If you’re charging correctly off their charts, using superheat or subcooling, that is only a small part of doing things right.
What happens if a system moves only 3.5 tons of conditioned air with a five-ton system? If you don’t know why this is happening, you’ll charge your design to an incorrect airflow reading. If you fix that airflow, you’ve got to adjust and certainly retest your refrigerant circuit.

Your field service and installation teams need to understand the relationship of airflow to refrigerant charge.

Branding with Measured Results

Even if everyone is following the processes of High-Performance HVAC Contracting, you must still find a way to explain what it all means to the customer. Providing that explanation can be the most challenging part of understanding the ‘Why.’

We work on helping our team show customers the meaning of measured results. When a customer has a real comfort or efficiency problem that typically results from airflow problems, they will decide to fix it. They want to act. They need information.

When we follow the High-Performance process, the results are usually on the money.

It’s incredible what you hear from customers afterward. They often tell us that they never thought that one room could ever be comfortable. Plus, they can see how their system performed before and after our work and know their investment was worth it.

On a recent job, we encountered something known as “ghosting.” This is when your tech discovers black streaks on baseboards, carpets, and walls near electrical sockets. Temperature differentials and duct leakage cause it. Customers often say, “Every time I clean, these streaks show back up.”

In this case, a homeowner was so frustrated by the continual re-appearance of ghost streaks that she wasn’t sure she believed we could make them disappear by sealing all the ductwork. We couldn’t have told her that if we didn’t measure and test the airflow, find the leaks, and know the right course of action. We had the numbers to back that course of action up. She was amazed because once done, she never again got the discoloration on her baseboards and walls.

Current Trends, Current Issues

Despite having a solid, identifiable brand as a high-performance contractor in my market area, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how the industry’s current state is throwing up more roadblocks than I’ve seen in all my 18 years of business.

In the last 12 months alone, massive changes have shaken the HVAC Industry and the overall U.S. economy, and we are feeling every shock wave as they race over us.

From the last remnants of the pandemic that still impact our supply chains – both commercial and residential – to the mandated changes in refrigerants that began on January 1st, to the impact of high inflation, interest rates, and other costs of doing business, I find contractors throughout my market area are fighting for every nickel. Many typically well-balanced companies are dropping their prices by 25 to 30 % just to get some business.

Customers Need Help

Customers are struggling on both sides of our business: commercial companies face empty buildings, higher costs, and strict budget constraints, forcing them to make decisions based only on price and product availability. Residential consumers don’t have the discretionary funds to replace equipment with properly sized products onto working duct systems. They, too, want fast, inexpensive repairs that may cost them more money in the long run.

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