HVAC contractors come into contact with countless doorbells, light switches, and home appliances. They’re trusted advisors to the customers in their care. So when the time comes for their customers to replace those doorbells with their smart home counterparts, shouldn’t HVAC contractors be the “smartest” choice for the job?

The devices have integrated support for home automation, allowing users to control the units with their voices.

The “it” in this case isn’t the goal of working hard to succeed in the distributor business or even joining forces with other distributors. Ritchey is talking about the measures and programs his company invests in with one objective: assisting HVAC contractors in building and maintaining their own successful businesses.

According to a report from Mordor Intelligence, the global smart home market was valued at $35.7 billion in 2017, and it is expected to reach a value of $150.6 billion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 26.9 percent during the forecast period.

The expected surge in smart thermostat sales will have equipment manufacturers, many of whom have their own proprietary controls, competing with the well-known universal thermostat brands, such as Nest, Honeywell, and ecobee.

According to a recent study by Parks Associates, 13 percent of U.S. broadband households owned a smart thermostat by the end of 2017. And while that’s still under a quarter of eligible homes, that number has nearly tripled from just three years prior, influenced by factors like the ubiquity of the smartphone and the rise of in-home AI.

Thermostat Recycling Corp. has collected 2.4 million mercury-containing thermostats since its founding.

Actually finding the mercury-containing culprits can be a bit of a riddle, partly because there’s no way to know exactly how many are still out there or where they are located.

Despite the fact that there’s a lot of airtime given to smart thermostats in the media and throughout industry conferences, the reality is that only about 15 percent of households own a smart thermostat, according to Rob Munin, president at Lux Products.