trainings, free lyric opprotunity, and another geothermal thought

TRAININGS:

In the next 6 weeks we have 3 classes coming up that I want to highlight for you: 

August 6 & 7^th – Geothermal Applied Service & Installation - $99 – Instructed by Jeff Johnson from Tetco

This two-day seminar is geared towards installation and service technicians who already have a basic understanding of HVAC systems and refrigeration.  Topics include packaged unit installation, split systems, water to water units, combination units, controls, operation and troubleshooting, flow center installation and flushing, equipment start up, performance checks, servicing the system, and refrigeration system troubleshooting.  Cost includes geothermal service tools, training materials, and lunch.  Class qualifies for 16 NATE continuing education hours.

                                Class is at our Grand Rapids Training Facility and is all day from 8a-4p both the 6^th  and 7^th.

August 22^nd – Michigan Mechanical License Prep Class - $199 – Instructed by Ken Corwin

Emphasis:  Prepare for the law portion of the exam; Construction Code Act; Forbes Mechanical Contractors Act; International Fuel Gas Codes for gas piping and vent sizing; become comfortable with the Mechanical Contractors Code book; using formulas, charts and tables in the ACCA Manual D; ad go over basic heating and cooling exam questions to find your strengths and weaknesses. 

                                Class is at our Grand Rapids Training Facility and is all day from 8a-430p

August 26^th – Hands On Basic HVAC Electrical - $59 – Instructed by Dallas Strong from Johnstone

Learn how to use wiring diagrams as an effective service tool.  Series and parallel circuits are discussed.  Symbols used on wiring diagrams are reviewed in detail.  Circuit components, their characteristics, what they do and how to check them is also covered.  Hands on exercises will be included.  You will need to bring the multimeter that you use in the field to class with you for the hands on learning portion.  Class is limited to 12 students.  Class qualifies for 4 NATE continuing education hours.

                                Class is at our Grand Rapids training Facility and is from 730a-12p

On a side note, NATE (North American Trade Excellence) is a way to differentiate your company as well as to set a standard that your can hold your employees to, both leading to increased profit.  You can learn more at natex.org

FREE HONEYWELL LYRIC OPPROTUNITY:

Honeywell wants to get its latest, greatest product into the hands of contractors, so they are giving 1,000 of them away.  All your company needs to do is complete two online training modules and be signed up for the Contractor Pro Program (you will need your PRO # to get the free sales kit).  Head over to http://www.forwardthinking.honeywell.com/lyrictraining and get the videos completed as soon as you can.  If you want a refresher of my thoughts on the Honeywell Lyric, head this way: http://jswmi.blogspot.com/2014/06/technology-is-ready-to-revolutionize.html

ANOTHER GEOTHERMAL THOUGHT:

                There was some really great feedback from last week’s email about where Geothermal can fit into your business.  Most of the questions had to do with the payback of Geothermal in comparison to a Dual Fuel Air Source Heat Pump system.  One of the tools that we have used for a very long time at Johnstone to assist our contractors is Wrightsoft and their Cost Analysis feature.  (We can help you with these or teach you how to do them once you buy the program)

In order to compare the systems side by side I fabricated a house with a 60,000 btu heating load and a 3 ton cooling load.  With LP cost of $3.00 a gallon and an electrical rate of $.15 per kW we would be looking at something like this on a typical year.

The Base System is a new 13 Seer AC that would run $3000 installed.  Investment 1 is a 13 Seer ASHP tied into their existing 92% furnace for a dual fuel system at $5000.  Investment 2 is an open loop water to air geothermal at an install price of $12000.  Investment 3 is a closed loop geothermal, complete with loop field, at $25000.  Our cooling load is 3 ton, so all these systems are 3 ton systems.  (I personally do not suggest over sizing any heat pump more than 25% than the cooling load allows)

The Costs and Returns fields are the ones that I am hoping you are noticing there.  Those are the costs for one typical year.  In the Returns section, the Payback is the amount of time it will take to recoup the difference between our $3000 ac system and the other option we choose.  ASHP, only 1.5 years to recoup that.  The $22000 between a closed loop geothermal and the base system, just a smidge over 6 years…and that is without any tax credit figured!

So what does that look like over 15 years?  Glad you asked

A closed loop geothermal will only save $58,000 in 15 years over an AC system.  And if we are only half right with this, we still would save a homeowner nearly $30,000 over what the life of their AC system would be.

The numbers are staggering when we slow to think about them.

where does geothermal fit into your company

Where does geothermal fit into your company?

I made 9 stops today with my Tetco rep, and that essential was the question we were asking.  Some people are well entrenched in the geothermal market, some offer a price up when asked, and others choose to focus on other facets of the industry.

Which approach is the right approach?  All of them could be, it really depends on where you want to focus your business.

Right now, geothermal is making good money for the companies involved with it.  It is that in mind that I ask a second question.  Where CAN geothermal fit into your company?

The truth of the matter is that I was asked these same questions today and with a little bit of prodding I began to easily see some opportunities that I missed out on earlier.

Starting the day out today, I fell into the "ill know about geo and give a price when asked" category.  Its sort of odd really, because since LP cost hit $5.00 a gallon this past February I have been pushing dual fuel systems hard because the payback just makes sense for us to offer it, even if we are there for a simple repair on a system and LP is present.

But the money saving potential that is true with a dual fuel system (they cut LP usage by a 1/3 on average) is doubly true with geothermal.  Yes, the average user can cut their LP bill by 2/3 when switching to geothermal!

My challenge for the week is a simple one, and can be done by everybody fairly easily:  when giving a quote, any quote, provide a quote for geothermal as well, every time.

With Tetco, not only do we have all in one packaged units, but we also have a split system offering.  You can sell your furnace like you always have (even if it is that Carrier, Bryant, or Trane label) but when you are talking the cooling side, you can offer a tax credit eligible system by using the Tetco coil and the Tetco split system.  They have indoor and outdoor series, so we can make all applications work.  With this combination you now have a duel fuel system where we are a geothermal heating and cooling system with a propane backup.  (By the way, that 30% tax credit has no cap limit and is good for second homes as well.)

My suggestion if you are going to take me up on my challenge, dont just show them the cost difference of the product today, but give them a picture of the total system costs, including fuel, for 5,10, and 20 years.  We can do this with Wrightsoft for you, or there is a program offered by Tetco that can help as well.

I believe that geothermal CAN fit into your business and it can help your net profit increase as well.