Hi all,

My Question:
How do I find a expert in residential dual-zone HVAC installations that can inspect a new installation? I am in Santa Clara, California.
Details:
I have no confidence in the quality of my new HVAC installation. Before I make the final payment, I would really like an independent expert in residential dual-zone HVAC systems to look at my newly installed HVAC system. I don't want to go to a competitor HVAC installation company because they will just try to sell me on their system. What I want is someone that can determine if the system as installed is correct. And if not, explain (in writing) why it's wrong and what needs to be done to make it right.

The back story:
I'm in the middle of a 2 month long ongoing, very bad HVAC installation. Today/yesterday was the 4th installation round. Round 1 was a couple of junior guys doing a hack job installation. Round 2 was an experienced guy looking over the work, mumbling "I wouldn't have done it this way" and then proceeding to fix a few of the small mistakes (i.e. 2" hole in the exterior wall, etc). Round 3 was my fight with the installation company to fix the 2 foot holes in the ceiling of my garage (which acts as a fire box) before they can consider the job complete. Then we discovered that it was not working correctly. Round 4 is a new guy that came in, looked it over, and decided all the ducting at the unit was wrong and needed to be redone. It's a 2 zone system that used to have a bypass, but he said the new system does not need it so "that was wrong". Also, they seemed to have forgotten to install a drain pan (it's an in-attic installation) and the condensation overflow pipe was too high (presumable this means water could not flow "down" it). So all of that (and more) got redone yesterday and today.

And, just when we thought we were finally done. We tested the 2 zones by closing the door between them and calling for 72 in the smaller zone and 75 in the larger. What we got was 90 in the smaller zone and 75 in the large. So the guy says he will be back out after the holiday weekend. That's another 5 days delay.

So, as you can imagine, my confidence in the expertise of these so called experts is not very high. At this point I'm looking for (a) some protection from their mistakes and (b) some piece of mind.

Thanks,
Darrin

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