If there is one aspect of residential HVAC installation that is overlooked, it’s the quality of the work.  I could be wrong, but it seems as if the craftsmanship of the average system has decreased over time.  There are a lot of reasons as to why this trend appears to be happening.  It is unfortunate for homeowners.  Quality work is something that consumers expect.  When a homeowner is having a new system installed, he or she is trusting the company to install it right.  However, the engineering behind HVAC ductwork is something the average consumer is probably not very well versed with.  This can lead to rushed installs at the sacrifice of quality.  Not at our shop.

1.  A severe lack of qualified labor
2.  Inexperience working in older homes that were built before central air systems became popular
3.  Rushed installs

The two major factors that can make or break the overall efficiency of a system is air resistance and airflow.  If your duct system was designed and installed in a way that is generating resistance, it will restrict your airflow leading to inefficiencies.  Common practices that can lead to higher air resistance in a central air system include:

• Narrow coils on wider furnaces
• Poor air filtration systems

There are many reasons as to why our business model is based around the quality of work we perform.  Here are some core values that shape the way we perform heating and cooling system installations.

There is no secret to some of the practices HVAC companies deploy in order to make more money.  A lot of time it starts with a sales gimmick with an aggressive offer, followed by a sales person showing up at your doorstep ending with a hard close.  It sometimes seems as if this is the new norm.  I’ve even seen some HVAC companies that have a dedicated call center strictly for cold calling new customers to generate appointments for their professional “Closers.”  I’m not against making money as a company.  Everyone has to eat.  However, I am against any practice that puts the quantity of work over the quality.  That just doesn’t seem right to me.

The foundation of our company is based on the craftsmanship of our ductwork.  Sometimes to a fault depending on how you view it.  It starts at the bidding process and ends with the final walk-through of an installation.  Checks and balances are put in place throughout the entire evaluation of an install.  We employ senior installers specifically to measure the quality control of our work.  If the job isn’t completed to our standards, we keep working until it is.  It is this mantra that has kept us in business since 1954.

We are proud to be based in St Louis City.  While we service the entire St Louis Metro East area, our company was founded and remains located within city limits.  Over six decades, a large portion of our work has revolved around transitioning boilers and radiant heat into central air systems.  Many in homes constructed over 100 years ago.  It isn’t easy.  Anyone that has either lived or performed construction on an older home knows how difficult it can be.  Homes predating 1960 were not designed to have central air systems.  To effectively transition the average St Louis City home from radiant heat to central air, you have to be resourceful and creative.  No job is the same.  They tend to take longer than the average installation in St Louis County homes.  For an inexperienced installer, it is equivalent to being thrown into the deep end of a pool before knowing how to swim.  For heating and cooling companies who only service St Louis County, these are challenges not faced day in and day out.  I like to think my installers are battle tested.  Even though install jobs in St Louis County homes are on average much less labor intensive, we find ourselves fixing other companies shotty ductwork all the time.

The government started heavily regulating our industry about two decades ago.  Before that, high efficiency HVAC equipment didn’t make a lot of economical sense.   However, homeowners today now have access to a plethora of rebates and incentives on high efficiency technology.  This is a great direction our industry has taken.  Before the age of rebates, our installers focused on achieving high efficiency through the quality of our duct systems.   By eliminating leaks, minimizing distances and proper engineering, our systems were saving customers money on their monthly energy bills.  We could have cut corners like a lot of our competitors, but the quality of the work is everything we stand for.  Today, new equipment is achieving record efficiency levels.  Lost in the discussion is the importance of quality ductwork to achieve maximum efficiency with your new equipment.  A new AC unit that is advertised at an efficiency level of 20 SEER’s may only see a fraction of that if your duct system contains inefficiencies.

Some of the larger St Louis HVAC companies in the market focus their business model on the volume of the systems they install.  They like to get in and get out on installations as fast as possible.  Installing ductwork can take time which is a major factor for heating and cooling companies preferring to install systems in homes located in the county.  The likelihood of ductwork needing to be addressed is lower because most of the homes were constructed with central air systems.  Sometimes a duct system needs to be addressed.  Our installers don’t shy away from this work in order to complete a job faster.  We bring it to the attention of the homeowner and let them make the call.