Hi - I live in Northern VA and have heat pump. Its been working fine but recently I've gotten in middle of battle between two HVAC companies. One came to do semi-annual "check-up" and said they couldn't get my A/C to go to "stage 2" compression. Spent 3 hrs trying to figure it out. I called another company - they said its because the stage 2 was never connected in the outside unit. And in fact they said I really don't need stage 2 which is why installers probably didn't connect it. The other company saying that's ridiculous. While the second company saying the heat pump (A/C mode at this point) is working fine. They're pointing fingers back and forth through me. I don't know - all I know is there was nothing wrong that I could tell - I was just getting my seasonal cleaning/check up.

2nd problem - Both HVAC companies say I need ducts cleaned. First company says $600 because they also "sanitize". Second says $400. My internet research indicates that these sanitizing, sealing or otherwise treating the ducts to kill germs, etc is pretty sketchy proposal and not necessary. Mainly they just need to be cleaned if they're dirty - which they are.

I don't know - but sick of this back and forth - specially on first question. Any thoughts from anyone? Thank you!

If you have a 2 stage unit & sufficient ductwork to handle the extra air flow needed for the second stage, the installer did you an injustice by not connecting it. If you don't have enough duct capacity, they did you wrong by selling you something you can't use. In either case, it sounds like you've been had.

In my opinion, duct cleaning is a scam. If the ducts are fiberglass duct board, trying to clean them is going to do more damage than good.