Nelson's HVAC, LLC

HVAC Service Experience We purchased our home in August 2020 with a brand new HVAC system. It worked perfectly until Saturday night at 1 AM when my wife woke me reporting the house was freezing and the thermostat wasn't responding. After researching local companies Sunday morning, I contacted Nelson's based on their reviews and proximity to our Fairfax home. They quoted $195 for a Sunday diagnostic or $95 for Monday. We opted for Monday and used space heaters overnight. Visit 1 (Monday afternoon): Neil was scheduled between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Text at 12:30 PM said he'd arrive soon. He showed up around 2:15 PM or later. He diagnosed a blown fuse, replaced it, and it immediately blew again. He determined the thermostat was the issue and quoted $560 for replacement. He confirmed I could install it myself. Cost: $160. I purchased and installed a Nest thermostat. The fuse held, but we still had no heat. Visit 2 (Monday evening): Neil returned troubleshooting for about an hour. He suspected wiring issues but couldn't pinpoint the problem. He enabled emergency heat and charged $180. When I questioned paying again for an unresolved issue, he offered a $280 annual membership. I asked if my initial $160 could apply. It couldn't. Total spent: $440. The outdoor heat pump wasn't running. Emergency heat ran 2-3 minutes before shutting off. My Nest displayed "system failure." Visit 3 (Tuesday morning): Walter worked for over an hour, declaring nothing was wrong. He turned off emergency heat and had me feel the warm pipes. Minutes after he left, the outdoor fan still wasn't spinning. The Nest still showed errors. The system still ran only 3-5 minutes before shutting down. Visit 4 (Tuesday late afternoon/early evening): Nelson himself came out. He initially thought everything was acting normal, but when I showed him the Nest still displayed a system failure, he did an even more thorough job. Nelson went directly to the heat pump unit itself and found it shorting out and failing to operate correctly. He explained the technical details far better than I can relay here. What impressed me most was that Nelson didn't claim the job was complete. He was honest, saying he got the emergency heat working without shutting off but made no promises. To my surprise, the emergency heat is still working and my house is heated. Nelson informed me a new system would cost $3,900. My heart sank. Yes, we can pay for that, but it's terrible news. In my head I was prepping to spend a significant amount of money after already spending $440. Nelson called me Wednesday morning saying he found out more details about our unit and it might still be covered under warranty. A few hours later I received a statement of work for $480 for a partial warranty repair, which is amazing news provided it works when they come out to do the install and repair. My outlook on this changes completely. However, the fact that it took the owner coming out himself on the fourth try is wild to me. Nevertheless, this is far better news and I look forward to being a lifelong customer of Nelson's HVAC. This review is not intended to shame Nelson's HVAC but to display everything that has happened up to this point. I am updating this to 5 stars right now based on Nelson's commitment to seeing this through and his honesty about the situation. The persistence paid off, and I appreciate a company that doesn't give up on solving the problem.

— Jake Wasser

If you need an HVAC company, call Nelson’s! After making the costly mistake of hiring a large “big box” HVAC company for a very expensive system installation, we dealt with ongoing problems, including heat failures in the winter. The big company sent multiple technicians but never solved the issue. Then we had Nelson come out. He immediately identified the root problem, corrected the previous company’s poor workmanship, and finally put us on the right path. The difference in expertise and professionalism was obvious within minutes. We are incredibly grateful we found Nelson’s and only wish we had called them first. Nelson is a true talent in the HVAC industry and his customer service team is A+…they even went out of their way to coordinate with another company that was doing related work at our house to correct the HVAC problem which was above and beyond. This is the company to trust. Thank you Nelson and team!

— Del Geny

Dennis was excellent and honest. Another company (ARS) recommended changing 2 HVAC systems which we knew didn’t seem right. Nelson’s made a quick diagnosis, fixed our heaters and made reasonable recommendations moving forward. Highly recommend.

— anastasia shishkina