The Energy House

Since before Thanksgiving of 2015, we have been trying to get our fireplace (installed in 2014) working again after not using it during the summer. Apparently there are 5 parts which have been ordered for replacement under our warranty – the customer service person is always sure to answer my calls and nicely explain this to me – but to date there has been no contact as to when we can expect the parts to be installed. It is pretty disappointing since we upgraded to a more expensive model and have been unable to use our fireplace at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Kinda misses the mark for me. If there are circumstances of which I am not aware, someone please call me.

Worst decision to buy from here. I spent over 7k on high end two sided fireplace and the installation process was terrible. Unfriendly, inefficient, missing parts that they didn’t come to take care for literally weeks, despite our follow ups. Once finally installed the fireplace immediately started cracking my brand new walls. Alan the manager came out to test whether it was built according to specs in installation guide — it was. Then we waited weeks to hear back about his recommendations from another manufacturer in what to do about the cracked walls. My contractor went above and beyond trying to make a solution work and the fireplace still cracks the walls that have now been retaped resanded and repainted three times at my cost. Energy House takes no responsibility for selling a product that is too hot to withstand the construct and engineering which it is recommended. Terrible service. Bad product management. Left me with no options but to have cracked brand new walls or to not use the fireplace.

I am updating my review and Energy House deserves a 5 star because our fireplace has not had any problems.

Bottom line: Check very carefully on your warranties and on how much service to your unit will cost you just one year after you buy it. I wish I had checked that with other dealers before choosing this one. If they aren’t friendly when you are buying the unit, they won’t be when it starts to need repair.
I bought a gas fireplace insert from Energy House in Mar 2013. The delivery and installation took some arranging, and the timing with our remodel was a little tricky, but they got it installed and set up well enough. I wouldn’t exactly call them friendly, but they were competent.
A couple of weeks ago the fireplace started being tricky about starting, and not turning off, even when I turned it off at the base switch. I called Energy House to ask for assistance and was informed that it would be $ 195 for them to even come look at it. Although my unit has a two year warranty, the Energy House claims that their warranty only covers for one year. After some arguing, they have agreed to come look at it without the service fee. It remains to be seen if they will actually be able to get it functioning reliably.

Placing the order is the most difficult part of the process. Picking between all the models that are set-​up and functioning. trying to decide on the best fit. Once ordered I was given an install date. On time delivery and install by very fast crew and 2 hours later I was enjoying the first rate gas fireplace insert.

I don’t even want to give one star! I wish I would have seen these reviews before I made a HUGE mistake with purchasing our gas insert from this company. The sales rep was nice but gave inaccurate information regarding the correct insert that we needed which resulted in additional costs on our end when we were told we needed a custom panel. Then, measurements were taken incorrectly regarding the panel that we were originally told we didn’t need so even more costs were added to our bill. Cindy, from the scheduling department is extremely rude and never returned calls. I had to call several times to get ahold of her but then in her notes she wrote that she made numerous attempts to get a hold of us. I had to take time off work to get our insert installed then the morning of our install she called and cancelled. Notes were taken inaccurately and there was no information taken from my end. When I tried to discuss the issues I was treated so rudely. I was then transferred to Allen, who is supposedly the owner of the company and was treated even worse! I have never experienced just disrespect and unprofessionalism from a company before! I highly DO NOT recommend this company!!!

I had a fireplace insert installed two years ago from the energy house. Christian came out for the original consultation. He was nice, professional and informative. a few weeks later the installers came with the fireplace insert (fireplace extrodinair, awesome fireplace!). that went fairly smoothly, except the door did not quite align with the shadow box. They said they would need to come back and fix. I called and emailed several times but could not get someone to come back. Eventually I got a call asking why I had not paid the balance. I explained the situation and said I’d be happy to pay when my very expensive fireplace was installed correctly. A week late two guys came out and fixed it, they were great. The fireplace has worked flawlessly ever since.
the moral seems to be to make sure you get what you are paying for before you make your final payment!

Trying to order a top for a Majestic fireplace, starting July 18. I have left phone calls and sent emails but I’m having a difficult time getting a response to my order. I may move them up a few stars if they ever get back to me.
Update Aug 26. I heard back, my top is in. They did a good job finding the top but need a little help on communication (see above).
Update Aug 27. Went to pick up the top at San Carlos. No one knew of the order and didn’t know who Alan was. A mystery. Maybe the top and Alan are at a different branch. I’m investigating. In the mean time, back to 2 stars.
Aug. 28. Back up to 4 stars. Back to San Carlos. They had found the order. I have my top.

Called with a gas fireplace that hadn’t worked in seven years. Showed up the same day, on time. Took the entire thing out, fixed the problem, cleaned everything up including the glass. Explained the re-​lighting process. Friendly, helpful, perfect (hope I don’t jinx it by saying that).

My husband and I had a great experience at the Energy House. We found that their inventory was the best around and install time could happen much more quickly than other competitors. We were under a tight remodel turnaround and all of our expectations were met and the fireplace insert looks great!

Avoid The Energy House and especially Alan Karcich if you value your time, want to preserve your credit rating and don’t want to end up in court. Long story short, one of our contractors bought 2 units from The Energy House. The units were released to a third party without my consent or that of the contractor. You can guess the rest… I ended up in small claims court — my first time. Alan on the other hand had three pending suits where he was the plaintiff on that same day and he knew everyone-​the judge, the bailiff, everyone. He was quite comfortable in that environment.
He should never have released the units to someone without full payment-​so his unscrupulous business practices costs my family more money to pay for his mistakes and a day of my time.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Mendota or Heat N Glo from Jimmy at Santa Cruz Spas, or go to Extreme Heat Source in Campbell, CA, but avoid The Energy House.

When we went in, Christian helped us look at a few inserts. Then Frank came to do the measurements a few days later, and to give the quote.
Well then after that, everything went downhill due to the lack of communication between Frank and the rest of the guys at the shop which resulted in delays, wrong parts/​faces being ordered etc., mulitple visits out to my home. By the time we had it fully installed and functioning, it took about 6 – 8 weeks — even though Jorge and his guys did their best!
Then the unit started acting up so thanx to Alan’s help and understanding, a new control unit needs to be installed. Hoping that will be done next week and then we won’t have any more issues… crossing fingers!

Terrible experience with this company. Purchased a fireplace in April for a large house remodeling project. Incorrect parts were received. We went to San Carlos twice (!!!) to pick up correct parts; no dice. Three weeks have gone by since the order was placed by The Energy House for correct parts, and the guys arrived on site today to start up the unit. Guess what? No fireplace screen… it’s in San Carlos. Good God? Just one screw up after another with them… sure wish we had gone with a different company.

Had reviewed ‘Energy House’…realized this is the main listing… Apparently I went in wearing my invisibility cape. Can’t explain how else to get ignored by the sales guy for quite that long a period of time in such a small space at 2pm on Thursday afternoon (not really a busy time). There are other options, I’m off to find them…

Straight up great to deal with. I contacted them by phone and within 24 hours had some pretty difficult chimney flue parts in hand and installed in my home (7×4 vent pipe) picked up and installed by my contractor. Their prices are very decent as well. If you need chimney parts, call these guys. Keep up the great work!

This store is busy and the staff are professional. The fireplace insert that we got was transforming, adding warmth and elegance,
The price was just, and the service good. The only caution is in communication. The burden of communication is on the customer. The staff are not hand-​holders, but they get the job done in time and beautifully. Our sales person was very knowledgeable.

I went in and met with Christian who was very helpful. I bought a fireplace that day and arranged the delivery to my half remodeled home. It arrived on time and Energy House men installed it.
Since then my contractor arranged for our Granite guy to install the granite but they didn’t open the boxes holding the fireplace surround before doing so and the surround was round at the top and now the granite is straight!
So I rang and spoke to Alan who was pretty helpful but sounds pissed off all the time, never the less, he made arrangements for the fireplace surrounds (we have two for the see through) to be switched with a restocking charge! They called to say the new ones were in and I went and did the switch without any problems.
Now we are just waiting for the house to be finished so we can have them come out to light it –fingers crossed.
Overall a pretty good experience.

We had a great experience initially — the sale itself was a five star experience.
However, we had our own guy install the unit, and we had to order a face-​plate that was going to take a few days. So we were depending on the contractor being able to make some phone calls to Energy House further down the line. Our sales lady told us she’d have no problem with that and walk us through it.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to overload of work at Energy House, our contractor was waiting two days for a response to messages. When he did get the sales lady on the phone, she was very knowledgeable and very helpful. I cannot criticize that, and I am grateful for her help. But having a guy sitting there waiting that long for a phone call before he can proceed with getting materials for a job is sort of an issue. There seemed to be an implication that she’d be available during business hours if we needed anything at all, and in fact that was unrealistic. I wish we had known that, because then we would have placed calls earlier or worked around it.
We had our own contractor do the job because a) we trust him and b) we had him install the new gas line for this fireplace insert so it made sense for him to do the connections and finish the job.
Energy House was very good about making sure to have the contractor’s name on the pickup information. And they were thoroughly understanding about the size of our fireplace. The opening of our fireplace was sized between the larger fireplace insert and the smaller one, and it was unclear which one was going to fit, so we started with the large one. Ironically, the insert fit perfectly but the insert face attachment required us to grind out an extra inch of marble to get it on there (not too cool in my book, actually, but that’s Lopi’s design issue).
Unfortunately, the installation instructions included with the unit were terrible. The dimensions listed were wrong on the hose clamps and several other items. It seemed like generally these were for a different unit or an older unit and yet were still included, unrevised, for this unit. I don’t think that’s Energy House’s fault (it’s Lopi’s) but it would have saved us some trouble if they had warned us, or our contractor, to look for inconsistencies. Those poor instructions cost a couple of hours’ worth of repeat trips to the local hardware store. At $ 45 per hour, that’s really not cool. Plus, how difficult would it have been for Energy House to include 4 proper hose clamps at $ 1.50 each? The unit itself cost over $ 3K. But it did not come with the small screws, nuts, bolts or clamps required to install it. Even IKEA includes that stuff…
Also, when the face plate did come in to the store, I had to call the Energy House to find out about it. They did not call me at any stage on that. I called to confirm it had been ordered, confirm that it was on its way, and to confirm its arrival. None of these phone calls were Energy House initiative. They had my email address and could have dropped me a line anywhere along the way as an FYI. But they didn’t. Again, there is this sales implication of «hey, we’re totally on it» but really, they can’t deliver on that implication. It’d be better if they told me up front that I would need to call and follow up with them.
All that said, I love the gas insert. I love the way it looks and the way it runs. We are happy with our purchase. We would send friends to Energy House, but perhaps with the caution that getting someone’s attention after the sale might take a little work. They were really good about working through the issues of our particular situation, so they get 4 stars instead of 3, but they would have 5 stars from me if they had done a better job managing expectations of their availability.

Loved this place.
Went in on a Saturday and there was one person working the store. Jana was professional, kind, and knew her stuff. AND when things got busy she kept kept her attention on us, making sure that we had the information that we needed.
I personally thought their showroom was very nice. I was also pleased that when we asked about a specific finish or style, Jana whipped around and pointed at what it would look like.
We ended up buying a very nice unit that day and it’s now being installed. (She gave us the option of having our contractor install it or they could install it for us.) (In fact — there were many options to choose from for the actual unit itself — many of which can be added later if we want. Very cool.)
Also agreeing with the other Unilocalers — how can you give someone a one-​star review when you’ve not even conducted business? They missed out — that’s all I have to say!

«Best selection of fireplaces by far!
After doing extensive research for the perfect fireplace for our home, I finally found the perfect place! I was very impressed with their professional, helpful staff that answered every question i had about fireplaces. They helped me to pick out the right fireplace and they turned my old, beatup, broken brick fireplace into an elegant masterpiece AND they did it in a timely manner for A LOT less than most places!
If you are looking for the best quality for a fraction of the cost of most fireplace retailers… definitely check out The Energy House, you will not regret it.