Esther Price Candies knows all about storing premium chocolates at the right conditions. To make sure its candies are always tempting, the company has invested in high-end HVAC equipment to keep the environment - and the chocolates - perfect in each of its five retail locations.
Imagine getting a call from a homeowner who is unhappy with the six air conditioners and furnaces installed in her home. She wants the systems removed, and because she doesn’t want to heat her home with fossil fuels, she’s looking for some type of green technology to condition her 8,000-square-foot house.
A new 9,000-square-foot Colonial-style house is now being heated and cooled by two natural gas-fired absorption heat pumps. This is the first residential installation of these unique heat pumps, which have a rated efficiency of 126 percent.
In the last few years, manufacturers have introduced a flurry of green products to the market, that is, products that help the end user save energy, lower emissions, reduce waste, etc. Nowhere does that make more sense than in the HVAC industry, where high-efficiency HVAC products are in great demand.
Austin Energy is the nation’s 10th largest community-owned electric utility, serving customers in and around Austin, Texas. It is well-known for creating one of the most comprehensive residential and commercial energy-efficiency programs in the United States, as well as the nation’s first and largest green building program.
Given their success in the residential market, it seems only natural that microchannel coils would eventually be incorporated into commercial cooling equipment. Within the last year, several major manufacturers have rolled out rooftop units and chillers that utilize microchannel technology.
Collecting money is almost always an awkward situation, particularly when dealing with a customer who doesn’t want to pay. In a softening economy, HVAC contractors need to not only talk about it often with their technicians and customers, they may need to be even more aggressive about demanding payment.
Positive thinking and a strong business plan can go a long way to mitigating the effects of a slowing economy. That was the message of marketing wiz, Adams Hudson, Hudson Ink, Montgomery, Ala., at the recent Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) meeting.
Some of the largest banks in the United States have warned that the turmoil surrounding subprime mortgages could be the start of a sweeping lending crisis. The result may be that fewer banks and lending institutions are willing to extend credit, which could be a concern to those homeowners looking to obtain financing for a new heating or cooling system.
Randy Boyd of Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) has little patience for those who complain that distributor sales in 2007 weren’t that great. “As of November 2007, distributors were collectively up 1.7 percent. Considering 2006, which was probably the best year ever, it ain’t bad,” said Boyd.
