Heating Experts

Isabelle B.

I have waited a long time to write this but the work with Ron put us in a situation that could have easily cost our lives and I feel like it's negligent of me not to post it. We have an old house with several old gas floor units. Really old. They had been checked by PG&E and are safe but on our list to replace because of the uneven and inefficient heating they provide.
I called Ron based on reviews here, to come repair one of the units that was not staying lit. The pilot light was going out. Ron came out and is - as others have mentioned - an entertaining knowledgable guy. He was on time but his employee who would be doing the service arrived very late and once he arrived, Ron dressed him down a bit and then said something privately to me about, work ethic and that if a guy wants a job, number one thing is ""be on time"". Ron said that he was going to need to take BOTH units out completely, take them to his shop and repair them, make general updates that were necessary if we wanted to continue to use them. Reminder - only one of them was giving us any trouble - but I was invested in having them work for a few more years so I thought - a little pain now (500$ each) compared to the cost of a new system (which I just didn't have) but I won't have to deal with the heat for a few extra years.
He took them to the shop, brought them back with his employee and told me that the employee had broken something on one of the units during the repair - again kind of disparaging the ineptness of his employee - kind of embarrassingly because the employee was working just under our feet - with just a few floor boards between us and could surely hear. It felt like being in the middle of someone elses' marital dispute at the dinner table. In any case, he left the employee to do the work. The employee installed the units and thermostats for each unit - as per code - but when the work was done, only one of the units was working. The guy came back but couldn't get it, so then Ron came back. At this point Ron was beginning to get a little short. I had to leave to get some errands done and when I got home that night, everything seems to be working but there was a distinct smell of gas in the house. I called Ron, who now was just plain irritated and told him about the gas. he said it was normal and just residual because of the work and to open the doors and clear it out and we would be fine. He made me feel a little embarrassed about having called - a kind of ""what do you want now"" feeling.
The next morning I was left at 5am for a trip. Got up - turned on the heat for my family and left the house. As luck would have it, I got a flat tire because when I got home -45 min later -there was a HORRIBLE smell of gas in the house (I think we had unplugged the gas alarm when we were clearing out the gas the night before). I opened the doors and windows and called PG&E - having immediately lost my confidence in Ron and his employee. PG&E showed up - went under the house and said the gas lines on the furnace had not been connected thoroughly - the connection was so loose that he could HEAR the gas leak long before he saw it - it was that bad!
This story was so close to being the END of my family. Honestly without what I consider Divine intervention - in the form of a flat tire, my husband and my boys were toast. They would have died in their sleep or my husband would have turned on the stove to make coffee as he does first thing every morning, and that would have been the end. Not connecting gas lines has got to be furnace repair 101 and BOTH Ron and his guy were out here working together. It is a level of negligence that is inexcusable - no matter how grumpy you are that the job you took turned out to be a headache. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt on taking the units out when they were basically fine - I think some of that may have been necessary to get the situation to code but if you are working with GAS, there are mistakes you can NEVER make - not once.
I did call Ron to let him know. He said we should have called him and he would have come out to fix it - but seriously? No offer was made on refunding any of the work and honestly I didn't want to have any more to do with him. We hired someone else to come finish the job, though the units have never worked as well since.

Mark K.

Ron and his team did a great job replacing our furnace and reworking heating ducts in a timely fashion. Reasonable prices too!

K C.

We got one of those Groupons for duct cleaning, and the duct cleaners let us know our furnace was leaking water. We called Atlas for a diagnosis ($169), and they said ""this thing will nickel-and-dime ya, and it might or might not be on warranty, so here's how much the new ones cost. (Woah, there goes our bathroom upgrade.) I shopped around for greener, cleaner heaters, wanted to go hydronic, and most people looked at me like I was crazy. I finally decided to get a third bid and called Ron Pringle.

He and his son, Frank, gave me bids for replacement, upgrade to hydronic, AND repair. He made some phone calls and found out the core was on warranty. It was not cheap but he saved thousands of dollars, fixed the problem that had caused the system to fail in the first place, spared a high-efficiency heater from the landfill, AND left us with the most delicious bottle of barbecue sauce.

They even came back to tweak some gas lines that were hanging in a funky place, without charging me. This is an honest family business that knows their business and provides a special touch. Highly recommended... with chicken!

michael R.

I hired Heating Experts/Ron Pringle because of the reviews on this site, and the person he sent out to look at my heating system was a friendly, knowledgable guy. It wasn't until the next day when my furnace started singing, or humming, so loudly we thought the system would explode, that I thought maybe something had gone wrong. I called and left a message, Ron called back and left a message and then I called again and got through to Ron! Only to be greeted with an irritated reference about how I was the ""one who had left six messages"" and that i was ""looking to blame someone"". He asked if I would ""just let him finish"" when I tried to provide more info. I explained what was happening, and Ron explained that this often happens and has to do with the filter vibrations. I turned the system on while on the phone with him, and said he must be correct, because it appeared to have stopped humming so loudly. He was knowledgable, but very antagonistic, saying he just ""wants to have happy customers"". He should let his employees handle all customer relations, because this guy is an aggressive, antagonistic man, and for that reason I would recommend you go somewhere else.

DeAnna G.

Ron came to our rescue this morning as my dog and I were hovering around a space heater in a winter coat and mittens. I was so thankful he was able to schedule an appointment within 24 hours of my initial call. We thought the heat might be broken, but it turned out to be user error (whoops). Ron was incredibly professional, thorough, friendly, and personable. He pulled out all the components of our million year old heating system, explained everything to me, cleaned the filters, and put it all back together within the hour I had scheduled to be home from work I felt at ease knowing he had looked at it, and approved it's use for the time being. We're looking forward to calling Ron when we replace the system, especially since he offers a free jar of his homemade BBQ sauce when we do. (!!). Highly recommend him. And so does Hugo, my no longer frozen dog.

Agi B.

My heater was blowing cold air and wouldn't turn off at the thermostat. It was a cold night and now I had cold air blowing thru the house. I called Ron Pringle, Heating Experts, because he had good reviews and was located just blocks from my house. He was a warm person with plenty of knowledge. He fixed the problem easily, inexpensively, and spent time answering questions I had about my old house and the old furnace system. I felt I could trust him and will be calling him for a few changes I want to make in my system. The whole transaction felt much different from the company I've used reluctantly and repeatedly for the last 15 years.

Jaimila n.

Being in helath care i need to have a warm office. My heater was out for ten days while I waited for my landlord to fix it. He did not and left town for the rest of the month. On my next work day I was desperate and called several heating repair people, Ron got back to me immediately, came over immediately, was friendly and down to earth. He showed me what was the problem and even made a trip to south san francisco on his own dime so he didn't have to wait a week to get the part. He installed it and it seemed to work great. Then another problem, and he again went on his own dime to south san francisco. Now it works great, and my patients and I are comfortable once again. He is kind and communicative, and knows his heaters.
I would definately hire him again.

Michelle V.

When the 'clean filter"" light went on and my home started feeling colder, Ron came out right away to check it all out while I was at work. This made it super simple for me.

He cleaned my filter, and followed up by telling me how to do it myself...as if he thought I'd enjoy climbing under my house as much as he does! Anyway, I appreciate him trying to save me money - even if he has no idea how much I hate going underneath my house.

I will definitely call him with my future heating needs.

Sean M.

Ron Pringle and Heating Experts came highly recommended to us from several friends when we first purchased a home in Berkeley. Our home is a duplex and required quite a bit of both plumbing and heating upgrades. Ron did an outstanding job on all aspects of the work which due to the age of our house were at many times challenging due to space and poor access.
Ron is very experienced and able to uncover and repair the most complex issues. If you need it done right I would call Ron. If it's something that no one else can figure out, I would call Ron.

victoria z.

I received a full refund from Ron as of 2/15/11.Our case is closed. Thank you for following through,Ron, Victoria