The most important part of shopping for a new heating & cooling system is to pick the right contractor.
Choose the wrong one, and you risk investing in a new heating & AC system that
In order to get the efficiency and comfort you deserve, you must find a contractor who will:
Here’s how to identify a contractor who will do the best job, be easiest to work with, and provide reliable service. More important, here’s how to avoid picking one of the many contractors who might take shortcuts at your expense.
Don’t Assume That All Contractors Are “Pretty Much The Same”
All contractors are certainly not the same. There seems to be an enormous variation in heating and air contractor competence and ethics.
Sad to say, a small minority are downright dishonest. Both NBC's Dateline and CBS's 48 Hours TV investigative news-magazines recently aired hidden camera sting operations exposing fraudulent heating-cooling contractors. A number of the companies they called out either bent the facts, or committed outright fraud on national television. The Better Business Bureau ranks heating and cooling as one of the highest complaint generating industries.
Fortunately, the great majority of contractors are honest. They work hard, and mean well. Unfortunately, most simply don't have the business systems in place to properly serve the consumer.
Even though they are honest, most companies don't invest enough in initial and ongoing staff training. They are usually behind the times when it comes to diagnosing problems with today's more complicated furnaces and air conditioners. Most simply aren’t aware of all the common defects with duct systems and house insulation that affect your comfort and indoor air quality. Many residential service companies don't pay high enough wages or offer sufficient benefits to attract the best people. Few have all the state of the art tools and diagnostic instruments needed to do the job right.
This run of the mill contractor can be expensive to use. You are certain to end up paying for excessive utility bills resulting from inefficient operation of your new system. Your new system may also not last as long as it could. And you run the risk of frequent call backs to try to get the system to deliver the comfort you had hoped for.
Fortunately, there are some contractors who are ethical, technically at the leading edge, and also have business and customer service systems in place that ensure high levels of client satisfaction. Invest the time to identify a good contractor. It will be time well spent.
Don’t Choose A Contractor Who Quotes A Price Without Any Diagnostic Testing
Automatically reject any contractor who proceeds to quote a price for replacing equipment (or promises utility bill savings) without performing, or at least recommending, these important diagnostic steps. He either hasn’t been trained about the problems that are likely lurking in your home and duct system and the importance of fixing them, or he doesn’t care. He may only be interested in selling you a metal box rather than truly solving your problems and delivering results.
Although this doesn’t make sense from a customer service standpoint, it’s an all too common attitude.
Don’t Be Misled By The Many Who Will Only Offer To Replace Equipment
Most contractors will only offer to replace your old equipment with the same size (or a bigger one), without performing any measurements, inspections or diagnostic tests. However, recent government and utility company research states that most new systems are the wrong size, installed improperly, and attached to an inadequate existing duct system. As a result, they waste an average of one third of the energy purchased to run them.
The majority of contractors in the industry are almost totally ignorant of these problems. This widespread ignorance is mostly because researchers have only come to understand their true impact over the last ten years. Although advanced industry training is now available, relatively few contractors take advantage of it.
On the other hand, some contractors are aware of these problems, but simply don’t want to pay attention. Because of the equipment profit markup, contractors make the most money per hour when they just cut out old equipment, connect the new equipment, start it up and move on.
Diagnosing and then fixing any pre-existing duct and insulation problems, installing the new equipment to industry and manufacturer guidelines, then testing the work, takes time & manpower to do right. An unscrupulous contractor won’t take that time.
Most contractors will try to minimize the importance of a proper sizing calculation and diagnostic testing. They’ll say “I've done hundreds of houses just like this one. I don't need to go through all those measurements and tests.” Don't believe it. No two houses or duct systems are exactly the same: each has different characteristics and unique problems.
A quality contractor is more interested in serving you than in selling you. He builds his business on long term service relationships and referrals from extremely happy clients, rather than making the quick buck. He believes in truly solving his clients' problems and only putting in systems that really work right, even if it may mean he initially sells new equipment to fewer homeowners.
Don’t be misled by the many contractors who either don’t know how to do it right, or just don’t care.
Don’t Choose A Contractor Who Doesn’t Ask A Lot Of Questions
Many people mistakenly assume that pre-existing comfort, noise, dust or unhealthy air problems will be automatically solved by installing a new system. While these problems can be solved, just replacing the equipment won’t do it.
A good contractor is committed to 100% customer satisfaction. But to achieve this, he needs information. He knows that you and your family are the best source of information about these problems. He will always start by meeting with you and asking questions: about areas that have been hard to heat or cool, air that is either too dry or too humid, about how the old system worked (or didn’t work!), and about what you are looking for in a new system.
He’ll also ask if you are interested in reducing dust in the home, and if any family members suffer from respiratory allergies or asthma. A new system can often greatly improve the overall air quality in your home. This is especially so if duct cleaning and the latest in air filtration and purification technology are built into your new system.
The typical contractor is only interested in swapping the metal boxes, and won’t try to help you take full advantage of this unique opportunity.
Just as important, there’s now a very wide range of new equipment options to choose from. There are different quality grades and brands, different efficiency levels, air filtration and humidity control options, ventilation improvements, duct repairs, insulation upgrades and even payment options. The decisions require significant education and are best shared by all the adults of the household. It’s not fair to one spouse to ask him or her to learn it all and then have to teach it to the other. A new system is a much bigger decision than most people realize.
Information on this article is credited to the comfortinstitute.org
- won’t keep you comfortable ( sized inappropriately and or duct work inefficiencies reduce equipment's function)
- won’t save you much if anything on your monthly utility bills due to incorrect figuration on equipment size and duct work sizing
- may even fail after only a few years of Operation
- will not have warranties
In order to get the efficiency and comfort you deserve, you must find a contractor who will:
- select the right size of equipment for your home,
- install it properly, and
- uncover - and solve - any pre-existing problems with your duct system or house insulation.
Here’s how to identify a contractor who will do the best job, be easiest to work with, and provide reliable service. More important, here’s how to avoid picking one of the many contractors who might take shortcuts at your expense.
Don’t Assume That All Contractors Are “Pretty Much The Same”
All contractors are certainly not the same. There seems to be an enormous variation in heating and air contractor competence and ethics.
Sad to say, a small minority are downright dishonest. Both NBC's Dateline and CBS's 48 Hours TV investigative news-magazines recently aired hidden camera sting operations exposing fraudulent heating-cooling contractors. A number of the companies they called out either bent the facts, or committed outright fraud on national television. The Better Business Bureau ranks heating and cooling as one of the highest complaint generating industries.
Fortunately, the great majority of contractors are honest. They work hard, and mean well. Unfortunately, most simply don't have the business systems in place to properly serve the consumer.
Even though they are honest, most companies don't invest enough in initial and ongoing staff training. They are usually behind the times when it comes to diagnosing problems with today's more complicated furnaces and air conditioners. Most simply aren’t aware of all the common defects with duct systems and house insulation that affect your comfort and indoor air quality. Many residential service companies don't pay high enough wages or offer sufficient benefits to attract the best people. Few have all the state of the art tools and diagnostic instruments needed to do the job right.
This run of the mill contractor can be expensive to use. You are certain to end up paying for excessive utility bills resulting from inefficient operation of your new system. Your new system may also not last as long as it could. And you run the risk of frequent call backs to try to get the system to deliver the comfort you had hoped for.
Fortunately, there are some contractors who are ethical, technically at the leading edge, and also have business and customer service systems in place that ensure high levels of client satisfaction. Invest the time to identify a good contractor. It will be time well spent.
Don’t Choose A Contractor Who Quotes A Price Without Any Diagnostic Testing
Automatically reject any contractor who proceeds to quote a price for replacing equipment (or promises utility bill savings) without performing, or at least recommending, these important diagnostic steps. He either hasn’t been trained about the problems that are likely lurking in your home and duct system and the importance of fixing them, or he doesn’t care. He may only be interested in selling you a metal box rather than truly solving your problems and delivering results.
Although this doesn’t make sense from a customer service standpoint, it’s an all too common attitude.
Don’t Be Misled By The Many Who Will Only Offer To Replace Equipment
Most contractors will only offer to replace your old equipment with the same size (or a bigger one), without performing any measurements, inspections or diagnostic tests. However, recent government and utility company research states that most new systems are the wrong size, installed improperly, and attached to an inadequate existing duct system. As a result, they waste an average of one third of the energy purchased to run them.
The majority of contractors in the industry are almost totally ignorant of these problems. This widespread ignorance is mostly because researchers have only come to understand their true impact over the last ten years. Although advanced industry training is now available, relatively few contractors take advantage of it.
On the other hand, some contractors are aware of these problems, but simply don’t want to pay attention. Because of the equipment profit markup, contractors make the most money per hour when they just cut out old equipment, connect the new equipment, start it up and move on.
Diagnosing and then fixing any pre-existing duct and insulation problems, installing the new equipment to industry and manufacturer guidelines, then testing the work, takes time & manpower to do right. An unscrupulous contractor won’t take that time.
Most contractors will try to minimize the importance of a proper sizing calculation and diagnostic testing. They’ll say “I've done hundreds of houses just like this one. I don't need to go through all those measurements and tests.” Don't believe it. No two houses or duct systems are exactly the same: each has different characteristics and unique problems.
A quality contractor is more interested in serving you than in selling you. He builds his business on long term service relationships and referrals from extremely happy clients, rather than making the quick buck. He believes in truly solving his clients' problems and only putting in systems that really work right, even if it may mean he initially sells new equipment to fewer homeowners.
Don’t be misled by the many contractors who either don’t know how to do it right, or just don’t care.
Don’t Choose A Contractor Who Doesn’t Ask A Lot Of Questions
Many people mistakenly assume that pre-existing comfort, noise, dust or unhealthy air problems will be automatically solved by installing a new system. While these problems can be solved, just replacing the equipment won’t do it.
A good contractor is committed to 100% customer satisfaction. But to achieve this, he needs information. He knows that you and your family are the best source of information about these problems. He will always start by meeting with you and asking questions: about areas that have been hard to heat or cool, air that is either too dry or too humid, about how the old system worked (or didn’t work!), and about what you are looking for in a new system.
He’ll also ask if you are interested in reducing dust in the home, and if any family members suffer from respiratory allergies or asthma. A new system can often greatly improve the overall air quality in your home. This is especially so if duct cleaning and the latest in air filtration and purification technology are built into your new system.
The typical contractor is only interested in swapping the metal boxes, and won’t try to help you take full advantage of this unique opportunity.
Just as important, there’s now a very wide range of new equipment options to choose from. There are different quality grades and brands, different efficiency levels, air filtration and humidity control options, ventilation improvements, duct repairs, insulation upgrades and even payment options. The decisions require significant education and are best shared by all the adults of the household. It’s not fair to one spouse to ask him or her to learn it all and then have to teach it to the other. A new system is a much bigger decision than most people realize.
Information on this article is credited to the comfortinstitute.org
