This Stuff Really Works!
It is no secret that we sell and install all sorts of heating,cooling and indoor air quality equipment. I am sure many of you reading this see our vans,trucks,signs or other promotional material that say “Heating & Cooling Installations”. Or you may have received a direct mail flyer that we did in a Valpak mailing or such, talking about one of the new modern marvels of the heating world we sell. Heck, I have a page right on this website that talks about this stuff. (soon to be expanded further)
I think executives and marketers in this business have been getting it all wrong! (including myself) We always talk or write about how great this stuff is, and how much we can save customers on fuel costs… and the likes such as that… But instead of telling customers how great this new stuff is, we as marketers need to show customers this. Doesn’t the old saying go… “You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?”
Well I can “walk” all of you through this. In the fall of 06, I had our guys completely remove my old heating & cooling system and install a brand new one. Before I tell you what I installed.. here is some foreground info… I purchased my new home in February of 06. With my new ranch home came a 20 or so year old Sears Special Furnace/Central a/c system with an electric water heater. Every time the burner went off in the winter, it sounded like a Peterbuilt truck was driving thru my living room!. (not kidding) That first summer in my new house my July and August electric bills were $235 and $258. Now i am a single guy and my house is only 1200 square feet so it didn’t take me long to realize it was time for change! Hence the change was made before that next heating season.
I had my guys replace everything. The furnace was replaced with a Viessman boiler and we turned a standard forced hot air system into a hydro-air system. We junked the electric water heater and replaced with a Super-Stor stainless steel indirect water heater. The old central a/c condensor (if you can call it that) was replaced with a 13 seer Thermopride unit and it was connected to a first co air handler. We put in 2 indoor air quality products, an American Standard electronic air cleaner and a AprilAir central humidifier. I also replaced the old oil tank with a Roth double-walled oil tank.
So the results… (or the “walk”) Even after electric rates went up 30% or so since 06′ My electric bill I just paid 2 days ago (the inspiration for this post) was $147. So I did some research thru ALL of my electric bills since my install was done and ALL of them were lower (at least from the availble comps I had with the old system) Most of them significantly lower. Now I haven’t changed my habits at all… I still like my house cold… so please trust me when I say the comps are real.
So you might ask about the oil consumption! Well I can tell you this… My tank was just filled. I am completely full as I type this! Since October 8th of 2007, I have put in a grand total of 493 gallons in my 1200 square foot house. (remember that I use for heat and hot water now too) And as much as i like my house cool in the summer, I like it warmer in the winter! So don’t think i am stingy when it comes to my oil.. All I will say is “this stuff works”
Funny thing now is, if I were to do the same type of conversion today, I would have gone a cheaper route(from an installation cost standpoint) and save even more money! ( If it were the same circumstances, I wold have replaced the old furnace with a Thermopride furnace and installed one of the new Toyotomi on-demand oil fired water heaters (those things rock)… All of the other components would remain the same)
So anyone reading this, please visit your local heating & a/c guy (please give us a try if you are in our area… shameless promo I know… us marketing guys :) ) The new equipment out there really is phenomenal. You will save lots of money in the long haul, and increase the value of your home in the process! And with today’s financing options available for equipment, you very well might improve your monthly cash flow.
June 25th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
I was thinking about the same thing before reading your post. And my thoughts just got validated after reading your blog post. Thanks for the great post mate!