Cardinal Heating & Air Conditioning

Everyone was great!  Friendly, efficient staff!  If I ever have trouble with my furnace again I will definitely be calling them.  I don't have a typical work schedule and they were nice enough to work around it for me.

If you're looking for great service and people you can trust to handle your HVAC needs, I'd look no further than Cardinal Heating & Air Conditioning. My wife and I purchased a 25 year old home and we called up Cardinal to come check out the furnace. The tech who showed up was awesome. He let us know that the furnace was the original furnace, which even he was a bit surprised about (since they typically only last about 15-20 yrs), but he said it was still functioning just fine despite its age and didn't try to sell us on anything at all. We ended up liking our tech so much that we signed up for Cardinal's annual preventative maintenance plan for heating & cooling; which I'd highly recommend. Anyway, over several years our furnace kept passing inspections (in which at no time did anyone at Cardinal pressure us to upgrade), and the service maintenance checks we had with them were all great experiences.

Finally this past spring we had a tech out to check the A/C unit as part of our annual maintenance plan, and while he was running a diagnostic on the A/C he went the extra mile and used his down time to check our furnace; which thankfully he did, because he spotted a crack in the heat exchange (which I also verified was there). Now if you're unfamiliar with furnaces, a crack in the heat exchange is a serious issue; the type of one where you run the risk of carbon monoxide leaking into your house.  The tech was very apologetic for having to inform us of the bad news that by law he had to flag our furnace as unsafe to operate. However, I just profusely thanked him and said we knew the furnace was well beyond it's expected life, and that this was precisely why we had the maintenance plan in the first place. Anyway he went on to finish the air conditioning check that morning, but before doing so he called the office to have someone reach out to us about our options for a new furnace. As expected they got back to us pretty quickly (within a half hour).

Now I should also mention that our A/C unit was pretty old (13 yrs), and they typically only last 12-15 yrs. So it wasn't too surprising when he said it would be an extra $200 to top off the coolant and replace a part. He also estimated that even still, the unit would only have a year or two left before ultimately needing replacement. However instead of pushing the repairs through or trying to sell us a new A/C unit, he told us to hold on for a minute, and he called up the office to see if they were still running a promotion that was ending soon where if you buy a furnace (which we were already going to do through them) that you get an A/C unit free. It turns out that they still were (and had it been a few days later we would have been totally SOL), but in doing so he got them to revise our quote on the new furnace to include the new A/C unit. As a result we ended up saving thousands through this deal. And for those of you skeptics out there, no this wasn't some manufactured promotion that was put together to make the sale happen. We were already going to get the furnace from them, our tech simply was looking out for us and in doing so he saved us a lot of money.

Lastly I also want to mention that at the tail end of the A/C check-up I had to head to work, but my wife was home, and so we talked on phone the remainder of the morning sorting out all of the above. Now where things went from great to outstanding is when she called to inform me that Cardinal called to schedule the installation and the scheduler was like: are you available this afternoon? My wife was shocked, and confirmed that she was in fact implying that the furnace would be installed that day. She said: yeah, it looks like it might get a little chilly tonight, so I thought if it worked out we'd try to get that installed today for you.  So low and behold when I came home from work, they had removed the old furnace and A/C, installed the new units, and to top it off hooked us up with a new smart thermostat that worked with our 4 wire system (unlike our Nest) and had taken the time to walk my wife through all the features on how to use it.

So there you have it. If you've braved through my very lengthy positive customer experience story, you'll see why I'll be a Cardinal Heating & Air Conditioning customer for life. And for those of you who prefer the cliff notes... let me just say that Cardinal does excellent work, has excellent people, their work is timely, they are not pushy about trying to sell you anything, and that ultimately the cost of the new furnace and A/C was far less than the money we had budgeted for it. Thanks to them I sleep better knowing that my wife and kids are safe because the crack in my heat exchange was caught when it was. With the Cardinal, I feel like they truly have your best interest in mind, and I honestly can't say enough good things about our past several years of being customers of theirs . Thanks Cardinal!

Excellent service and workmanship. We were looking at either replacing our steam boiler outright or installing a mini-duct HVAC system in our 1920s home. Cardinal did a whole-house audit and gave us quotes for both jobs. The mini-duct system turned out to be beyond our budget, but Cardinal gave us very reasonable estimate for a replacement boiler. The installation went smoothly and their technician Alex even came out afterward to adjust the swing setting on the thermostat to help even out the heat output. If we had any complaints it was the long lead time to getting them in - but it's a good sign when a contractor is in demand and is to be expected in this area.

These guys handle all my work -- both for my company and for any personal needs that I have.  They are experts, with quality work, and fair prices.  They can handle the replacement jobs, hydronic work, and even solar hot water.  They leave my customers satisfied!

They came quickly they could give me a tighter ETA in the morning and they quickly snaked my sink but it was a little bit expensive

It took the technician 20 minutes to replace the wire and 20 minutes to discuss the job and the fee. The technician advised 3 times that he does not make the prices. For less than one hour's work we were charged $422.00 which included the following:

$202.00 attic access fee?

$149.00 repair fee.

$49.00 trip charge fee

$22.00 in taxes

We are skeptical of the excess attic fee and will be inquiring with the department of consumer affairs, attorney general, and writing further reviews of such practices.  Not to mention insulation is still laying on the floor after the technician left.  No clean up!

From Craig at Cardinal:
I apologize for the poor experience you had with our service yesterday. We are firm believers of upfront pricing and give our customers pricing before we start the work and have  it approved so we are sorry if this was not the procedure of the technician.
We normally have an attic access charge since it does take more time to diagnose and repair in someone's attic vs in a wide open basement.
We also apologize for our tech leaving a mess in your garage area. That is also not a normal procedure of Cardinal's services.

I have talked to our accounting department and they will refund the $422.00 payment for our services from yesterday.

great, responsive customer service
fixed in one visit, reasonable prices. Plumber was knowledgeable and helpful

Stopped in to Cardinal heating to get a furnace problem dealt with ,the ladies in the office were smiley and pleasant. The issue was taken care of quickly by an easy to talk to technican and all  at a fair price.

Cardinal replaced the entire HVAC system at our house, including installing a new furnace and air conditioner, and replacing all of the ducts. Rick is easy to get ahold of, and was able to complete the work quickly and efficiently. When I called a few weeks later for some minor additional work, he got someone to our house the same day. I highly recommend Cardinal.

Super service and fair prices. Customer support and service tech did a great job, made sure all my questions were answered and delivered Excellent results. I will call them again.

My furnace went out unexpectedly and my service guy, Mike M. came out the next day, even calling me 20 minutes ahead of time when they would arrive so I wouldn't have to take a whole or half day off at work. He was so professional and thorough at pinpointing and explaining everything to me, even telling me what I may need replacing in the future and the costs involved so that I can be prepared. Thanks Mike! I am so happy with a company that is so honest and reasonable. They even have an awesome sounding membership program. You guys are worth 10 stars in my book!

Easy and considerate scheduling, professional service for a residential condo. The service call was for a blown fuse. Would not hesitate to call on them again.

Called about a leaky water heater. They were at my house in 10 minutes and I had a new hot water heater in less than an hour. Very Very happy with everything that they did for us.

On time, Paul did a very thorough service check on our HVAC system.  Very pleased with Cardinal and enrolled in the annual maintenance program.

As a renter at an apt complex whenever there seems to be a furnace or water heater issue my landlord always calls Cardinal.  Cardinal Heating has always been prompt in coming out to address the issues and the workmen are always friendly and are great at their jobs and clean up after themselves before they are ready to leave after the job is completed.  I know If i ever own my own house i will call these guys out for heating and cooling issues

Just had them install track lighting in kitchen, it was great! Andy came in with mask very much appreciated, and had an estimate ready , which was extremely reasonable. He had the light installed in 15 minutes! PLUS he took old light , boxes for new light and vacuumed the floor! Fantastic!  We will sometime soon need new furnace/AC and know who to call!

Great emergency service. We had our 25 year old furnace go out during the -20 degree weather this year. I called at 4 AM, they had a tech out to evaluate it by 7 AM, he recommended we replace (I agreed) and they had a crew out by noon to install a new one, finishing everything by about 4 PM.

Replacing a furnace sucks, there's no way around that. They made it go as smoothly as could be expected and their super prompt service was fantastic. Pricing was very comparable to what else was out there, even though they had us in a position where we were at their mercy with the ridiculously cold midwestern temps.

Cardinal inspected our furnace and air conditioning unit.  It was determined that we needed both replaced since they were close to 25 years old.

Greg from Cardinal came to our home and explained in detail the two brands and different models available.  He spent a good deal of time with us explaining the advantages of each brand and model and helped us select the ones that were appropriate for our situation.

Two days later Cardinal called to give us a time to select for instillation.
The Cardinal people were efficient and the instillation perfect. The
cleanup was immaculate.  Everyone we encountered was very professional.

Great personal service.  We are happy and will use Cardinal for future needs.

John & Barbara K.

Cardinal has been the BEST company I've experienced so far at my house. I've also used Action--they were terrible in comparison.
1st call to Cardinal was in a panic with the sudden loss of AC in a 90 degree day. 5 animals in the home. The person with whom I spoke understood how dangerous of a situation this was and a service person was scheduled that day.
2nd call was for electrical work--not urgent but they happened to be able to squeeze me in on the same day which was probably rare but amazing!
Best parts of this experience:
1. Friendly and empathic front team who got me scheduled ASAP.
2. Text prior to the service person's arrival with their pic and some info to help personalize this 'stranger'
3. The service people themselves--extremely competent, focused, and very personable.

I only wish they serviced commercial properties so I could have them out to my business!

I initially inquired about the availability of specific equipment (down to the model) due to it being unavailable with the original service provider I selected. Matt encouraged me to set up an appointment. Before we spent the time on site, I asked that he check for this specific equipment so we don't waste each other's time. He called back good new he checked with the owner and had two units, one in Madison and one in MN, and encouraged me to set up a site visit with a Comfort Advisor, Greg. We spent about an hour showing him the project. He didn't hesitate to criticize the other company. Then, once he better understood the scope of our project he started planting seeds indicating they don't want the job. We're scheduled out 14 days (matt said 10) This is going to be a really tough project this is going to be a BIG Job we're going to be way more expensive than the other guys- I can tell you that right now Then he tossed out a big number to scare me off when we were about to enter the attic (which we were bracing for) it would be $12K just to replace and existing system Then he looked around and came up with several objections we're not going to be able to get back there The vent would have to come inside the closet, or right above the closet door and you can't have that Then he tried to steer me towards a different brand of equipment but eventually assured he would get back to me with numbers in 24 hours but also encouraged me to call him back in 48 hours if I didn't hear back. He said equipment was less of an issue, and its more of an issue to get the people to do the work. 4 hours later he called and said they JUST sold the two units that were available yesterday... but that they would pass on my job regardless. Its clear they have more business than workers, and that's fine if they want to cherry pick the straight forward ones. I would just rather they be selective and cherry pick BEFORE they spend an hour of my time away from work. I understand they don't have a crystal ball but I was very specific down to the model number of the equipment, scope of project, and timeline but they wasted my time anyway.

This company was sent out by our home warranty company because the a/c at our new home stopped working.  From the first visit to work being completely I was extremely impressed.  Each person I talked with was knowledgeable.  Great work and cleaned up after themselves.

I got an appointment within a week.  It was  like watching a Dr giving a patient a complete physical. He checked and monitored the working of several parts as he fine tuned the running of the furnace. He made good recommendations for the out dated humidifier with no pressure . A discount plan was introduced for future service needs. I plan to take advantage of it.

Sigh, Easter Sunday, you're supposed to be spending it family. Instead my bathroom decides it wants to leak all over and have the sink clogged up. I called Cardinal and they got back to me pretty promptly. Sadly I had to succumb to the holiday rates cause you can't be without a toilet. The tech was good and through and was here right away. Would definitely recommend

I called to have my water heater serviced, as I didn't have any hot water at the time & needed help sooner rather than later. Living in Sun Prairie & semi new to the area, I thought I would reach out to Cardinal instead of the name I was given when I got my new place. The receptionist that answered the phone was incredibly unhelpful. She didn't answer with a polite 'hello, this is so & so, how can I help you' it was 'yea, can I help you', we sat in silence for a good minute. She didn't even give a name. When she asked for mine I had to say & spell my name a good 6 times for her. After she took all of my information & everything she needed from me she ended up telling me they wouldn't be able to assist me. It was truly disappointing that the first person I was in contact with at Cardinal ruined any positive opinion I had of the company & ruined any future business I will do with the local company. I contacted else where and they were more than happy to assist, customer friendly & fix my problem ASAP.

Yeah, AC went out in the current heatwave. We went out for dinner & came home to 82° inside. We checked with you good Yelpers and found great reviews for Cardinal & gave them a call around 8:00 pm. We got their after hours call service, she asked if we needed a call back that night which we declined, asked her for a call back this morning. They called about 7:50 am & were here & done by 1:00 pm!! Javier was very professional in his analysis & explanation of the needed repair. He had it done in hardly any time. In about an hour's time, we've dropped from 82° to 80° and still going strong! Thanks so much, Javier, great job!!

I recently. Needed my furnace repaired. My furnace  is an antique. It was one of the best back in the day. They were able to put a new belt on and lube it up so it runs like a new furnace. I like that there is no high pressure sales. I will be buying a new furnace from them when the time comes. I thought the repairman was professional and informative. Very happy with the results.

I had technicians from other companies repairing my very old furnace (built in 1992!) over the past 2 winters.  I never knew exactly what was wrong.  Until this time, Cardinal arrived to look at my furnace, which was once again, not blowing warm air.  The Cardinal technician not only told me what was going wrong with the furnace, he showed me and explained it very clearly.  I needed a new furnace, and the Cardinal technicians who installed the new furnace were prompt and showed me everything I needed to know with the new unit.  The office staff with whom I spoke on the phone were also very pleasant and helpful.