You can fix your customers comfort problems once and for all.
As HVAC contractors, I think it is understood that we are in the comfort business. Before I got involved in Home Performance work I was prescribing band-aids to customers to solve their comfort problems. Things like zoning systems, humidifiers, ductwork changes are many times (not always) simple band-aids used to cover up a problem that still exists.
You need to first thoroughly seal up the home, control the humidity and then properly ventilate the home before you can achieve total comfort within the home with small energy bills. Natural draft heating and water heating equipment have no place in a well-sealed home.
Once you do this the results are amazing. Customers will love you for life. Who would think I would be putting 40,000 BTU furnaces in 3000 plus sq. ft. homes in very cold Upstate NY with very happy customers.
Home Performance generates more customer referrals than heating and cooling ever has.
Very happy customers refer other customers. We had plenty of happy heating and cooling customers who made referrals but nothing like a very happy home performance customer who will go out of their way to tell their co-workers, neighbors, friends, and families. These customers tell us they can’t believe they are living in the same home. There is such a drastic difference. Their old home leaked like a screen door and the new improved home is less drafty, even temperature, and quieter all while having smaller utility bills.
Create life-long customers who will spend a lot more money that just a heating/cooling customer.
I remember going to ACCA meetings years ago and hearing about studies that a customer would spend $30,000 – $40,000 over a lifetime with you. I can tell you that the figure will be a lot higher and a lot more likely if you add Home Performance to your business. A happy customer will continue to spend money with you because they like and trust you. At Halco, we have also added Geothermal and Solar to our list of services. We are having great success having our heating/cooling/home performance customers get involved.
Level out your business so you are not waiting for the weather.
It is amazing how much Home Performance will help to level out your workloads. At Halco, we are doing 70-80 energy audits a week and have a very consistent work load no matter what the weather is. I am not trying to say that it doesn’t get busier when we have extremes in weather but what we don’t ever experience is the droughts in between. Our business continues to grow at a very rapid pace of approximately 25% per year mostly because of the opportunities that we have from Home Performance.
The Home Performance Business is Much Simpler than the HVAC Business.
If you have what it takes to run a successful HVAC business, you can master the Home Performance business. The skill set needed can be taught much quicker and it is a much faster process to get a Home Performance tech out working and productive. There are several ACCA affiliated companies just waiting to help you with the process. We would not be where we are if we didn’t partner with one of these companies. We have had good luck with people from the carpentry/remodeling industry. Many of those people are very anxious to pick up a career as an Energy Efficiency Technician.
The tool and equipment investment to get involved in the HP business is not out in left field. I am not trying to say it is inexpensive, but I am saying the juice is worth the squeeze.
To get an Energy Advisor out doing comprehensive Energy Audits, you will need to invest $5000-$6000 in tools and equipment.
To get a two person crew out in an insulation/air-sealing trailer rig using refillable closed cell spray foam and cellulose you are looking at around $25,000.
In my humble opinion, “the juice is worth the squeeze.
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