Comment by Brystephor | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Brystephor | Hacker News Reader

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I have family that works as HVAC techs for both residential and commercial. I also used to work at the shop but did other stuff primarily.

Here's my question though: it states as a direct to consumer sales route. However the pricing includes installation. I don't know of any contractors that would be willing to do a customer supplied part installation for something like a heat pump. I also know that if they did do it, they would provide no warranties around it. So then from the consumers point of view, you've paid $10k to have something installed and if it breaks, you're out of luck and it's time to pay up again.

I'm interested in hearing more about this product and seeing how it works. Would love to chat more about it.

I understand the confusion around the install. The process for homeowners won't be fend for yourself and twist a contractor's arm to do an install, Electric Air will have local contractors that we connect you with.

What's the direct to consumer part then?

The place I used to work had inventory on hand and so they could do your service now. Most people dont fix something that isn't broken. Meaning, if their existing system works, they won't replace it just because. So what this also means is that speed and time of delivery is very important. If your heat or cooling has broken and it's necessary, and you want to replace it, you're going to want to do it asap. So it needs to be on hand for contractors to have ready to go. Furnaces don't break in the summer when they're not being used.

If you have contractor deals, you're going to have to provide some incentive for them to use these things. Because contractors are inclined to charge the most amount of money for the thing that's easiest for them to install.

I am biased because I worked at a shop whose selling point was "we'll do it now when everyone else will book you two weeks out" and when you're talking about things like water, heat, and to an extent sewage, the value of time increases significantly.

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