Alternative HVAC Solutions

An excellent business. Have always been impressed by the depth of knowledge and expertise.

A series of recommendations for anyone looking to install a similar system:

- Mitsubishi is the gold standard.

- 14-20 SEER is the energy efficiency band you want to shoot for as that is the most reliable. Anything in the high 20s or 30s I have read is more experimental and prone to failure.

- They are hard to come by now but spend the extra money for mini split "head" Wi-Fi adapters. Being able to control everything on your phone is excellent.

- It is very cheap to spend a little extra and have a mini split both heat and cool. At the time we installed the main compressor, it was $2,000 more to get the unit that could do both.

- If you are retrofitting an existing house, or are considering an ADU (or 2), consider first the maximum number of heads and BTUs you would need 5 years from now. We installed the 60,000 BTU compressor with a branch box, pictured in photo 3 of the review, with only two mini split heads attached at the time. Let me tell you, it was very convenient just tacking on to the branch box rather than wiring in yet another unit.

We contacted Alternative HVAC in San Carlos based on positive reviews. On the appointment date, we received a text message from Ricardo, the tech, that he was on his way. He arrived on time, in a nice new van and was very professional and pleasant. All seemed great. Ricardo checked our thermostat setting and discussed the problem we were having with my husband - our furnace was blowing cold air. Ricardo went under the house and ran through his diagnostics. When he came out, he said that he could not find an electrical problem as he had no error codes on his diagnostic unit. He suggested that we remove the filter inside the house in the cold air return to minimize back flow pressure, so we followed his advice. We even bought a new thermostat, even though the old one was only 1 year old - we figured it must be something other than the furnace. But, nothing changed. So, we called another company and within a short period of time, their tech found the simple problem - some residue on the burner that prevented gas flow to the igniter. He cleaned the burner and the furnace works perfectly. It is apparent that Alternative does not adequately train their technicians to look at the furnace to find problems that are easy to spot. We spent $160 on their 'service' call and have requested a 50% refund as their tech did not find and repair this simple problem. I cannot recommend this company.

Update March 23, 2021 9am
The Service Tech came a little while ago. After calling in to the Tech Office, he learned that re-wiring the house was not necessary. Instead, it was a matter of reconfiguring settings. As he was about to leave I noticed the heat was still running off the furnace - emergency heat mode. So, another ten minutes and now the system is running off the heat pump. Why did I have to point this out?!!

Update March 23, 20218am
Still having problems with our thermostat and heat pump system. If I had it to do over again, I would not choose the San Carlos office. Disorganized. No one knows what is going on. Lost count of how many times we've had them out. Now, they tell me the wiring has to be re-done! Four hours of work and this after we've had the system a couple of years. One problem after another.

Our system, installed by Alternative HVAC Solutions, started putting out cold air instead of heat. The company sent out a technician who was obviously in way over his head. He was here two hours and had to be walked through everything remotely. It was painful. Turns out it was a failed valve which if you ask me, could have been determined fairly quickly. Next, it turns out the installer of the heat pump put it too close to the house inhibiting the technician from being able to reach the part and replace it. So now, someone has to come out and move the heat pump out away from the wall. This was supposed to happen this morning, but here it is late afternoon and there has been zero calls or word from the company about what's going on. I've called twice and they just tell me they will call me back when they know something. Not even a window of when they might be here. We were charged $320 for the first visit, which seems like a lot for diagnosing a problem over the phone with the guy in the office. It's winter with cold temps. Fortunately we didn't get rid of our furnace and have it as a back up. Frustrated.

We got solar panels put in a few years back with the intention of getting electric heat for the house. Mike and his crew (includes the office folks too!) were the ONLY ones that KNEW how to install a heat pump (runs on electricity) that we could find here in the Bay Area. All the others were trying to sell us something else or talk us out of our system.

They put the system in. It needed a little time to work out the kinks, but the service guys were on the job with timely service.

If you are considering a heat pump option, Mike and the team at Alternative HVAC Solutions are by far the obvious choice. Others may be catching up, but these folks know what they are doing. If you are going with gas heat, they also know what they are doing here as well. We got a gas furnace to work in conjunction with our heat pump on those really cold days.

Pricing was also very competitive.

You can look elsewhere, but you'd just be wasting your time!

From initial contact to post install visit, a thoroughly professional firm. They were not the highest or the lowest among four bids, but the experience working with them has me place them the highest in value.

Jeff Meyer, from his first visit to estimate the work, addressing all my questions during the proposal stage, helping slot us into their busy job calendar, then following up afterward, was the best project contact I had worked with.

Contracts folks were quick on their follow ups to make sure the project moved along.

The onsite crew gave me a time estimate and delivered on it, leaving the premises cleaner than when they arrived.

I would be more than happy to recommend this company to anyone who is looking to get HVAC work done. I plan to turn to them for my heat pump water heater in the near future.

Alternative HVAC should have a 5 out of 5 stars!!!

Seriously, Alternative HVAC saved me over $12K. After our air conditioning unit was not working and all thermostats in our home were toast, I had called Service Champions since they appeared to be the highest rating on yelp and Google. You can't always trust these ratings but please believe you can trust this one...

To make a long story short, a technician from Service Champions came out, spent about 5 hours and over $440 dollars later our system was still not fixed. I was told that we needed to have our entire system rewired and the reason the system wasn't working was due to the wires crossing. He said to fix this it would cost over $4K. The tech recommended that we consider purchasing a new unit given the cost. I agreed to speak with someone from their company about a new unit and have them double check our system. Today, they had another technician come out to check our unit and talk to me about purchasing a new unit. He looked at the system and reconfirmed our unit was toast and that I should purchase a new unit and have it reinstalled properly.

I told him that I was going to get a second opinion and he assured me that the first technician who I will leave nameless was their best technician and that I shouldn't delay in getting a new unit since he looked at it and gave his recommendation to move forward. He then started to talk about the temperature how hot its going to get this week and to get this done soon, he needed a contract signed today. He was sure I needed a new unit. He quoted me $12,500 for a new unit, installation and a "great 10 year warranty on parts and the unit".

At this point was disappointed since I thought my only option was to pay thousands of dollars and possible over $12K for a new unit. Not happy at this point.

I asked a round a bit and got a recommendation from a friend and he told me to call Mike at Alternative HVAC. I called and spoke to the receptionist here and she had one of their technicians, Nate out at our home within the hour. Apparently there was a cancellation, nonetheless I was pleased.

Within 30 minutes he had the unit working, air conditioning humming and at a fraction of the price. He said I did not need a new unit only needed to replace a failed transformer. The total cost was about $225. Much less than what I paid at Service Champions and they fixed our system with integrity.

Bottom line: Alternative HVAC save me thousands of dollars! They fixed my unit with very little fuss and clearly had integrity while doing it.

I would totally recommend Alternative HVAC! These are now my HVAC guys for life!

Our 80 year old gravity gas furnace was not working, after calling several HVAC companies who no longer worked on these units, I was referred Alternative HVAC in Menlo Park. Nat, their service tec, diagnosed, replaced a part, checked everything and was done in an hour, leaving a happy and warm customer.

Mike and his team did a great replacing our HVAC unit for our office.
I would recommend Alternative HVAC Solutions any time!

Danny Cox
Bay Digital, Inc

Was a very good experience