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HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

What's your summer triage strategy w/ Kevin Hart

HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

Bryan Orr

Training, Careers, Airconditioning, Self-improvement, Hvac, Business, Education, Refrigeration, Heating, Ac, Apprenticeship

4.8985 Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode dives into an interesting and pragmatic discussion about how HVAC contractors can better balance their workload throughout the year. Kevin from Haven shares insights from observing HVAC businesses across the country and how some are taking a more strategic approach to triaging work.

The main idea is to get systems up and running in the peak summer months when demand is highest, while also collecting data and making notes for more in-depth commissioning, ductwork upgrades, IAQ improvements, etc. that can be tackled in the fall "shoulder season." The hosts discuss the market forces that drive the typical reactive cycle - consumers waiting until systems fail to call for service, companies prioritizing new equipment installs when demand is high to boost revenue, etc.

However, they propose a model where contractors are more proactive about maintenance, communication, and expectation-setting. Install the right-sized equipment over the summer, document issues to revisit later, use data loggers to analyze system performance, and then circle back in fall/winter for comprehensive commissioning when there is more availability. This allows delivering better quality work while smoothing workload across more months.

The episode covers several key points and considerations, including:

  • Prioritizing load calculation and properly sizing equipment upfront
  • Deploying IAQ monitors to identify issues like humidity control
  • Offering full-scope solutions and letting customers decline unneeded services
  • Shifting technician roles seasonally between installs and commissioning
  • Developing standard workflows and checklists for each phase
  • Potential business benefits like retention by providing growth opportunities

Overall, it presents a balanced, practical approach for HVAC businesses to improve quality, reduce stress during peak seasons, and keep technicians engaged through varied work. As Kevin notes, it's a model more contractors could adopt with training and open-sourced best practices.

If you are interested in the workflows discussed in the podcast, you can become a HAVEN pro today at https://pro.haveniaq.com/. You can also email Bryan about summer triage strategies at [email protected].

Have a question that you want us to answer on the podcast? Submit your questions at https://www.speakpipe.com/hvacschool.

Purchase your tickets or learn more about the 6th Annual HVACR Training Symposium at https://hvacrschool.com/symposium.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Help me welcome the man who thinks a slang psychometer makes him look like a cowboy, so he always shouts,

0:09.7

yee-ha while using it. Brian Orr.

0:13.7

Hey, who are you gonna call the HVAC school podcast?

0:17.0

That's who.

0:17.4

I'm Brian.

0:18.4

This is the HVAC school podcast.

0:21.1

I've decided I'm gonna start all these with some sort of tagline from the

0:24.2

80s so that's something for you to look forward to for future episodes this is the

0:28.3

podcast that helps you remember some things you forgot along the way as well as helps

0:31.1

you think about some new ways to do business and today we're

0:34.0

talking with Kevin Hart. Kevin Hart is with Haven and I'm talking about summer triage strategy so

0:41.2

talking about some ways that contractors are actually

0:45.4

refactoring their business to triage during the summer so that we're not

0:50.2

unrealistic. Our trade, especially on the building science side and some of the idealistic folks like me have maybe

0:57.1

been a little impractical in what we can actually do in the summer when it's just so stinking busy.

1:03.6

And we've always talked about that.

1:04.6

How do you balance summer, winter, edge seasons, all that depending on where you are in the country?

1:09.3

And Kevin has got some good tips from other contractors, some things that they've done

1:13.4

successfully and some things that they're learning from. And that's what he's talking

1:17.1

about today, how to do that balancing better, how to do better work, but also be

1:22.1

realistic about what we can get done in the summer. I don't know why I keep

1:26.8

repeating myself. But anyway, here we go. Kevin Hart talking about what's your

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