Three companies quoted a Manalapan homeowner the same fix for an aging system: swap the condenser and furnace, nothing else. None of them ran a load calculation, a blower door test, or a static pressure test, the measurement of how hard the air has to push to get through your ductwork, before quoting the job. Novus Mechanical did, and the reading came back at 0.933 in. w.c., more than double the normal range of 0.2 to 0.7 in. w.c. That test is the reason the job did not just reproduce the same problem with new equipment. I am Alexander Medvedev, the owner of Novus Mechanical, a family-run heating and cooling company based in Freehold, NJ, serving Monmouth County homeowners since 2016. When you call Novus, you get me: the person who plans the work, shows up for it, and stands behind it.
Here is what that job actually looked like. The equipment being quoted was already the right size for the house. The real problem was undersized, leaky ductwork and oversized refrigerant lines driving that static pressure number up: the return plenum, the filter, the evaporator coil, and the supply plenum were all fighting the air on the way through. We rebuilt the duct runs, replaced the refrigerant lines, and installed a heat pump paired with the existing furnace as backup. Static pressure came down to 0.49 in. w.c., and the finished system scored 100%, A+, on MeasureQuick, with every one of the five loss categories it grades, age, temperature split, static pressure, approach, and refrigerant charge, landing at zero. You can read the full method behind that kind of job on our how we work page.
Novus Mechanical was founded by me, Alexander Medvedev, though I did not grow up planning a career in HVAC. When I moved to the United States, I was looking for any work I could find. I ended up on a mechanical job almost by accident, and something clicked. Working with my hands. Solving problems that had real answers. Finishing a job and being able to point at something and say, "I built that."
For a while, HVAC was the day job and waiting tables was the night one. That is what starting over in a new country looks like. But I kept learning the trade. I kept showing up. Over twenty-plus years, I got good at it, not in a "that'll do" way, but in a way that made me hard to impress with the shortcuts other companies take.
I started Novus Mechanical because Monmouth County needed a contractor that diagnoses before it prescribes, not because the world needed another HVAC company. When my family settled in New Jersey and I bought my first house, I started noticing the work around here. A lot of it was handyman-level. Systems sized by guesswork, ductwork patched with the wrong materials, contractors who left without testing anything. I saw it in my own home and when I helped friends and neighbors sort out what someone else left behind.
That is why Novus exists: a company that diagnoses before it prescribes, and installs systems the way they are supposed to be installed.
Diagnosing first is not a slogan. It is four numbers we treat as house rules on every job: the load, the leakage, the static pressure, and the score on the finished system. Skip one and the job is a guess dressed up as a quote.
A Manual J load calculation is the load: the exact size system your home actually needs. A blower door test is the leakage: how much conditioned air your house loses before the equipment ever turns on. A static pressure reading is the third number, and MeasureQuick scores the finished install, the fourth, against what a working system should actually do. Whether it is a conventional system, mini-splits, ductwork, or a heat pump, that process does not change.
I have spent years on demanding high-end work: VRF systems and complex commercial renovations in New York where the details matter and there is no room for guessing. That background is what shaped how I do residential work in Monmouth County. Homeowners deserve the same standard. You can see how the diagnostic process plays out on the home energy and HVAC diagnostics page.
Novus is a small operation on purpose. My wife handles the accounting. My kids help out at the office. I keep the crew lean because I would rather do ten jobs well than fifty jobs at a pace that lets things slip.
This is where my family lives. These are our neighbors. The Freehold and Marlboro homeowners who call us are people I might see at the store on Saturday. That reality keeps the standard high in a way no policy manual can.
"I want to run my business in a way where, if I see a customer at the grocery store or the mall, they come up to me and say thank you. Not the other way around."
Novus holds three professional certifications, two from the National Comfort Institute and one from the EPA (required by federal law to handle refrigerants), plus factory training from three manufacturers. Anybody can call themselves diagnostic-first. Here is what backs it up:
| Certification | Number | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| NCI Residential HVAC System Performance Technician | 25-142-01 | Static pressure and airflow diagnostics, the training behind our measure-first approach |
| NCI Residential Air Balancer | 25-143-01 | Whole-house airflow distribution, not just the equipment |
| EPA Section 608 Certification | P165BDDE28EAD0701 | Legally required to handle refrigerants; not every tech carries it |
I am also factory-trained on Mitsubishi, LG, and Daikin systems. Those manufacturers require training before you can buy and install their equipment commercially, so I went through each brand's program. That training is the reason those systems run correctly once I leave.
Novus Mechanical is a paid member of two local chambers, the Monmouth Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, covering Freehold and the surrounding townships. Novus Mechanical is also fully insured: commercial general liability and workers' compensation. If anything happens on your property, you are covered.
On your first call, you tell us the symptom, and the first visit is a real diagnostic, not a quote. Most people call with a specific symptom. The AC is running but not cooling. The furnace won't start. A room that's always ten degrees off from the rest of the house. That is a fine place to start.
What happens next is different from most companies. We do not quote before we measure. The first visit is a real diagnostic:
Once we know the real cause, you get the full price for the fix before any work begins.
If a repair does not make sense on an older system, we tell you that too. We would rather be honest about a bad repair than sell you one that lands you in the same spot in six months.
Service is scheduled Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM. You can reach us or book any time, since an assistant picks up around the clock and loops me in when you need a person. Financing is available on bigger jobs.
Novus Mechanical is based at 130 Sherwood Drive, Freehold, NJ 07728, and the service area runs about 80 minutes out from there: Freehold, Marlboro, and Manalapan first, then the rest of Monmouth County and the towns around it.
If you are outside those towns and not sure whether we cover your area, call us at (848) 288-1133. If it is somewhere we do not go, I will tell you straight, the same way I will tell a homeowner the ductwork is the problem instead of selling a new unit.
We measure your home, explain what we find, and hand you one clear price. Book a consultation in Freehold or Monmouth County.
Updated September 2026 by Novus Mechanical, Freehold, NJ
