One of the advantages of being in the business for a number of years is learning from your mistakes. Hopefully, this self-evaluation of a contractor will help encourage others of you to not make the same mistake repeatedly as I seem to have done.
Look out; a technical incompetent is on the loose. Yes, this could be referring to me attempting to explain the importance of measuring superheat and subcooling, or it could be referring to a technician who just strapped on a set of gauges with nary a clue.
Those air conditioners in your warehouse are about to become pumpkins. Well, maybe not pumpkins, but about as worthwhile. Not long after Halloween this year, those R-22 air conditioners will no longer be made. I certainly hope you have taken steps in your company to prepare for the conversion to R-410A.
The concept of return on investment (ROI) is fairly simple: everyone wants something back from their investment. The complication begins when you question the customer as to how they measure ROI. Is the return measured in dollars, or design, or bragging rights? It is different for everyone.
The HVACR industry, like many others, is always promoting change. And we are always appreciative when that change results in better, more energy-efficient and environmentally-correct products. I suppose change also has to mean a change in the makeup of the manufacturing sector. We have certainly seen it over the years.
The way that the weather has been warming up leads to a lot of emergency calls for contractors, and they may see the increased workload as a good thing. At least the ring of the phones is comforting. But that nonstop ringing could also mean the customer is in need of regular maintenance, and could well welcome such a discussion.
A recent opinion on this page (“Tax Credits Tough to Use,” May 25, 2009) received a lot of attention from our vast readership and we received a variety of comments. Since that point in time, The NEWS has spoken to quite a few people and unraveled a bit more of this very large ball of twine.
Manufacturers have been caught up in a game of warranty one-upmanship for several years, with warranties getting longer and longer to make their systems more attractive to potential buyers. This can affect the amount of time and reimbursement a contractor receives for the callback, but there are still some time-based aspects of in-warranty callbacks that are not reimbursed.
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