Why High Caliber HVAC instead of some other company, how are we different from our competitors, and how do our services differ from theirs?
Before I answer these questions I want you to consider the following: the Illinois Attorney General’s Office recently reported that “construction and home improvement woes topped this year’s list of the most common consumer complaints in the state.”
They further reported that 2,261 of those complaints were related to “service agreements for plumbing, roofs and gutters, heating and cooling, and home remodeling.”
in 2018 the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) reported that the top nationwide complaints of 2017 for services provided were “misrepresentations, shoddy work, failure to have required licenses, failure to perform.”
According to their report these types of complaints ranked #6 out of all consumer complaints for that year.
So why us? Well for one we offer transparency in all of our pricing. No hidden fees or markup on materials and equipment. Just a straightforward display of your costs.
As a matter of fact, transparency and honesty in all areas of business are important to us. For instance, we will NEVER try to sell you a service that you don’t need! Just a true assessment of what we’ve found, the reasons for our assessment, all your possible solutions, as well as an estimation of your cost. And we’ll always be as realistic as possible about project time frames and job expectations.
We also put an emphasis on quality. In the rush to stay profitable, quality and honesty are often compromised, but we at High Caliber HVAC do not believe that the end ever justifies the means! Quality and honesty of work should never be compromised for the sake of making money. We believe that this is the best way to stand out from most of our competition.
Lastly, we stand out through our services. How? Well for one, for the size of our company we really do provide a robust selection of services. More than most companies our size are able to provide! We do anything from combustion analysis to installing water heaters (traditional or tankless), installing chimney liners, fully designing, installing, maintaining, and repairing boilers, central air and ductless mini-split systems, to even diagnosing existing problems with your ductwork system and providing you with all your possible solutions. Simply put, we are versatile.
The second way that we stand out in our service mainly lies in how we perform our duct design, duct analysis, and boiler design services. We use no rule of thumb methods! Let me define..
“The English phrase rule of thumb refers to a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It refers to an easily learned and easily applied procedure or standard, based on practical experience rather than theory.”
Using a method that is “not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation” is one of the main reasons why so many residential duct systems have design flaws that directly impact the resident’s comfort and monthly energy bill! Most companies use rule of thumb methods in order to save time. Its the cost most companies and homeowners pay in the rush to stay profitable. But why should quality of work ever suffer?
The truth is that there are many variables in both a home’s physical properties and in the environment for which it sits that need to be considered when designing an HVAC system that is sure to meet the needs of its occupants. A house that sits on a specific location in Illinois that was built before the 1950s that has no v***r barrier or wall insulation, and has single pane windows will have significantly different needs than a modern home of similar size sitting in a nearby location. Why? Because a modern home will have been properly insulated, will have a v***r barrier and will have at least double pane windows.
Environments in even a single state (such as Illinois) can vary significant as well. Things like elevation, humidity levels and highest and lowest temperatures during the warm and cold seasons need to be considered. Rule of thumb methods do not give appropriate attention to these variables!
This is where performing proper load calculations come in to play by taking all these variables into consideration. We at High Caliber HVAC use ACCA approved load calculation software to size your equipment, design your system’s airways or waterways, and determine the individual heating and/or cooling needs of every room in your home. Important factors such as your blower motor’s available static pressure, total system static pressure, duct velocity (which affects noise levels in the duct [among other things]), and system temperature rise are all taken into account! After your system is installed we properly seal your ductwork, insulate it (only if necessary), and properly balance your system. This results in a system that’s tailored for your home.
And, yes, the difference does matter! It matters because not giving proper attention to these variables can directly and significantly impacts occupancy comfort, decrease the life expectancy of your system, increase the frequency of repairs and adversely affect your monthly energy bill!
In conclusion, we feel that our purpose and mission as an HVAC contractor is to provide honest, friendly, high quality services at a rate that is fair to both our business and our clients.
