Polar Bear Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc.

We had a great experience with Polar Bear. They ran gas lines for a fireplace, furnace and stove and installed a new HVAC system on the roof of our Hill row house. The whole experience was amazingly pleasant — Joe gave great advice when it came to selecting a new system, and his team were very capable and hard-​working. They got the work done quickly and with minimal mess. We are warm in our house for the first winter ever, and I can’t recommend these guys highly enough!

Polar Bear has been by far the most capable, efficient, and customer service-​oriented HVAC company that I’ve hired since I bought my house in 2003. Polar Bear most recently completed an entire HVAC installation (June 2015), along with removing my old units. They are a first-​class operation — everything was stellar and comprehensive, including their initial consultation/​estimate, their ongoing communication with me to keep me updated on the assessment and installation plans, their work to remove/​install the new AC roof unit, their care with my interior areas, and their incredibly reasonable final invoice.
Polar Bear is exceptionally great to deal with and completed the job in less than the estimated timeframes — it took only a phone call to get things rolling. In fact, within two days, one of their contractors (Tom Kelly) came to give a comprehensive in-​house consultation and provided three written proposals based on various energy-​efficient units.
Polar Bear oversaw all the work through completion, including refitting the furnace unit so that the filter change process would be as easy as it could be – it now does not even require the removal of a screw or a unit panel. And I did not even have to ask! The installation contractors (Boyd and Johnny) went above and beyond in their installation service.
Polar Bear also provided the information required for the DC rebates for energy-​efficient units. (Note that only certain DC contractors are eligible for DC rebates, and Polar Bear is one of them.)
Polar Bear’s customer service professional (Katie) is extremely wonderful to deal with, and she will work with you to accommodate work schedules, to minimize the time you need to be available and out of the office.
Finally, Joe Kelly, the manager, is really great to work with. I give Polar Bear my highest recommendation. Exceptional work, very reasonable pricing, expert contractors, and detailed work proposals and invoices. Definitely count them in for HVAC work.

Once in a while one gets lucky and comes across a highly professional company that’s interested in developing customer loyalty. Joe and the folks at Polar Bear AC and Heating are straightforward, efficient, fair in pricing and very much experts in the field. Over the course of seven or eight years, Joe has done five major projects in both our tiny 1920s era DC rowhouse and our 1970s suburban home. .. and every time Joe delivers on price, quality, and timeliness. The customer relationship we have with Polar Bear is the kind that most people believe is extinct in modern America. Subtracted a star because there’s no weekend contingency service and the answering service mislead us into thinking there was.

I’ve used Polar Bear for years with great results. I had an addition put on and the HVAC system was a mess, leaking, partially installed, incomplete work. Polar Bear came out and in less than one day fixed it all and they have been maintaining it since. They are affordable, very skilled and honest people. Highly recommended.

Great first experience — I sent a service request via their website on Sunday evening, when we came home to find that our AC had stopped running. First thing Monday morning Katie called to schedule my appointment, and we were able to have someone come out on Tuesday. Angel was our technician– he arrived on time, quickly found the issue, explained what he was doing and fixed it. He was great! I felt that the price ($ 59 for the appointment + one hour of labor) was fair for the work, and our AC was back up and running just in time for our next DC heat wave. Would definitely call them again.

Very good experience. I had to replace two A/​C systems at once. I got bids from three companies, and Polar Bear’s was the best value. The installation went smoothly, and the workmen were very clean. An error in installation arose afterwards, but Polar Bear attended to it promptly. I would definitely use them again.

We’ve been working with Polar Bear Air for years. Our first interaction was when our AC broke shortly after buying our house. They tried to fix the issue, but it ended up the entire AC system needed to be replaced. They took the charges for the previous repair attempts off the installation price for the new unit. They were honest and seemingly gave a good price.
Since then we’ve been using them for regular maintenance and repairs. The hourly rate seems high, but once they diagnose the issue they deduct any hourly fees from the flat cost of the repair. They always show up when scheduled and they give you a two hour window (better than most.)

We had them install a new Rheem ac/​furnace unit this past spring. They showed up on time, the main guys, a father/​son team (Michael and Michael I believe) were very nice and professional. They finished in about five hours, did not need a crane for the roof unit and cleaned up after. I would recommend getting a quote from these guys.

These guys are great, they installed several A/​C units in my place a few years ago and I didn’t get around to writing this till now. They most recently replaced a heating unit for me earlier this year, and I would call them again any time. Reasonable price, on time, on budget, nice to deal with.

I scheduled a Saturday 11:30AM — 1PM appointment to fix the A/​C unit at a rental property. The technician called at 12:30PM on Saturday to cancel the appointment since it was raining and he couldn’t open the A/​C unit in the rain. The explanation made sense. Then he offered to reschedule the appointment for the following day if the weather was nice. I was a bit annoyed that he called so late on Saturday to cancel, especially since it had been raining all day and I drove 30 minutes to the rental property, but I was pleasantly surprised that he offered to come on a Sunday.
I called the tech on Sunday morning and he said he would call me back when he knew his schedule. I called again four hours later and he said he would call me right back. He called back 2.5 hours after that and I missed his call. I called him back TEN MINUTES LATER and he said, «You missed my call so I can’t do the work today. Call the office tomorrow and reschedule.» I was highly annoyed that he had me waiting all day just to cancel. Missing his call by TEN MINUTES gave him just the «out» that he wanted because it was apparent that he didn’t want to do the job. When I reminded him that he offered to do the job on Sunday and I would appreciate if he followed through with that offer since I had been waiting all day he hung up on me! I didn’t yell at him, curse at him or anything. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never had such unprofessional treatment. When I called the office to tell them about my experience I was told that the owner would call me back. No one has called me back. If I could rate this company ½ star I would. RUN THE OTHER WAY!!!

Polar Bear did a great job with replacing our AC and heat pump. They were prompt, extremely professional, and gave a great price. They also did an excellent job of clearly explaining the work that needed to be done and minimizing costs. We live in a condo building and they were one of the only companies willing to walk our A/​C up to the roof instead of using a crane — saving us quite a lot of money. When we needed something repaired, they came out quickly and did the work with no hassle.

Polar Bear HVAC installed a mini-​duct a/​c system in my house Feb 2008. By the spring of 2009, after the warranty expired, I started to see water stains around the A/​C vents in my bedroom. Therefore, I called Polar Bear to inspect the area. After they inspected it, they told me to contact my roofer. They could not be liable for damage caused by a poor roof. I contacted my roofer, Kraftwerks, who then inspected the roof, and the owner gave me a full written report that the beams that Polar Bear installed in my roof damaged his roofing work. The leaks continued all summer and fall, and I paid for continual roof and ceiling work. By November, I replaced the whole roof and have a warranty for 5 years. The water damage around the A/​C vent in my bedroom reappeared. Thus, I just called Polar Bear in March 2010 and asked them kindly to send a technician. They didn’t call me back. So, I called 2 days later. The office worker refused the work. She said I needed to call a roofer. I repeated the whole story that the roof is new and I wanted Polar Bear to check the vents. She refused repeatedly. Then, I changed the subject and asked for Polar Bear to come out for my annual maintenance inspection. Again, she refused the work. I have never experienced this poor service in my life. And, no company that I have paid (thousands of dollars) has refused follow up service. Either they are discriminating against me, they don’t want to deal with the possibilty of poor workmanship, or they just chose not to work with me. I wasn’t natsy/​I didn’t yell. I just requested a maintenance visit, and they refused the work.

Honestly, I’m not even sure this is a real company — it might just be a referal service where they find you a local repairment who may or may not be credentialled and may or may not speak English.
I called Polar Bear and they were upfront about the $ 90 travel fee and $ 120/​hr repair rate. Expensive but worth it if they are decent. The woman said they had «no» appointments for tomorrow, which should have been a big red flag (it is mid December and freezing out — shouldn’t they be really busy?). She said they could have someone at my apartment between 7:30 and 8 AM, which was perfect timing for me and the tenant living there.
At 8:00 AM, a man with a heavy accent and mediocre English skills (good but not a native speaker) calls to «verify» my address. He tells me he should get there by 8:30, which is not ideal but I could manage. 20 minutes later he calls back — he messed up the address. Then he arrives close to 9:00 AM, and I cancelled the appointment.
For the first appointment of the day… they should be on time, or at least close. ESPECIALLY WHEN I AM PAYING $ 90 JUST FOR HIM TO SHOW UP.