The Uberization of HVAC: Contractors Automating Efficiency
by Jamie Skaar
Remember when you needed to stand on the corner or make a call to hail a ride?
Jamie Skaar is back this week to tackle what he calls the “Uberization of HVAC” by first exploring what new software means for frontline contractors.
Remember when you needed to stand on the corner or make a call to hail a ride? And then, the moment Uber had enough drivers and enough customers in a market, invisible dominos began to fall.
Seemingly overnight, people across America — city by city — were willing to utilize and pay more for ride-sharing than ever imagined, completely transforming the paid transportation market.
Professional drivers across the country were caught off guard by the overnight boom of apps like Uber and Lyft and how technology (expanded connectivity and mobile apps) was changing consumer behavior across tax brackets.
Uber didn’t become Uber by focusing on what already mattered most to some people on the go. Uber became Uber by anticipating (like peers Airbnb and Amazon) how software was changing all of our behavior in real time. It bet big, ruthlessly edged out rivals, and practically created a new industry from thin air. Then another.
Now when I get in an Uber, the truth is I don’t care how long the driver’s been driving. I don’t think about them as a “professional” driver in the traditional sense. I don’t even know how, or if, they were vetted! I don’t need to. They’re delivering exactly what I need — an on-demand ride at a competitive price — and for that I am eternally grateful. Which is to say, for better or worse, I’m a consumer.
Across the HVAC industry, there’s big talk of a software revolution of its own. Leading voices and even more outsiders (with sexy ideas in even sexier fonts) are forecasting a future of home services that looks very different from today, where the entire contractor workflow (from training to sales to installation) is enabled and empowered by suites of software that deliver next-level experiences for homeowners. But how much is hard fact vs. hot air? Will these advancements energize and empower contractors or undermine and alienate them?
This series breaks down the “Uberization of HVAC” in three short articles, each one focused on a different player in the puzzle: HVAC contractors, manufacturers, and consumers. Let’s go!
Contractors automating efficiency
If given the option to install a heat pump with Airbnb-level choice at Uber-level speed for an Amazon-level price, who among us could hold out for long?
HVAC contractors know how to deliver home solutions that make a massive difference in the lives of their customers. But the bars for connectivity, convenience, cost, and perhaps most critically — transparency — keep getting raised higher and higher from the outside in.
The clean energy transition demands productivity on a massive scale – to the tune of 24 million electric retrofits over the next three years, according to Rewiring America – and contractors need solutions that help them run their businesses, from qualifying and securing customers to designing systems and training staff. And they need them now.
Here are a few kinds of solutions that are hitting the market: what they do, why it matters for the future of HVAC businesses, and some of the choices that lie ahead.
Platforms that simplify operations
Ask any contractor what they love. It’s not paperwork or days spent driving to no-show appointments and free estimates. Add in the constant pressure of changing regulations, learning new technologies, and navigating incentives written in Latin and you begin to understand why burnout is high and even the most passionate might opt to sell their business or cede their territory.
Services like ServiceTitan help contractors run their business using a centralized hub. From scheduling and dispatching technicians to invoicing and customer relationship management (CRM), these platforms want to eliminate contractors’ kink for juggling multiple, disconnected software solutions that waste hours every week.
Tools that streamline system design and monitor performance
Armed with hardcore data about a home’s energy usage, contractors can transform consultations into sales opportunities. Tools developed by Zero Homes and QuitCarbon are helping businesses pinpoint efficiency upgrades and create highly targeted proposals that communicate comparable savings and impact.
And since consumers deserve upgrades that are well-scoped and well-designed, companies like MeasureQuick and Conduit are reimagining residential commissioning.These tools streamline system design and efficiency and help contractors ensure optimal performance for new installations. Meanwhile, equipment monitoring tools like SmartAC are enabling preventative maintenance and just-in-time service delivery.
Training the next generation
Froliq is at the forefront of a revolution in workforce development. Their use of AR/VR technology promises to transform how we train the next generation. If companies like Frolic have their way, new hires can gain hands-on experience before ever setting foot on a job site. This technology also has the potential to streamline upskilling for experienced technicians as they expand their offerings and encounter new systems in our increasingly complex clean energy landscape.
Next week
All these software solutions represent significant progress no doubt, but they also present new growing pains. Deciding which tools work for you and building up the trust to tell Siri to play her part may be the easy part. Training teams to adopt and effectively use software and expanding overhead to afford these tools may prove more difficult in the short term, especially for smaller outfits whose profit gains might be negligible when all is said and done.
Thankfully for consumers, contractors aren’t the only ones who can make purchasing, installation, and servicing easier for millions of American households.
Stay tuned next week for part two: The Uberization of HVAC: Manufacturers Become Human