It can be confusing to pick a heating and cooling contractor. Many have slick salesmen who have nice printed brochures of the equipment they sell. They may have been referred to you by a friend or family, you may have noticed the company trucks riding around town. Does presence and a lot of systems installed translate to quality and performance? Test results indicate the answer is no.
55% is the average amount of energy that is delivered from newly installed systems in California. That means nearly half of the energy that you pay for is lost to outside of your house. Wouldn’t you be frustrated if you bought a brand new 97% efficient furnace to learn that it was operating at 55% efficiency? That is actually the norm, not the exception. So next time you consider hiring someone to fix or replace your heating or cooling system these are the important questions to ask:·
- Do you measure and report the delivered BTU’s of your heating and cooling systems?
- Can I see some of the reduced utility bills from your past projects? How much will it cost to heat and cool my house per year on a square foot basis?
- How even will the room to room and ceiling to floor temperatures in my house be?
- Will you put these things in writing?
As a good friend of mine says “Proof is possible, ask for it.” Even if you get a reliable brand of heating system recommended by consumer reports, it won’t mean much if you can’t answer these questions. Do you ever wonder why so many heating and cooling systems need service agreements where you spend hundreds of dollars a year to keep your system running? Systems requiring regular service indicate: - Leaks. Leaks in refrigerant systems, and leaks in ductwork, these leaks are invisible but they often cause big problems with system performance. You should not need to get refrigerant added to your system each year to keep things cool. Will your contractor stand behind leak free refrigerant systems?
- Failed furnace parts. If you find that your heating system doesn’t turn on reliably it’s often because small parts in the furnace fail. But why do they fail? Testing indicates poor equipment sizing results in equipment running beyond the limits and specifications of the manufacturer and that leads to early failure, often when you need it the most.
How are the systems we design and install different from everyone else’s?·
We do ACCA Manual J & D on all of our installations. Room by room heating and cooling load calculations mean that we make sure that your house has even and controlled temperatures.
- We actually design our systems. The components we select are not based on what is on the shelf, we engineer grills, registers, and duct work to effectively deliver the energy where you need it in your house. This engineering also means your system will be the quietest system you never heard.
- Balance. It’s in our name and in every system we install. We design our duct runs so that every line has a balancing damper, then we go through rigorous efforts to ensure that each room has the right amount of air.
- Energy. We don’t pick equipment based on ratings, we pick it based on measured test results, and then we tune the system to operate at the lowest energy consumption possible for the energy consumption you desire.
Who are our clients?
- Homeowners living in Nevada and Placer Counties who demand that their heating and cooling systems perform.
- Architects, designers, and builders who are tired of business as usual and want heating and cooling systems installed that provide controlled comfort in the houses they build.
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company has hired our firm as a field mentor to train some of the largest HVAC companies in the state of California on quality installation techniques and outcomes. We are also contracted to teach at Northern California’s premier energy training centers, where companies and individuals go to learn about cutting edge techniques for heating and cooling systems.
- Third Party Quality assurance contractors who are hired to verify the performance of systems being rebated.
- Zero net energy builders, Green builders, Passive house builders, and essentially anyone who demands the very best in energy performance from their heating, cooling, and ventilation systems.
