The following post was written by Steve Metsch for the Naperville Sun. The original article can be found here.
Years in business 10
What does your business do? “We keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. ... We are the first responders for your heating and cooling systems,” Abbott said.
Is this your only site? “We have four locations: Here, St. Charles, Crystal Lake and Libertyville.”'
What’s trending? “Heat pumps are the new rage. We’re ahead of the curve on that. ... The heat pump is a little different in how it communicates with the furnace. It looks like an air conditioner. It’s doing two things. It’s pumping heat out of the house in the summer and it’s pumping heat into the house in the winter. It condenses and uses the heat already in the house and kind of recirculates. It’s different technology.”
How popular are heat pumps? “One in four installations that we do are heat pumps. ... It’s more efficient in the long run. ... The utility companies have huge financial incentives. For instance, if you installed a high-efficient air conditioner, you may get $450 in rebates from ComEd. Install a heat pump, you might get $1,400 to $2,000 in rebates because it’s more efficient with energy. ... Say a heat pump costs $500 to $1,000 more (than a standard central air conditioner), if you get $2,000 back, that pays for the upgrade.”
How many employees do you have in Naperville? “At this site, we have two service technicians and two installers. That keeps everybody really busy.”
What happens when someone calls for help?“Whether it’s a phone call or web search, they get our customer service rep. Here in Naperville, it’s Liz Sobecki. She is outstanding. So good. ... If you have no heat, no AC, we’ll work you into the schedule sooner than later.”
What if there’s no heat? “Simple things we can fix right away, at least get heat flowing. There may be bigger issues to address. We scope everything to look through the heat exchanger. A cracked heat exchanger is bad, it can leak carbon monoxide into the house. That’s bad.”
What should homeowners be aware of? “Simple things like changing your filter. It’s the easiest, cheapest way to take care of your system. Change your filter and schedule your annual tune-up.”
How often should a filter be changed? “It depends on the house. If you have a bunch of kids and a bunch of dogs and live where there are cornfields or big fields behind you, then your system may be filtering more dirt, dust and hair than normal. So, the filters may be changed more often. Also, if you move to a 4-inch filter instead of a 1-inch filter, that gives you more surface area and that flows air better. It creates more static. If you go to 4 inches, it will filter better but also allow more air flow. ... We can actually put a magnetic charge to a filter so it has more static to it so it collects some of the smaller particulates instead of passing through the filter.”
What about central air units? “Little rodents, mice like to make nests in there over the winter time. They’ll chew on the wires, cause it to short. ... That’s not the best thing for your AC. Again, have us out to clean the air conditioner. You can go out and spray it off (with a hose).”
Why do you work here? “A friend of mine, Jeremy Hesselink, was the previous owner. He started the company. I was doing other things in the motorcycle industry. My background was marketing, efficiency. He needed somebody to handle marketing when he was generating revenue. ... I like the idea that the pressure is on me to deliver for everybody else. I’ve always worked well under pressure.”
What about competition? “Look at the density of homes. There’s plenty of pie to go around. The problem is companies that lack integrity. They give everybody a bad name. ... We want our guys treating the customer like they’re their grandmother.”
How did the pandemic impact your business? “It positively affected our business because everybody was at home. They wanted cleaner air.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Let the professionals do their thing. You don’t have be a great accountant. Hire one. You don’t have to be great at marketing. Hire someone. You don’t have to do everything. Focus on the things you do best and hire out everything else. ... Most businesses fail because they try to do it all themselves.”
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