HVAC reviews in Chesapeake, Virginia

I do not like where this was placed AT ALL! It is in the walk way. Another place should have been suggested as we had NO idea it would stick out from the wall this far, we have literally lost our whole walkway. Why weren’t we shown that it would stick out this far and another location suggested? I was literately home ALL DAY in case they needed me. I am very unhappy with the placement.

This company and this team has treated us right. First was Isaiah, maintenance check, professional, knowledgeable, explained everything very well. Even though he had some tough news homeowners sometimes hear. Time to replace….furnace and HVAC.
Fast forward to today, Brandon (Yeti…)😃and Mikey, really good install team. Also professional, efficient, they worked hard and got the install done.
Will definitely stick with Russel’s…for my requirements in the future.
Next input a few weeks later, Tyler noticed an issue, no problem, Russell’s did a great job communicating with me, and then today, Matt Dillon, and Yeti came again today and really squared things away

Technician Neil Jordan came out to make an emergency repair, our heat was not working. He was very personable, professional and knowledgeable. He explained what he was doing, the problem with our unit, took photos to walk us through the issue and repairs and had the unit up and running within an hour. Neil was exceptional and I intend to ask for him in all our future work with Russell’s American.

It's our first winter with a new HVAC system and after a couple of cold nights this thermostat needed some adjustment. They fit us in the same week and the tech, Omar, was on time, knew exactly what we needed and adjusted the thermostat very quickly. I'm more than satisfied with the visit and recommend Russell's to anyone in need of an HVAC company

The technician (Isaiah) was awesome. Knowledgeable and professional. After fixing our HVAC he explained the cause, corrective action, and what to do in the future... in terms we could understand. I'm glad we went with Russell's.

Staff is 100% wonderful! Our technician that came out was very educated and helpful. He did a great job installing our new tankless heater. Let’s hope this one last as long as our old one did for 18 years. Would recommend these folks!

I just got a new furnace unit installed by Russell’s. I am very pleased! Everybody treated me nice and the installers were very knowledgeable and polite. They were on time too. I will use them again and I highly recommend you do too. I also received three quotes and they were all very close, but I felt very comfortable with them.

The technician, Shayvon, it was very friendly and courteous. He was very thorough and told us everything he was doing for our annual maintenance and even sent videos. When he was stuck in traffic he communicated that he was going to be a little bit late. Very good service.

Received an estimate to have minor toilet repairs (the toilets occasionally ran after being flushed) and wanted to have two bathroom faucets removed and replaced. That total was over $1,900. I found that to be unreasonable, but because of recent surgery, I needed help with just one toilet. That one toilet took less than 15 minutes and we were charged over $230. Their technician was professional and polite, but their costs are (in my opinion and experience) way too high.

TLDR; Russells American Mechanical has an internal communication problem that will probably cost us hundreds of dollars when this is all said and done, and resulted in them jeopardizing the safety of my house and family for almost 20 hours.

Now for the full story:

Back in late March of 2025, Russell’s American Mechanical installed our new HVAC system in our household. The installation went well as far as we knew, and the unit served us well until this past January.

On Thursday, January 27th, our house was suddenly getting very cold, and upon inspection, the outdoor unit was covered in a thick layer of frost. I went to switch over to Aux Heat to warm the house while we wait for service, but that option was not enabled on our thermostat.

Thursday, I called Russell’s, and they told me they would send someone out late that evening, between 8 and 10pm.

At around 3pm that Thursday, I received a call from the mechanic. He told me to“Try turning the system up a few degrees. A lot of houses are colder this time of year; turning the system up should fix it.” And to call home tomorrow if that didn’t work.

Having my doubts, I turned the system up a bit more and, lo and behold, the house continued to get colder. I call Friday, and they informed me that due to snowy conditions, they would not be able to send someone out until Sunday. The house was ~55 degrees by the time someone came out.

On Sunday the mechanic sees that aux heat is not available, and begins troubleshooting. He informs us that the reason we had no aux heat and our heat pump froze over was because when they installed the new unit, they had never connected the heat kit.

He connected it then and there and he went on his way, telling us the system should be fully operational, but to let him know if it acted up again. This was Sunday at around 3pm.

Monday, at around 11am I receive a call from their office saying that they had been looking into why my heat kit had not been connected, and it turns out that back in March, they had determined that the circuitry in my house was too small to support the heat kit, and they had been supposed to send out an electrician to upgrade the circuitry before connecting the heat kit. They never did this, so the heat kit would need to be disconnected immediately to prevent a fire.

We scheduled an electrician to come out that Wednesday to upgrade the power supply to support the heat kit. They sent an electrician team that day, Monday, to disconnect the heat kit as it was a hazard having it connected. The kit was disconnected about 1-2 hours later. There was an approximately 20-hour period where, due to their own internal failure of communication, my house and family were at a real risk of electrical fire, because they hooked up our heat kit without asking the question, “Why was this left disconnected in the first place? Let’s figure that out before we move forward.”

I was also informed on that phone call that, on Sunday, parts had been ordered to be replaced on our outdoor unit and they were supposed to be in by Thursday afternoon. We had not been informed that anything was wrong with the outdoor unit, much less that replacement parts had been ordered.

Wednesday comes, they upgrade the system, and now we can safely use auxiliary heat again. Thursday I called and asked about the parts; they won’t be in until Friday. Friday I call and ask about the parts again; they won’t be in until late Friday, maybe Monday. Saturday I called and asked if they received them Friday; they won’t be able to even check if they received the parts until Monday.

Monday, Feb 9th now, I call and ask about the parts; they have received some parts, but not all of them, though he “wasn’t sure which had come in, or when the rest will arrive”. We did schedule him to come out that Wednesday, and all parts are replaced now. To our knowledge, our HVAC unit is fully functional now.
This 2 week ordeal all started because they failed to have an electrician follow up with us after installing our unit. I cannot recommend this company based on my experiences.

My old heat pump failed recently so I called Russell's American Mechanical. I was very happy that they came to my home the same day. Isiah was the technician and he was very easy to speak with and very respectful. He is extremely knowledgeable of current HVAC tech and took the time to explain the differences between all of my options. I purchased the York three ton, 18 SEER side-discharge heat pump and was skeptical that it would be large enough. Thankfully, Isiah convinced me that it is the correct size for my home and it turns out that it is very effective. I was very surprised that even though it was 35 degrees outside, once the new York heat pump was installed and turned on, it only took 45 minutes to bring the temp inside my home up to 70 degrees. I have lived in this house for 19 years and I had not experienced such a rapid regulation of indoor temp in that entire 19 years. My previous heat pump would have required many hours of continuous operation to achieve 70 degrees. Also, I tested the vent temperature with an accurate digital thermometer and found that the vent temperature was 119 degrees which is incredible. My previous heat pump only provided between 80 and 85 degree vent temps. I am looking forward to seeing how well it performs during hot weather but based on what i'm seeing during cold weather, I am confident that it will function exceptionally well. Another great attribute is how quietly it operates. I literally can't hear it running inside my house. Outside, I have to be very close to the heat pump to hear it, which is great. The installation team was also very knowledgeable and respectful. They did very neat, well finished work. Thank you Russell's for exceeding my high standards. I definitely recommend your company.

All in all, the work that was done was great. A few reasons for 4/5 stars are, 1. They are kinda pricey, I wish I would've done a little more research, but, it is what it is. 2. All 3 appointments started between 1-2 hours late, not the worst thing in the world, just have a little extra time slotted for it. 3. You will have to "finish" your own drywall. They patch it, but not that great of a job. For the price and how often they have to patch holes in walls, I feel like it coulda been done a little better. Technicians were respectful to my house. "Fixed" anything they did. They did say I would have to sand and paint, just wasn't expecting a full extra job in doing that, I thought it would be just a little touch up.. Final thoughts tho, I am satisfied with the work completed. I had a dryer outlet replace from 3 to 4 prong, a GFCI box installed under my sink for the dishwasher and disposal, a line ran for a fan, and they installed the fan to include the switches for it.

Excellent service from Russell's American Mechanical. They were very responsive and did a detailed safety check for a gas leak. It’s great to have a plumber you can truly trust.

Russell's came out to check my elderly mom's furnace/ac unit. I thought it wasn't working but the very knowledgeable & polite young man said it was running just fine & was a fairly new unit. He checked around in my mom's house/attic & noticed some areas that would possibly need some work down the road but would get her through the winter. We definitely know who we'll be calling when we get down that road!

I noticed a leak on a wall in the garage on Friday evening. I called Russell's at 9 PM and a person answered!! She was able to get me an appointment the very next afternoon. The gentleman that came out was very knowledgeable and helpful. The leak is a plumbing issue, not due to the heat pump. Our problem is well on its way to being completely resolved thanks to Russell's American Mechanical. They also installed our heat pump and now I can say, nine years later, we haven't had a single issue with it!! Thank you Sam, Mike and Russell's American Mechanical!!

We don't own this townhouse, but we have been renting for a little while. First of all, kudos to our landlord who answered the phone at 12:30am when we called eith a leaking water heater, and also scheduling service the next day,.

Second, and equally impressive was Russell's American Mechanical. They came out quickly, scheduled service fast, and their staff was amazing to deal with. They were very professional, did clean work, and communicated with me every step of the way. I took pictures and sent them to a plumber friend of mine when they had completed their work and he said, "YES! That is how it should be done!"

Russell’s American Mechanical has awesome customer service! There is ALWAYS someone available to assist you with an array of services with the greatest attitudes. If you need an appointment and they don’t have the availability that you need they will work hard to accommodate you. My tech, James, was soooo kind, funny, and knowledgeable of his job PLUS I saved $400 on a new water heater😎. No complaints here!

We have an old heating system in our home and it is not working so we called Russells to check it out. The technician advised us that our current system was not running properly because of its age and the fact that it was an oil system. His suggestion was to replace it with a new system Heat Pump which would be much more efficient and affordable to maintain. I am familiar with HVAC systems and his company is very knowledgeable about them.

Logan and Matthew were awesome. Appreciate their patience and understanding. Work looks outstanding. Kicking myself for not doing this sooner

Fantastic work. I’ve used this company several times in the past few years for HVAC work. This is the first plumbing issue I’ve had. They’re professional, responsive and thorough. Always upfront about immediate needs and potential long-term issues of the options depending on the issue. Would absolutely go to them again in the future.

I had a great experience with their service. 1 furnace had issues, made an appointment, the technician came fixed the problem and mentioned the furnaces were in pretty bad shape (14 yo). They gave me an estimate to replace them, it seemed reasonable to me. Decided to go with the installation of 2 new furnaces before the winter storm that was coming. Gave me a date and time for the installation, the crew showed up on time and few hours later, I had 2 brand new furnaces up and running