ZBF Geothermal

Mar 2021

ZBF recently installed a whole house (3400 sq ft) Series 7 Waterfurnace at my house. It's been running now for a few months. Overall the system works very well and is very efficient. The cost of the system was actually less (after rebates) than replacing the oil boiler with gas and installing central air without even factoring in energy savings. Attachments: (1) original oil boiler and hot water heater, (2) new Waterfurnace Series 7 Geothermal Heat Pump, hot water collection tank and hybrid hot water heater (all installed by ZBF), (3) Symphony dashboard screenshot. ZBF Pros: I would highly recommend Zach and his team for a geothermal installation. I shopped around when I was first interested in upgrading and ZBF was by far the most knowledgeable in these types of systems. Other HVAC contractors will install them but it's not their specialty. Zach was very flexible given COVID restrictions and getting into our house. He also took a lot of time to lay out the ductwork in our basement so that headroom would not be an issue. I couldn't be happier with the layout. I was honestly a very demanding customer. I'm an engineer and I overthink everything. Zach was extremely patient and walked through all of the options with me. He even was able to score a hybrid hot water heater from a distributor at a good price and didn't charge me anything extra. ZBF Cons: Not really a con, but discuss all of the relevant installation details up front so you know what to expect. I was somewhat surprised after the installation that some things I assumed were included were not. Patching drywall, reseeding the lawn are not included. We had very minor construction issues (and there are always issues). Some areas got dirtier than expected and needed to be cleaned (cutting tile is apparently very messy). Items that were forgotten or missed. Zach was very good at addressing these. Waterfurnace Series 7 Pros: This is one of the most advanced systems on the planet. Everything is variable speed and optimized for comfort. On milder days (above freezing) you almost can't tell that the system is running and it keeps the house very even and comfortable. The monitoring system is great (picture attached). My oil bills were $4000+ per year prior with the upstairs at minimum settings. My December electric heating bill was roughly $300-350 heating the entire house to 72+ so I expect to have a significant reduction in energy costs (at least half). Plus I now have central air which is a major upgrade. Waterfurnace Series 7 Cons: Upon commissioning we had an initial period of a couple of weeks where the system would trip offline regularly and even burned up a blower motor. COVID quality issues are likely to blame. I believe the reliability of these units is very high in general and I haven't had any issues since. While the system allows for very even heat in general it didn't quite live up to the marketing (to control temperature within a half a degree) on colder days. Also heat pump forced air systems do operate differently. In order to maximize efficiency there is a tradeoff during very cold times where the house will be allowed to cool down before auxiliary (resistive) heat kicks on. Fortunately these settings can be adjusted to maximize comfort vs economy but it does require tuning.

Mar 2021

Our existing home central air conditioning system was not working and leaking. We called ZBF and the service was excellent! We received a prompt response and the courteous service technician knew exactly what needed to be done at minimal cost. Our system was fixed perfectly and we were very satisfied. We would definitely use again since they are very knowledgable and professional.

Mar 2021

I met with the owner back in 2013 to do a geothermal install for my entire house. The job went very smoothly with 0 hiccups. They unit has been running perfectly for 6 years when yesterday I had my very first service call. Yes, Thats right folks after 6 years and it was covered under warranty. If that does speak well enough for Geothermal I dont know what does. Im not one to jump on here and do many google reviews, but I almost felt compelled to do so. I called zach when the system went down the other night, he was finishing another job in the area and was there in about 20 min. I highly recommend using Zach or as I call him HVAC ZACH. The name kinda stuck with him when we first started the project. If you're looking for a guy who can get the job done the right way - Id def use this company.