That trust betwen our techs and the homeowner is what
we are all about— and not just the techs, but our entire
staff. Our owner gives his cell phone, to customers and
they can call every time, anytime.
Do they have a financial incentive to open these
conversations?
We do give them a minor “spiff”. More the idea that “you
put your best foot forward and talked to the homeowner.”
We pay them to repair and install, but if they are going
to take the step to enter into that conversation with the
homeowner, we'll give them a little more. It is not enough
to influence them to steer a customer in a direction they
don’t want to go.
You mentioned you have some of the manufacturers'
reps for IAQ products come to educate your people.
How else do you train your installers and techs ?
We (Bill Davis, Owner) run bi-weekly service meetings.
We bring the techs together and frequently review what
we already offer, as well as evaluate and introduce new
products. These meeting give the techs the confidence and
knowledge to begin the conversation with the homeowner.
What are the most frequent issues homeowners want
help with?
First is temperature imbalance; unfortunately that is often
the most difficult and most expensive to address. Most
of the time, the customer would rather live with it than
incur the expense and inconvenience of fixing it.
Second would be dirt and mold. Our customers will receive
postcards and other messaging about all the horrible
bugs and other things living in their ductwork. We will
address duct issues, usually with a partnering company
that specializes in cleaning. However, we do inspections
and often find that no action is needed.
Number three is humidity control and fourth would be
odor control.
Odor control from the heating system or with the
house in general?
In the entire house, many people complain about musty,
damp odors. They might start at the slab on grade areas
or in the basement that gets picked up by the ducts and
distributed through the entire house.
Those are you top four, any other ones?
We always get issues with mold and it is one of the things
we deal with both residentially and commercially. One of
our regular customers is an emergency responder for both
fire and water damage. They often bring us into the house
to get rid of odors from fires and that kind of thing.
You do emergency remediation?
Yes, this past weekend we were at a steel mill in Reading,
PA which had a fire in the office building. We were called
in for cleaning and we used a product called Guardian Air
that eats-up all the odors that goes through the building.
A partner company would bring us in after they pulled
down walls and pulled up floors. We would then manage
the ongoing air quality through the HVAC system.
We might go into a house that had a flood. The other
contractor is drying out the whole residence but that is
an immediate, shortterm
solution. For a
long-term solution,
we will put in air
cleaners and add
the Guardian Air
system that will kill
what is left after
the cleaners are
done. The Guardian
Air actually
produces H202,
(hydrogen peroxide)
in the air and
it is distributed
throughout the
building though
the HVAC system.
We also
find it is effective in
removing odors.
How does it work?
It almost like a UV light, it is installed in the ductwork
in the supply end of the HVAC system. You need to be a
little careful, there is some ozone produced with it. We
used it in lots of places: commercial buildings that had a
high incidence of illness, doctor’s offices and medical facilities
and even day care centers to reduce the contaminants
in the air.
Do you conduct duct inspection and cleaning, if
necessary?
Generally, we farm out the cleaning but we do inspect
them visually. When we are replacing a system, we can
look right in. We then show the customer if it needs it or
not. We use a duct cleaning contractor because they are
set up for it and can do it faster and better than we can.
I see from your website that your company is quite
active on Social Media.
Yes, we have an employee for just that.
Do you feel like IAQ is a growing segment of your
business?
It is, but not at a rapid rate. The way we do it is kind of
painstaking. The interview has to draw the information
out of the customer. Sometimes they actually realize the
problem for the first time when speaking with me. Or,
they are cautions because they are afraid of driving their
cost up. My job is to explain it carefully and so they see
the real long-term value. There is so much bad information
in the internet that I have to overcome.
So you see a problem with tight homes.
Most of our homes were built just after WW2 and our
problem is “leaky” houses, which creates other problems
like dryness, dirt and temperature control.
Do you face any regulatory issues?
State and federal don’t bother us and we follow all the
regulations. The local variation is codes and interpretations
and can create a challenge. ICM
6 ICM November/December 2017