest and knew right away what was causing my issues. He made some quick wire changes and also swapped out a faulty capacitor he found on the outside unit and I'm back in business before the heat wave this weekend. Polite, friendly, professional and quick. Thanks a bunch! read more

After speaking with the owner Larry, this evening and understanding the star rating system that yelp uses, I am updating my rating as I don't feel the need for American's rating to be compromised due to my review. That was not the intent of the review and Larry took the time to contact us to follow up. All in all, as I remarked in my previous review, the service and work were both acceptable. read more

While Larry is correct in stating that the purple PVC PRIMER is dyed that color so that inspectors can see that it was used, he is incorrect in stating that it was used in my installation. I made a point to look at the container that the installers used and it was PVC CLEANER, not PVC PRIMER. Thankfully they did use the correct PVC CEMENT. If it was PVC PRIMER, it would be purple in any case, which is REQUIRED BY CODE WHERE I LIVE. PVC CLEANER does NOT replace PVC PRIMER. If Larry has any doubts, I encourage him to look up the code for Harwood Heights and Cook County and have his installers return and re-install the piping using PVC PRIMER and PVC CEMENT so that it meets the code. I would be more than happy to give American Home Heating & Air Conditioning 5 stars at that time, because other than that, my experience was a good one, and my AC and heat work great. read more

Bob is very nice. But he said 8:30 am. When i called at 9 to ask why nobody was here yet, he was very nice when he told me that they would be there in 1 or maybe 2 hours. I understand when the weather suddenly gets nice, his business probably gets crazy busy. But if you tell someone 8:30 am, and it really is going to be more like 11, you should be up-front about that. I don't mind the later time, but now I am stuck waiting around for 2 hours more than I planned on, and that isn't including the time it will take to check out and possibly fix the a/c unit. read more

In terms of service I would give 5 stars. The repair man was knowledgeable, friendly, and did a good job. But in terms of business ethics, I would give negative stars if possible. They charged me $300+ for less than an hours' worth of work, replacing a capacitor in my AC unit and installing a hard start capacitor. Each item they charged over $100 each, which I assumed was within reason. This fixed my AC unit, which works great now. After they left, I did some online shopping, and found each part (same brand and model) being sold from MAJOR RETAILERS for $8-$11 each. I understand a ~20% price hike, everyone needs to eat. But a $90-$100 price hike per item is unacceptable. So I called them and disputed the charges, to which their response was "this is the price we pay for the parts + labor costs". But, according to their website, they "charge by the hour", plus they had already charged a service fee ($95). If it was less than an 1 hours work, and they already charged the service fee, WHAT OTHER LABOR CHARGES ARE THEY CHARGING ME FOR? The repairman already had the parts in his truck, he didn't need to custom order anything or even leave the property. Whoever I talked to was a broken record about how these are the set prices they pay from the manufacturer blah blah blah, which is insane since I am sure they buy in bulk. DO NOT TRUST their quotes, they are shady. Do research on the spot, and don't be scammed like I was. read more

They put in a brand new central AC unit 6 years ago. Lasted 2 years before it started to leak. Now I'm told it's shot and was never installed properly. Compressor is shot so I paid $2200 for 6 years of air. read more

Have used them for years and always first-rate service--from the dispatch people to the repairmen Steve and Jay. Don't hesitate to call them if you are in need. Thanks for saving the day today Steve and American Home! read more

They (led by crew boss Steve) took apart old furnace, to lug it up a steep flight of stairs, and lugged new one downstairs to install it. Also, they installed new piping, incl. some as backups. Also, Jay returned for a service call when basement flooding doused the water heater pilot, and spent hours giving super advice on options about the sump pump etc. issues, until the water level got down to where he could work. Jay gave us the best service call we ever paid for. Major work, handled professionally and safely. My quibbles are too minor to be worth mention here. read more

Initial impressions were pretty good. They were quick to answer their phones and were able to send out techs later that day. The techs were thorough in their assessment and did the work in a timely fashion. The real hard work came a few days later when another tech, Jay, had to come and clean the boiler, which apparently hadn't been done for who knows how long. We just bought the place, so we didn't know for sure, but he did an exceptional job. Why not 5 stars? Well, it was apparent that not all the radiators were checked following start up of the boiler. Several still had lots of air in them when I did the follow up check a week later. Overall, competent, and also gave me some good advice about a hot water heater. Can't comment on pricing, because plumbers are never cheap. At least the ones who know what they are doing. read more

We have been using American home heating since we moved into our home in 2002. Whenever we had an issue with our furnace or air conditioner, they were very quick to respond and handled our needs quickly and professionally. read more

Before today, I would have recommended them. They installed my current furnace and the previous furnace for the owners before me. They installed my current A/C and most likely the A/C for the previous owner (the daughter of the person who actually built my home). They were quite competent. I have no way of comparing them to others, but I was satisfied. They were even quite understanding of the notion that since the humidifier broke, that they would be there for me if I had any trouble with installing the new humidifier myself, since they would charge me eight hundred while a new one was only three hundred. However, we have a difference in understanding of what expected level of service means with long-term human relationships. When I turned on my new humidifier, everything worked perfectly, except that when I turned the water back on, the valve that supplies the water to the humidifier was leaking thru the handle. I have turned on many different values over my 53 years and I assumed, as anyone would I think, that this was not normal and that it was broken and needed to be replaced, so I called them and explained my situation. I did agree to the $95 charge for a normal service call. I did not want to deal with changing the valve. $95 was a good price. He arrives and tells me that the valve is fine. Those types of valves are called saddle valves and they frequently do leak until you keep spinning them until it it will not spin any more until it is in a fully open position. And he proceeded to charge me for the $95 visit. I could have had a full furnace inspection for that much. He was done in 30 seconds. I protested and the office agreed to bump it down to $75. I paid and called the owner letting him know that I did not appreciate having someone charge me to come to my door and tell me to my face what could have easily been handled with a simple phone call. In my mind, a business that installs saddle valves every day that receives a call saying that this valve that they previously installed is leaking thru the handle, should have immediately realized that this long-standing customer just did not know that this was normal and that he should just keep turning until it is fully open. Before we go out there, let's give him a call to save the aggravation of a service visit. If that does not work, THEN we will be glad to come out. The owner's reply was that they would go out of business if they did that and maybe the valve was in fact faulty. They would not know until they looked at it. He stood by his procedures. I say bull. This is not how you create the loyal customers that keep you in business and spread positive word of mouth. This is not how my grandfather (a plumber) would have handled it. This is now how I would have handled it providing tech support. This was clearly an L1 situation that did not require a personal visit by L2 staff. No one would go out of business letting people in on the secret of how saddle valves work over the phone. Yes, they would have known that the valve was not faulty the moment it stopped leaking when the customer fully opened the valve. Yes, they could have even charged $25 for placing the phone call to help them stay in business. It is worth mentioning that after that visit, I looked up the term saddle valve and this valve looks nothing like any of the photos and does not use a puncture method to get to the water in the pipe, but is simply a valve screwed into a normal T junction, so the risk of failure was low, as they should know, as they installed it. read more

Hired AHH for a clean and inspect. On the phone I was quoted a flat rate, after the work was complete, the final bill was 25% higher. When I called to complain, I was told that the quoted rate was hourly and the tech spent more time than the allotted 1 hour. Here's the problem: I know the difference between a flat rate and an hourly rate. What I heard was flat rate, thus a major reason for choosing them. Later that was switched to an hourly rate, oh and by the way pay us 25% more. Not very professional. This belittles the quality of the work that was done, which was ok. After all, if they switched rates for a simple clean/inspect, what would they do for other more complicated work? Couple that with heir nonchalant attitude... and I think I will use one of their many well- qualified and well-reviewed competitors for futurer work. Update: AHH called me back to explain that most clean/inspect visits last an hour, thus the original fee for 1 hour's worth of work at their standard hourly rate. The tech spent more than 1 hour there, which is true, to do a thorough cleaning on a neglected furnace, which is not surprising as the previous home owners did not invest in furnace upkeep. AHH said they'd pay more attention to flat vs hourly quotes and refunded me difference from the service visit. Though precipated by the Yelp review, I do believe that their effort to make things right was sincere. This may have been an isolated incident, framed by assumptions on both our parts as to what was quoted vs what was needed. Kudos to AHH for taking the time to follow up. read more

American Home Heating recently installed a new steam boiler for me. Larry, who is the the owner of the company, came out on a Saturday to do an assessment on the proper size boiler that was needed. He explained the different options but made sure that I understood why his recommendation would be the best choice. I feel that he was very honest and knowledgeable. His crew of 3 came over to remove the old unit and install the new one. They were on time, worked efficiently and were very professional. They made sure the system was operating properly and explained the maintenance involved ( there is actually very little ). Fair pricing, knowledgeable and efficient crew, high quality parts. read more

A few years ago, my furnace stopping working in February. The first company that I called came out and told me I needed a new furnace. Then, I called American Home to come out and give me a second opinion. The technican removed, cleaned and replaced a tiny part of the furnace. The furnace started right up and has (fortunately) worked fine since then. American Home has serviced my elderly, low-quality gas furnace every fall now for the past five years. The technicans and service manager are friendly and nice. The prices are fair and service is timely. Most importantly, the company is honest. Call them! read more

We had our boiler installed many years ago by this company and they did a very nice job. We've had them out a couple of times for cleaning and tune up over the years and have been satisfied with their work. We recently had an issue where we came home and found the heat to be off. I checked the boiler and the pilot light had gone out. I tried to relight the pilot, but after ignition, it would not stay lit. I figured it might be a bad thermocouple and went about replacing it as that was a $10 part and is the cause of the problem a good majority of the time. After replacing the thermocouple, the gas was still flowing fine and I went about lighting the pilot, but it would not stay lit. My next guess was the gas control valve was not functioning properly. I was running out of daylight so I let the family know it would be a cold night in the house and asked my better half to call American in the morning to have someone come out, so I would not have to take the day off of work. I looked up the valve online and let my wife know that it was about a $90-$125 part. I figured it would be an unwanted round trip cost of about $250-$275 to get this fixed. A technician came out in the morning and found that the gas control valve needed to be replaced as suspected. He quoted as $95 an hour labor (about an hour of labor) and $240 for valve and thermocouple. As we had no heat, and we had them out there already, we said okay to the work, as my wife said that she was reading that other people had paid about this amount for a valve. For what it's worth, they came out first thing in the morning when available, the technician was polite and courteous and he did a good job replacing the valve, and we agreed to the pricing for the labor and for the parts. As a tradesman I know (and agree) that most of the time when you are utilizing repair technicians, you are paying for their knowledge and expertise first and the physical labor second and I have no problem with that. Parts are just consumables that need to be purchased in order to do the repairs. I think the valve cost was a little high and I also understand that as a business they need to mark the items up due to having them in inventory and fallout. I would have felt better if they charged me more for the labor and kept the part cost down in a more reasonable range as it is one of those variables that is just to easy to use as a comparable. Good news is, we have heat. Bad news is that in my haste to get this done, I agreed to pay double the cost for a component that I should have bought and installed myself in order to save a couple hundred dollars. I can't knock American as they were upfront with the scope and cost of the parts and work. I am more disappointed in myself that I didn't purchase the valve and do the work myself. American did the job they agreed to do for the cost that I agreed to. read more

It turned out they couldn't fix my problem (not their fault - our AC unit is 40+ years old and they don't work with our specific type of AC). However, they had someone out to look at the unit within 2 hours of me calling this morning. Larry was friendly & knowledgeable, and told us the specific terminology that we needed to use when calling other places so that we'd get someone here who could fix our dinosaur. I will definitely call them for maintenance on my home heating/AC unit! read more

Just had my second and last experience with American Home Heating & Air Conditioning. Reason ... the people they send don't want to do their job and seem tp look for any reason to avoid work. I don't know if it is b/c they have too much work and are busy, don't know what they are doing, or are just jaggoffs .... The first tech that came 2 years ago wouldn't even go in my attic to service my furnace. I had to use his flashlight, climb up the small ladder and put his nose towards where my furnace was and ask him kindly to please go over and service it. Finally he climbed up there and then came down 1 minute later and tried to tell me he serviced it completely. After questioning him what exactly he accomplished in 1 minute, I had to go up there with him just to get the help I was paying for. Suspect he even knew what he was doing. I figured based on all the great reviews on Yelp and Angies List that maybe I just got a lazy tech that was too busy. My wife tried them again today and I got a different technician that was again very unhelpful and looking for any excuse not to have to do anything. Very unimpressed with the technicians at this company. This is the face of your company and the reason people hire you for the service they require. I am not an expert in this area, you are supposed to be. If you aren't, at least do a better job pretending you are and not just there to check a box that you 'did your job' and collect money. Bottom line ... You can surely find better assistance than from American Home Heating & Air Conditioning. read more

They really saved the day! On a hot day 91 degrees I came home to a house that was 80 degrees with a broken air conditioner. I called and they said they could be out the next afternoon. They called back and said they could do the next morning. I told them I would love to use your service but I have 2 small kids and I have to get it fixed. They said we do not want to lose you as a customer we will send someone out today. They were here in 2 hours and got the air up and running. I am very grateful for their prompt and excellent customer service. I would highly recommend them. read more

My mom's A/C went out during the last heat spell. She called Steve. He was able to get the motor she needed ASAP and she's a happy customer! read more

Yet again, American Home ("AH") came through. We, like a lot of our neighborhood, had water in the basement and our water heater was not working. Efforts to re-light the pilot were unsuccessful. AH got someone out the next day. Jay showed up right on time and, after checking out everything, determined that the pilot had finally dried out, re-lit it, and we were good to go, for just the price of the service call. He did not try to sell me a new part or a new water heater. He just fixed it and was one his way, all for a fair price. This is standard for American Home. We first started using AH about 6 years ago at our prior home. Another company twice failed to show for an appointment to put in a new air conditioner. So, we called AH. The AH guy who came out checked everything out; told us we did not need a new air conditioner; showed me why the "signs of water damage" that the other company used to justify replacing the air conditioner were BS; and showed me that it was simply a malfunctioning sensor/safety cut-off that was at issue. He replaced that and was out the door for about $100 instead of the several thousand dollars that the other company was going to charge. In our current home, we used AH when our furnace and air conditioner gave up the ghost last year (which we knew was on the horizon from our home inspection). AH did the job for a fair price (family member is a contractor's rep and we checked with him), used high quality materials, was on time, and even fixed some piping issues on our water heater gratis just because it only took them 15 minute to do and was in the same part of our home. 5 Stars. read more

I have used American Home Heating Company (AHHC) for about 15 years now. This is the second furnace we had installed by them and for the most part they do a very good job. Their sheet metal work is outstanding. However a week ago we had a 23 year furnace that due to its 80% efficiency rating and that fact the I was tired of replacing worn parts it was decided to install a new HE 2 Stage unit. The physical installation was very good and as I stated the sheet metal work was outstanding. However I was beyond furious when I inspected how the furnace was wired. A two stage furnace can be controlled by a single stage or older thermostat however, the dip switches on the control board need to be set properly in order for the furnace to properly control the 2nd stage engagement. When I removed the access panel the dip switches were not properly set to allow for control by the older thermostat. In the as installed condition the 2nd stage would never engage. In addition a 24 volt transformer was installed for the humdifier. Instead of properly mounting the transformer is was simply zip-tied in place. That method does work however, that is not a professional way to install it. For me HVAC is not complicated by any stretch (even reclaiming and filling a compressor as it is just temperature and pressure) so I elected to replace the thermostat and remove the transformer and let the new thermostat control the humidifier and 2nd stage properly. I then used a anemometer to properly adjust the blower speed for each stage via dip switches, which also should have been done by the installer. Why did I pay for an install in the first place...............? AHHC does a good job but, a little more training on the control side of HVAC would be very beneficial as HVAC has evolved beyond the old Honeywell thermosats. One other quibble is that the orginal furnace was sized to the house based on older windows and insulation level. The house had all windows replaced and was insulated to a level that was not typical of 1970. This means that if the house was orignally designed with a 80k BTU furnace (counting out efficiency of the furnace) that with increased insulation (windows, spray foam) the actual heat loss is less than it was originally design with so a smaller furnace can be used. Ideally on the coldest week of the year a furnace should not short cycle and will run at damn near 100% of the time. That is where the realy efficiency is gained from. Fortunately the installed furnace is a two stage and with the proper controls will rarely run at stage 2 when setup properly. Bottom line a new furnace should include a heat calc on the house, exposure and actual tightness of the house itself. Using that information the furnace can be sized accordingly. It is not 1970 anymore. They do a good job on the install just be ready to check and fix everything else if you want it to perform at the level it was designed for. read more

These guys put in our new furnace a long time ago (over 10 years?), and they did a great job with that, but what I really appreciate, and why I'm writing this review, is that they've been very helpful a couple of times over the phone for no charge. I'm just enough of a do-it-yourself homeowner to get myself in a pinch every now and then. Seems like every time I try to change the furnace filter (that should be a lay-up, right?), I get the wire mesh all tangled up in the ductwork slot. Then I call American Home, usually remembering that I did this same sequence of events last year, and the tech guy talks me through how to open the furnace cover and get back on track. He's always helpful and patient, and he's just saved me the cost of a service call. Good old fashioned helpful customer service! read more

They are great to work with. I have had several issues with my AC unit and they have helped me out tremendously and saved me lots of money. Their people are friendly and knowledgeable. I have spoken several times to Bob, I believe is the owner on my issues and he has always come up with a good solution for me and gives me the facts. They have gone out of their way several times to help me out. At one point I had water leaking in my A/C that came into my unit and they came up with a custom solution to fix the dripping without me having to buy a new coil. Another issue I had was I was losing freon each year to about 2-3 pounds a year. However, this year 2 2/3 weeks after they were out to top me off I was completely out of freon. The leak had gotten bigger. I called American Home Heating/AC out and they were able to find my my leak without it costing hundreds of dollars. The fix was not as easy and it took them a few days to come up with a solution. However, the came out within a week from my issue and had it repaired and working. No issues so far. Quality work and I highly recommend them. read more

We hired them for a few projects (new furnace and water heater) and then I referred them to my mom. Between the two houses, all of the systems are having repeated problems 1-2 years later. One guy gave me a tutorial on how to monitor and change my furnace's condenser - it was so complicated, and he's quickly whipping through this impromptu lesson - and now of course it's leaking because I can't remember what I was supposed to do. We're trying someone else this time for this round of repairs. read more

I had an ac system put in 2013 by Larrys team in 2013 .They do great work and I would recommend them.For two years I had it seems a lot of ac and heating companies came out and look at my condo ac system which was worn out.Every company it seems did not want to do a condo installation till Larry showed.His team did a great job.Bob his manager is really a nice guy and really gives you confidence in this company.These guys will not screw you. read more

I thought I was having a carbon monoxide problem. Another company made it sound like we were going to die instantly, and to avoid this, we'd have to fork over almost four thousand dollars for a new boiler. Panicking, I wanted a second opinion. Larry from American Home came out. He explained our boiler was perfectly fine-and no, we did not have a CO problem at all. Larry not only came out, on the spot, the same day-but also promised to beat the other company's price if we DID need a new boiler. He not only did not charge a cent, but was careful in his inspection, he explained everything, and...he was RIGHT. This company is true blue, and completely honest and professional. He saved us literally thousands of dollars! As deceptive as this other company was *cough* ATLAS-American home is HONEST. I am so grateful to Larry and American Home! THANK YOU! I'd give a thousand stars if I could! By the way, before he even inspected our boiler, he not only promised to beat Atlas' price in the event we did need a new boiler, but he said he would install a BETTER one. You can't find this service anywhere else. Larry, my family and I can't thank you enough. You are AWESOME!!! read more

Larry the owner came out to talk about a new furnace for my home. He ended up staying for two hours and answered every possible question I had. He had some great suggestions for relocating my furnace, and was able to get me on the installation calendar for two days later. (My old furnace still worked but needed replacement) Pedro and his assistants spent the day doing a nice thorough job installing my new Lennox furnace. They cleaned my AC coil, rerouted the gas line, and removed the old venting tube. The finished work including the ducting, PVC piping, new gas line, and wire management was neat and looked great. Pedro also had some good suggestions about getting the most from the new furnace, and answered all of my questions with a smile. During the furnace install, we discovered a minor issue with a humidifier I already owned, and Bob called me the next day to schedule someone to come out and fix it for free. The price was good, and the work was great. Looking forward to AHH installing a new boiler in my other property in a few years! read more