Today, I had the opportunity and pleasure to interview Mr. Tom Tebbe, National Programs Director with HVACExcellence.org. Tom has a history and depth of knowledge of the HVAC industry that are truly remarkable. As two southerners from neighboring states, we had a lively discussion by telephone. Below are my notes from the interview.

Question: What is your “elevator statement”, mission, or goals for HVAC excellence?
Tom: My personal view is that we are committed to excellence in education and training. We want to create a more qualified and competent workforce for the HVAC industry.  To accomplish this, we take a progressive approach to all levels that affect the outcome: HVAC Program  accreditation, Credentialing of instructors, student outcome assessments, and certifying field technicians.  In other words, training only the technicians is not nearly enough.

Question: How does your mission benefit home and building owners?
Tom: It helps the owner of a home or building considerably, because the HVAC technician on their site will provide a higher quality installation of new AC and heating equipment or repair service. Work from properly trained and qualified technicians delivers more comfort and lower utility costs, and fewer repair bills for the owner.  Today, this is even more important than in the past, because modern AC and heating equipment must be sized correctly, installed to manufacturer’s specifications, and then maintained regularly to achieve optimum comfort, performance, energy efficiency, and life.

Question: I recall that you taught HVAC-Refrigeration at the college level. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Tom: I was involved in teaching and administration at the private and college level.  My goal was to provide students a solid foundation in the fundamentals of HVAC theory and electrical knowledge. Other areas we emphasized were communication skills and customer relations.  To be effective in the field, technicians not only have to be technically competent in HVAC equipment–they also need to explain their work in a way that is comfortable and effective to the owner.

Question: From your perspective, what is the most useful fact a home or building owner should know about air conditioning and heating?
Tom: There are many things I could say. However one single bit of advice does stand out: Know the reputation of the contractor.  They should be selling themselves – their reputation and integrity of the installation, maintenance, and repair services – not just the equipment. Any contractor can sell equipment, but the best ones sell quality of installation.

Question: On the HVACExcellence website, I see some green initiatives. Can you tell us about those?
Tom: We have two initiatives that have been running for several years, and they will be featured at the upcoming conference in March.  The first one is the Green Awareness Certification Program for Heating, Cooling, Electrical and Plumbing.  Like the technical skills that comprise HVAC, this knowledge overlaps to contractors in these industries.  The second existing program is the Combustion Analysis program for heating systems. We also have a new Energy Auditing Pilot Program, a Level 2 program, that we created for the U.S. Government. This pilot program will be introduced at the conference and be rolled out later this year.

Question: I read that you have an event coming up in the spring. Can you tell us about that?
Tom: Sure. This is our National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference. It’s being held March 14-16 in Las Vegas. The Green Mechanical Council will be part of the conference too. There will be a keynote speaker and 40 breakout sessions covering a variety of topics, including both existing and emerging technologies and legislative topics. The theme is Green is the New Gold, and some have described it as a “train-the-trainer boot camp”.

Links to topics covered in this interview

HVACexcellence

National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference

Comparing Equipment Features
Attempting to compare heating and AC brands, or shopping for features get the most attention from buyers. We wrote about this in last month’s blog and in other place.  We provide a free grid to compare new equipment cost at a glance. From your research or bids, you can fill in the blanks on this printable chart to cut through the “noise” and understand the equipment efficiency and other objective features. However, this equipment must be installed as a system in the structural environment of your home or building, which has variables. So, on to our main topic.

Preparing for What ELSE Might be Necessary to get a New HVAC System Installed
In situations where the new heating and cooling equipment is going into an existing structure (as contrasted with new construction) there are some major potential “gotchas” to prepare for.  I’ve experienced this personally, so hopefully you can benefit from my lessons, some of which were costly. Two good examples of this are electrical wiring and ductwork. They both have the potential to be significant “add ons” to the scope of the work in the project.

Electrical Wiring
If you are having central heating and AC installed into an existing structure for the first time, be sure to get info about wiring conditions.  This would be especially true for a older home or building with original wiring.  Essentially, you want to make sure that the wiring, connections, and circuit breakers, etc. can safely and efficiently handle the new load. If they cannot, you will experience circuit breakers tripping or perhaps much worse.  Because inadequate wiring will increase the cost of a job or might slow down the decision to buy a new system,  some equipment installers might be tempted to not bring it up at all. Or, they might focus the discussion on the new equipment first, get that signed, then bring up the wiring issue and cost.  This is also true for an older structure that already has central heat and air, but needs them replaced.

Ductwork
If your home or building already has ductwork, there are several parallels with electrical wiring to consider:

- The existing ductwork might be usable, OR it may need to replaced due to its structure, design or condition.

- Most potential issues can be seen ahead of time, but some could be discovered during installation of the new system.

- Project add-ons can be  awkward to negotiate or expensive to buy, because work has already begun.

The solution: Focus First on Getting High Quality Advice and Labor on the Installation
We rarely miss an opportunity to highlight the variable that matters most in heating and AC: the quality of the installation.  If you choose a dealer whose sales reps and technicians are trained, experienced and  ethical, dealing effectively with existing wiring or ductwork should be automatic. That way, you can be sure to get the right equipment for your situation and needs AND deal with potential variables in the original project scope.

If you and your contractor handle it well, getting a new system installed will be the start of a long-term relationship that includes preventative maintenance. There are also manufacturer and possibly installer warranties to consider, and those will be the topic of our next blog post.

If you find this useful, please share your thoughts and experiences with other reads. If not, let us know how we can improve.