Lighthouse has a great team with a blend of professional skills. One technician may bring special expertise in cleaning residential and industrial ducts, a second can be an authority on installing and repairing water heaters and furnaces, and a third will be a veteran skilled at all areas of commercial and residential boilers.

They work well together, shifting from one project to another, as they respond to the needs of customers around the city and Long Island.

We also do lots of periodic maintenance and home repairs, such as cleaning ducts and filters for residential and commercial laundries. These are small but important tasks; dirty ducts hurt a system’s efficiency, clogged laundry filters lead to more than 14,000 fires per year in the United States.

The contractor and his staff must stay alert to the latest developments in technology, which constantly turns out new devices that save energy, help the environment and increase convenience.

• • “Smart thermostats,” for instance, let people set temperatures remotely and carefully map their energy usage.
• • Mini-split systems are relatively new to the United States. Mini-splits demand less energy and they function without ducts; they can be very valuable for both old and new buildings.
• • Refinements in zoning techniques offer benefits for many older buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Today we can create a series of dampers in the ductwork to establish different temperature zones in various rooms in a residential or commercial building.

Along with being licensed and insured, a contractor must have experience and training, but not too much pride to crawl through tight spaces to diagnose any problem first-hand and offer cost-effective solutions.

There’s no substitute for a personal inspection of a system, looking behind the wall, climbing into the attic. Good HVAC work can’t be done over the phone.IMAGE of Boris crawling out of a tight hole?

This willingness to dig deep for answers is part of Lighthouse’s DNA.

Lighthouse also guarantees its work and does not substitute inferior products or hide fees.

With 15 employees, we can respond quickly to calls in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Long Island. Along with our office in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, we have a Staten Island workstation. Our vehicles carry tools and equipment so our technicians can begin work as soon as they arrive.

We offer both residential and commercial service because our staff has the range of skill sets to handle these very different areas of HVAC

New York has numerous contractors, so you may want to conduct some research to see which company fits you best.

Ask friends and neighbors; see who is highly recommended. Consult on-line reviews, make sure the company is licensed, bonded and insured. Licensing and bonding give you avenues to seek compensation if anything goes wrong with the project. IMAGE OF GOOD REVIEW for Lighthouse?

Ask contractors if their employees are certified by professional organizations such as North American Technician Excellence, a nonprofit organization that tests the skills of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration technicians.

Do the contractors meet licensing and legal requirements set by state and city governments?

Any reputable company will be glad to provide this free information as well as a list of referrals. These details often will be posted on the company’s website. Ask companies to email the information, if you wish, and include a copy of the company’s privacy policy, so you can be sure your name isn’t sold to other companies without your permission.

Contact some of their referrals and ask if the job was done well, on time and within budget. Ask the referrals why they recommend one firm over another and if they enjoyed doing business with them. Were they professional? Committed to doing a good job whether it was a major installation or minor cleaning and repairs? Did they do the job as quickly as possible for an affordable price? Were they friendly? Did they keep to the schedule?

• • Beware of any company that doesn’t have a website. This can be a red flag indicating an HVAC contractor relying on outdated practices or a firm very new to the industry.
• • For any sort of major job, request quotes in writing -- not just the price but also the brand of materials and an estimate of how long the job will take. Collecting this information will help you gauge the contractors seeking your business.
• • Do the bidders guarantee their work? (At Lighthouse, we guarantee our work for two years, in addition to the manufacturer’s warranty on parts.)
• • You will soon see which contractor is punctual, willing to listen to you and your concerns, and to answer your questions. He should explain pricing, estimate how much time the job will take and discuss when the work should begin.
• • Don’t be swayed by price alone. Bargain-hunters often have buyer’s remorse when a dirt-cheap system develops problems.

This is especially a problem for people who buy heating and air conditioning equipment on-line and then hire a cut-rate contractor to install it. What happens if things go badly or if the system needs repair? Will the cut-rate contractor still be around?

The customer ultimately is in charge of the process. A reputable contractor wants to sell a product or service at a fair price because he knows word of mouth is often the best advertising. He wants the customer to highly recommend his company to relatives and neighbors.

Just as the customer wants reliable HVAC for the long term, the reliable contractor wants more customers for the long term. Good service = happy customer = repeat business. It’s the proverbial win-win.