Our home town
We’ve worked out of Bala Cynwyd for more than fifteen years, and our shop at 339 Montgomery Ave is a short drive from almost any street in town. That matters most on the worst days: a boiler that quits on a January night, or an air conditioner that stops at the start of a heat wave. Being close means we can usually get to you quickly, and we answer emergency calls around the clock.
It also means we know the houses. Bala Cynwyd has two quite different kinds of home, and they need different things from a heating and cooling contractor.
Stone houses and split-levels
The stone houses from the 1880s through the 1920s were built before forced air was common, so most were designed around a boiler and radiators. Many still work that way, and a well-kept boiler can last for decades. When one acts up, the fix is usually a part, not a new boiler: a circulator pump, a valve, an igniter or an expansion tank.
The split-levels built after the war east of Manayunk Road are a different story. They typically came with ductwork, so they run on a furnace and central air or a heat pump. Those systems wear out on a shorter schedule than a boiler, and when a furnace and air conditioner reach the end of their lives at the same time, a heat pump that handles both jobs is often worth pricing.
Right on the Philadelphia line
Bala Cynwyd runs up to City Avenue, where Lower Merion ends and Philadelphia begins. For us the line doesn’t change much: the houses in Wynnefield and Overbrook just across it are a few minutes from our shop too. Whichever side of City Avenue you’re on, you get the same people and the same approach, with the repair price before any work starts.
Switching from oil
Some older Bala Cynwyd houses still heat with oil. If you’re thinking about switching to gas, the township requires any abandoned underground tank to come out, removed by a DEP-certified contractor under a building permit. It’s worth pricing that alongside the new equipment so there are no surprises halfway through.