"An educated consumer is our best customer" was the famous tag line of the late New Jersey retailer Sy Syms. But educating consumers in the HVAC industry can take extra time and effort, options that may not always seem readily available for busy contractors driven by deadlines, budgets and myriad other daily demands. Even so, blogger Mike Weil argues here that it is usually worth it for contractors to make the time to dispel the myths that may well be hurting their image with both owners and the public. Weil, of course, is a former editorial titan here at Penton Media, where he served for three-plus decades. In 2014, he joined the National Comfort Institute, where today he is Vice President of Communications and Publications. Based in Cleveland OH, he can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @msweil. Here is Mike's latest myth-busting blog:
From the consumer's perspective, when it comes to the HVAC industry, there seems to be a lot of misinformation about how to manage and maintain comfort systems. These tidbits of misinformation come disguised as “truth” when actually they are more like myths and urban legends.
The problem is that a lot of contractors out there actually perpetuate these myths by either ignoring them when customers bring them up, or agreeing with them, or not even knowing if they are true or not.
For those who are truly focused on helping customers attain the comfort and safety they desire and deserve, these myths are both a problem and an opportunity. The problem is obvious — they are exactly as labelled — myths. Unfortunately, they are believable enough to pass as truth and people remember them that way.
You have a chance to educate your customers, prove the myths are simply fairy tales, and then help them get what they want for the money the are willing to spend.
I like to think of that as being a hero.
So, what are some of the most common myths out there and what is the truth behind them? In no particular order, here are seven myths that plague the HVAC industry:
MYTH 1: It’s a waste of time and money to service your air conditioner
Really? How many times have you heard people say that? I hear this a lot in my social circles and people are always put off when I respond by saying, “Is it also a waste of time and money to service your car?” You see, many people don’t think an air conditioning system is as complicated as a car. Just as a car requires maintenance and tune-ups, so does an air conditioning system.
We all know that regular cleaning helps keep a unit running smoothly and efficiently. It also provides an opportunity to catch problems that might have developed over the winter. Ignoring regular maintenance can mean an emergency call on a weekend afternoon—with the extra charge that comes with it.
Be a hero: You have a chance to educate your customers, expose these myths as fairy tales, and then help them get the most for their money.
MYTH 2: Consumers save money by adjusting the thermostat to keep the system from running when they leave, then turning it on when they get home
This is one of the most repeated myths out there. Yet it is untrue on both counts. When a consumer comes home to a hot house, the air conditioner has to work much harder to cool the place down. Turning the thermostat lower won’t help—an AC unit can only put out so much cooling, so a lower setting simply forces it to run longer.
To see the rest of this list and learn more about NCI, go to: https://www.nciblog.com/hvac-comfort-myths-debunked/