Loudoun County has a lot of heating, cooling and plumbing companies, and most of them look the same online. Here are the nine checks we’d run ourselves before letting anyone into the house in Ashburn, Leesburg, Sterling, South Riding or Aldie. You can do every one of them in ten minutes, and you can run them on us too.
1. Look up the Virginia license
Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) licenses contractors, and the lookup is free on its website. Check that the license is active and that it covers HVAC or plumbing work, not only general building. Ours is Virginia license #2705192276.
2. Ask who pulls the permit
A water heater, furnace or AC replacement needs a permit from Loudoun County, and inside the Town of Leesburg a visible exterior change in the historic district needs a Certificate of Appropriateness too. The contractor should pull the permit and schedule the inspection. If someone suggests skipping it, that’s your answer.
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Want your own number before anyone comes out? The HVAC estimator prices your house in a few questions.
3. Get the price in writing before work starts
A real price comes after someone looks at your equipment, and it’s written down before the work. For a sense of the range, a gas tank water heater in Loudoun runs $3,238 to $5,485 with us, and a furnace and AC $8,898 to $23,000. From about $148 a month at 0% APR for 60 months, the whole price financed, on approved credit. If a quote is far outside a range like that, ask what’s different.
4. Count reviews across every platform
One platform’s count is easy to curate. Look at Google, Yelp, Angi, BBB and the rest together, and read the bad ones as well as the good. We’re rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook. Our Ashburn reviews are all in one place, sorted by town.
5. Find out who owns the company
Plenty of local names are now owned by out-of-state investment groups, and the name on the truck doesn’t tell you. Who owns which Northern Virginia companies is public, and so is a list of the locally owned ones.
6. Ask whether their own people do the work
Some companies sell the job and send a subcontractor. Ask who’s coming, and whether they’re employees. Our water heaters are replaced by our own plumbers, and our HVAC installs by our own crews.
7. Check that they know your HOA
Ashburn Village, Brambleton, Broadlands, Stone Ridge and the rest each have rules about outdoor units and flues. A good contractor asks about your HOA before quoting a new spot for the condenser, not after the letter comes.
8. Read the financing terms, not the ad
On a big job, ask for the rate, the term and the monthly payment in writing. Ours is 0% APR for 60 months on approved credit, for example From about $71 a month at 0% APR for 60 months, the whole price financed, on approved credit.
9. Compare maintenance plans by what’s in them
Plans vary from one visit a year to four, and the discounts vary too. Ours is four visits a year and 15% off repairs. A side by side of Northern Virginia maintenance plan prices shows what each company includes.
One more: both trades under one roof
A water heater is plumbing, a furnace is HVAC, and in most Loudoun basements they share a flue and a room. One company that does both saves a second visit. More questions worth asking are on our list of questions to ask a contractor and in how to choose a heating and air contractor.
Questions people ask
How do I check an HVAC contractor’s license in Virginia?
Search the contractor’s name or license number on Virginia DPOR’s free license lookup. Make sure it’s active and covers HVAC or plumbing. SwiftPro’s is #2705192276.
Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Loudoun County?
Yes. A water heater, furnace or AC replacement needs a Loudoun County permit, and the contractor should pull it and book the inspection.
How many reviews should a good HVAC company have?
Count is less useful than the total across every platform and what the bad ones say. We’re rated 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook.
Want us to look at yours?
Call (703) 997-9757 or book online. A SwiftPro technician looks at the actual equipment and writes the price before any work starts. Ashburn homeowners rate us 5.0 stars across 1,130 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook. More on our Ashburn work is on the Ashburn page.
