In early fall 2009, Ralph Adams, a manager with Parker Fuel Services in
Ellicott City, Md., received a call from a customer who wanted a new furnace
and A/C system. Upon arriving at the customer’s home, Adams surveyed the
outside of the home and found that the existing A/C unit wasn’t very old. The
customer confirmed that to be the case – the A/C system had been installed just
five years earlier, but it had never worked properly.
Adams then went to check on the furnace and found a 15-year-old unit
with a single-speed, belt-drive blower. He explained to the customer that the
furnace and A/C were both fine, but that the A/C should never have been added
to that unit because the belt-drive motor could not handle the airflow required.
Rather than replacing the entire HVAC system, Adams recommended keeping
the furnace and A/C, and simply replacing the existing blower with a
direct-drive blower that had an ECM motor to give the A/C unit the airflow it
needed.
A week later, the customers responded to his suggestion, and Adams
installed the new blower along with a ½-HP Evergreen aftermarket motor.
Three weeks after installation, the customer called to thank Adams,
raving about how well the system worked and stating that his house had never
been cooled so well. According to Adams, “I know we reduced their energy cost
by at least 25%, and more than doubled their comfort level. Here was someone
who couldn't really afford to replace their system, but was so dissatisfied
that they were ready to replace it (even though it was still working). We saved
them nearly $7000.00 on the replacement by making a reasonable repair at less
than $1000.00, and when they are ready to replace it, they will call us.”
Reprinted
with permission from the National Association of Oil Heating Service Managers (NAOHSM)