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Review Highlights
“Both James and Kevin were knowledgeable and friendly, and their whole team were experienced and did a great job.” in 109 reviews
“Hired Ocean Air Heating in December 2015 to replace a 25year old furnace with a new one with a smart thermostat.” in 8 reviews
“( I had a quote from another company that wanted to replace not only all the ducting but all the dampers!” in 11 reviews
About the Business
A family owned business, with over 20 years experience. We specialize in high efficiency heating and air conditioning systems. Available for commercial and residential jobs. Personalized customer service and quality work is our goal. We believe in being a green company, and recycle all materials possible.
Location & Hours
Amenities and More
Ask the Community
Q:
Can you advise on HVAC system upgrades for improved efficiency?
A:
Hi Yes. Please give me a call when convenient and I give details of your options. 415.867.0846 Thanks James
James R., Business OwnerQ:
What are the benefits of HVAC zoning systems, and are they suitable for my home?
A:
Please give me a call when convenient to discuss. I can explain the benefits after asking a couple questions about your home. 415.867.0846 Thx James
James R., Business Owner
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Overall rating
146 reviews
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- Will M.Ann Arbor, MI06Mar 16, 2018
Nothing but good things to say about James and his crew. Our furnace broke a little more than a week before my wife was due to give birth to our son. It also happened to be right before the holidays and one of the coldest weeks of the year (awesome timing).
We called around and nobody seemed to have the time to even come take a look at our issue. James to the rescue. He showed up the next day, diagnosed the problem, and agreed to come back a few days later and install a new Carrier system. He's friendly, well informed, and honest.
If honesty is why you're searching Yelp for a HVAC repair technician, and let's face it, that's why most of us use Yelp, then rest assured that James will treat you fair. I know this because my parents' furnace broke a little more than a year ago (they also live in the city) and one of the competitors replaced their system with the same Carrier 96% efficiency furnace we got, for significantly more money. You can trust James to give you an honest quote and to do good work. He's also very prompt responding to text messages and was always on time for appointments.
Sorry if it sounds weird to give such a glowing review, but James and his team are the real deal. My wife and I, and the baby, couldn't be happier with our furnace. Thanks again James!Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Mar 16, 2018
Hi Will
I’m really glad the timing worked out! And the little one waited until the new furnace was in and he could start off in a cozy warm house. It was a pleasure working with you guys. Thank you for your business!
James - Cheryl G.Pacifica, CA27225Apr 17, 2024
Super impressed with their customer service! They weren't able to provide the service we need, but they called me directly and recommended a competitor who could do that kind of work. It was an unnecessary service that really impressed me!
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Nov 27, 2022
I cannot speak highly enough of my experience with Ocean Air Heating. My house gets really hot in the summer and I was looking to install AC. I called James to discuss the options and ultimately opted for installation of a heat pump system.
James and his crew did an amazing job with the project. They were able to install everything in 2 days. The crew did an incredible job installing the system and left my house spotless afterwards. Now I am able to keep my house a comfortable temperature year round with a highly efficient heat pump!Helpful 2Thanks 0Love this 2Oh no 1Business owner information
James R.
Nov 27, 2022
Hi Paul, It was great doing business with you. And I’m glad your sanctuary is nice and comfy! Thanks for the awesome review!
- george p.San Francisco, CA593910Jun 15, 2023
I keep forgetting to post this review even though these folks built my hvac system (heat pump) over two years ago. So this is in effect a long term review. In summary the HVAC system was built exceedingly well and works really well. I do wish I'd asked them to install a higher end unit with built in dehumidification but that's on me as they definitely sized and chose a unit with the best bang for the buck for my house size and which would fit in the constrained space I had to hide the condenser.
They reused my existing vent work by very carefully building custom venting fitted to it from the much higher stack of the inside heat pump versus the old gas furnace. To do so they had to carefully fabricate and fit an exact fit vent to go between two floor joists and include little angle deflections to avoid other protuberances from the joists.
The electrical contractor they subbed out the electrical work to also did an awesome professional job. All the parts of the electrical system he built to power the indoor unit, outdoor unit, subpanel and an extra 240v outlet for me are so much better than all my other electrical that it's sort of embarrassing. He also moved a bunch of circuits and carefully relabeled them with actually readable labels while the whole time I never even noticed an electrical cut of a single circuit.Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Jun 15, 2023
Thank you for the awesome review!
- Jan 18, 2022
I'm tempted to give one star for the lack of responsiveness, but I really hate doing this to a small business.
TLDR; I reached out via the Yelp submission process but ultimately could not get any help.
I reached out to set up service time for a heater that was intermittently working / not working. If first checked if there were any appointments in the coming couple of days. I received a reply indicating appointments were booked then. That's fine, that's a completely reasonable response.
I then asked when the next available appointment time is, and received a reply that no new work was being accepted... as in AT ALL. Okay, I assume you have opted into the Yelp process that allows potential customers to submit service requests. If you are full, then you should probably opt out of that form or turn it off. At a minimum, even if you are unable to, my request was very clear. Why not indicate upfront you are not taking any new appointments. It's really baffling why you would put a potential customer through this, especially for someone who was recommended to you. I have never heard of a business that just indefinitely has no appointments available. I'm fairly certain you'll go out of business if you tell everyone you have no appointments in the future, period.
Fortunately, we found another five-star rated company (Cyclone) that offered to come out that same evening, 8:30pm, and fixed everything on the spot. We did not expect them to come out the same evening, but the responsiveness and service were definitely welcomed after this experience.Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Jan 19, 2022
Hi
I really appreciate any input from customers to improve our service . I’m sorry that I didn’t know how to how to disable my yelp ad. And that we couldn’t get to fix your furnace. I had I guy out with Covid. And I just lost a relative that passed from Covid . So that put us way behind. I hope you can understand. And again I’m sorry I couldn’t get to your job the same day you called. Things are really hectic with what’s going on right now. I’m now a week out on service calls. And a month out on new installations. I’m sorry we couldn’t help.
Thanks
James - Craig P.San Francisco, CA16372Sep 21, 2022
Ocean Air Heating replaced my old gas furnace (was in garage) with a new electric heat-pump mini-split system (compressor on the roof). So it was a big job for my San Francisco Edwardian home. They had the lowest price, did excellent work, and were communicative and easy to work with. Both James and Kevin were knowledgeable and friendly, and their whole team were experienced and did a great job. So we also hired them when we had to move another furnace in the building, to accommodate an earthquake retrofit. They did a great job with that project too, moving the furnace to fit the needs of our structural construction team.
Helpful 2Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Sep 21, 2022
It was a pleasure working with you. Thanks!
- David R.San Francisco, CA23560Apr 13, 2023
James and his technician Kevin were by far the most competent HVAC experts I worked with. My mini split system stopped turning on mid-summer - after months of contractors provided by my home warranty (don't get one of these, they're horrible), nobody had provided me an answer. One technician said the compressor was busted, another said the circuit board. All of them said the whole system had to be replaced. I got tired of this - and reached out to James.
Kevin spent more than two hours looking at every aspect of my setup - in the end, he was able to figure out that the condensate pump indoors (since my condensate drain line is above the fan) had failed, which turns off power to the rest of the system. The system itself worked fine, and he came back to replace the pump and viola, everything worked. He tried two different pumps - the first was one was way too loud, so he installed a different one which is silent.
I appreciated Kevin's thoroughness and honesty - I would trust them for an HVAC job in the future given how many other contractors failed to find the real issue and almost made me get a whole new system.Helpful 1Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Apr 13, 2023
Thank you for the awesome review! And so glad we could figure it out for you.
Thanks - Sunny B.San Francisco, CA1720Jul 11, 2023
Was trying to decide how to survive fire season this year. I called James and he helped me figure out options without charging me for a consult fee. His info was incredibly helpful!
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 1Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Jul 11, 2023
Hi Sunny,
I’m glad I can help. Please feel free with any other questions regarding your hvac. Thanks for your review!!
James - Matt N.San Francisco, CA23715Sep 13, 2022
Got a quote from one of the big HVAC firms to install heat pump HVAC in my condo in SF. After the sticker shock I shopped around and found James on Yelp. He was super friendly, expedient and his estimate was not only HALF of what the big firms charge, he came in under budget! Work was done in a timely manner (also in half time of the bigger shop), and his crew is super friendly, helpful and knows their stuff. Six stars! Highly recommended.
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 1Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Sep 13, 2022
Thanks for your awesome review and of course your business!
- Steve B.Inner Richmond, San Francisco, CA042Oct 13, 2021Updated review
How great is Ocean Air? Nine years ago James installed our heating system in the attic of our house which was built in 1904. I'm coming here today to praise him because as I'm getting heating/AC bids for my in-laws in Fremont I now appreciate just how knowledgeable & resourceful he was.
He came up with solutions to problems of heating our pre-quake house I didn't even know needed to be solved!
I'm now dealing with duct/heating problems in a house built in the 1960's. I wish I had him down here!
At least now I know what to look for in an expert in HVAC, someone like James!
Steve B
SF
Happy, Satisfied Customer of Ocean Air since 2012Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0Business owner information
James R.
Dec 7, 2013
Thank you very much !
Dec 7, 2013Previous reviewIt is now our first full year of wonderful central heating and we have James and the crew at Ocean's Air to thank.
James installed a high-efficiency furnace using zones in our long upstairs flat. It was a complex project since we couldn't heat from below, so the furnace was installed in the attic. The Victorian flat was built in 1904 and had no central heat except an old wall heater.
We had to deal with a lot of contractors to complete the project (note to self, never try to be general contractor again, no matter how "straightforward" the project seems at the start) and it was great to have James managing his part efficiently and correctly. He got all the permits pulled and inspections handed correctly.
I wish I had taken his advice on other contractors to work with, but I was trying to save a buck and didn't understand the hidden costs of lowest bid work (especially on plumbing.)
Not only did he complete his work correctly he helped me get our plumbers and electricians to do their job correctly. I couldn't have done it without him.
We hit some snags during the process (not the least of which was me stepping thought the ceiling while up in the attic doing some self insulation. It costs $$$ to fix, but hey, I saved .03 cents a year in energy! Second note to self, hire professionals to insulate attic next time.) James' crew cracked some ceiling plaster during their insulation, but he brought in a professional to fix it. Very handy to know after my ceiling stepping adventure.
I've had to deal with a lot of contractors over the last two years and I appreciate James not only communicating with me, but with the others in the household. We needed more hand-holding than was probably normal, but he explained the process more than once, which helped a lot, especially compared to other non-communicative contractors.
This year we can finally have that house warming party we've been putting off. Thanks Ocean Air! - Harley G.San Francisco, CA29108Aug 19, 2022
Needed a couple of wall heaters replaced in 2 units. James quoted and sent me an estimate (labor and parts) within 24 hours of my inquiry. His quote turned out to be lower than the going rate for the units I wanted. He was flexible on the installation date. The tenants who received the new heaters were satisfied and taught how to operate the units.
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James R.
Aug 19, 2022
It was a pleasure working with you. Thanks for your business!