One pickup truck, thirty-two winters.
Setpoint is a family company in Halden, Minnesota. We fix, install and maintain heating and cooling for homeowners, landlords and small businesses within 40 miles of the Ore Dock.
- Established
- 1994, Halden, Minnesota
- Crew
- 38 technicians, 22 vans
- Service area
- Halden + 40 miles
- Emergency line
- (555) 014-2200, 24/7
- Rated for
- −30°F to 100°F
Our story
In the fall of 1994, Dale Maki left a job installing furnaces for a Duluth wholesaler, bought a used pickup, and painted a thermostat dial on the door. His wife Ruth answered the phone at their kitchen table on Ore Dock Road, wrote every call on a legal pad, and did the books after the kids were asleep.
That first January hit −31°F. Dale worked 26 days straight and learned what the business would be: in Halden, a furnace that stops is an emergency, and the company that answers the phone at 2 a.m. is the company people call back. By 2000 there were six trucks. The name came from Ruth: the setpoint is the temperature you ask for, and the job is to hold it there.
Their daughter Anna grew up in the shop. She ran dispatch through college, earned her own license, and took over as general manager in 2016. She added heat pumps, the Comfort Plan, and the landlord program, and she kept the legal pad habit: every no-heat call still gets logged by a person, by hand, before it goes on the board.
Today we’re 38 technicians and 22 vans. The pickup is retired to the back of the lot. It still starts.
How a service visit works
You call or book
A dispatcher in our Halden office answers, day or night. Online requests get a call back within 15 minutes during office hours.
You get a two-hour window
Not "sometime Tuesday." Your technician texts when they leave the previous job and calls 20 minutes out.
We diagnose for a flat $89
Boot covers on, drop cloth down. The tech tests the system, finds the cause and shows you the failed part or reading.
You see the price first
A written price for the repair, and when it's close, a replacement price beside it. Nothing starts until you approve. The $89 is credited to the repair.
We fix it and prove it
Repair, then a full cycle test and a carbon monoxide check. We clean up and walk you through what we did.
We follow up
A call two days later to make sure it's still running right. If it isn't, we come back at no charge.
Some of the crew
Placeholder profiles until real photos are ready. Most of our technicians grew up within 40 miles of Halden.
Anna Maki
Owner and general manager
Started sweeping the shop at 12. Ran dispatch through college, took over in 2016.
Dale Maki
Founder
Mostly retired. Still rides along on Friday service calls and has opinions about flue pipe.
Marcus Lindqvist
Lead service technician
NATE certified, 19 years with us. Trains every new tech on no-heat calls.
Priya Olander
Dispatch lead
Runs the overnight board in cold snaps. Knows which roads plow first.
Tom Rautio
Installation crew lead
Has installed more than 1,400 furnaces and still leaves every basement cleaner than he found it.
Jess Kowalczyk
Heat pump specialist
Leads our cold-climate heat pump installs and the balance-point settings that make them pay off.
How we work
Five rules every new technician learns in their first week.
- We give you a window and keep it
- Two hours, not a day. If we're going to miss it, you hear from us before the window starts, not after.
- Price before work
- You see the number in writing before anyone picks up a tool. No surprise line items on the invoice.
- Repair before replace
- Our techs earn no commission on equipment. If a $40 part buys you five more winters, that's what we recommend.
- A person answers at 2 a.m.
- No phone tree, no call center in another time zone. Someone in Halden who can see where the vans are.
- Leave it cleaner
- Boot covers, drop cloths, and the old parts and packaging leave with us. Your basement should look better after we go.
Licenses and certifications
NATE certification
Every service technician passes North American Technician Excellence exams within their first two years.
EPA Section 608, Universal
Required to handle refrigerant. All service and install techs hold it.
Minnesota licensed mechanical contractor
Licensed, bonded, and inspected by the City of Halden on every permitted install.
Insured
$2 million general liability and full workers' compensation for every employee.
Carbon monoxide safety training
Annual CO and combustion analysis training for every technician.
Cold-climate heat pump training
Manufacturer-certified installers on staff for every cold-climate unit we sell.
Book today
Cold house? Warm again by tonight.
Book online and we'll call back within 15 minutes during office hours with an arrival window. Flat $89 diagnostic, credited to the repair.