How To Sell Heat Pumps
How To Sell Heat Pumps
Develop Tactics To
Sell Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are not a new technology, but have now advanced far enough in capabilities that they consider are a viable heating and cooling option in almost any region or climate. All HVAC companies should be educating themselves and clients on this new heating/cooling options because they are in demand, and where there is a want, profits can be made.
Recent cold climate rated heat pumps are a game changer in the HVAC industry, while previous prevailing knowledge thought them to only be useful in temperate climates like ones found in eastern and western Canada, heat pump now have wider market appeal, and demand has been on the rise since 2020.
While it is hard to predict the direction of the HVAC industry, pressure to go green, and achieve zero emissions is picking up cultural popularity, and is especially a hot button issues with younger generations. An HVAC company that is forward thinking can no longer ignore heat pump technology and the companies who give heat pumps the cold shoulder may find themselves lumped in with those who thought Oil Boilers were the pinnacle of home heating technology.
What are Heat Pump Systems?
Currently, as of 2023, there are two main types of heat pump systems, ones that use the home’s ductwork or ductless units. Either systems use both an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, much like an air conditioner, the heat pump sits outside the home or is attached to a building’s wall. The following diagram explains the basic setup of a heat pump system in a home.
How do heat pumps actually work then? In fact, this is a bit of a trap question at least from a sales perspective! As a technician/installer you need to know, but as a salesperson dealing with clients, the less you know is probably better.
How Do Heat Pumps Work?
When explaining heat pumps to clients, remember they barely understand how their furnace works and they likely do not even know what HVAC means. This is your chance to be the expert in the home, but do not overload clients with needless information, at no point should you ever talk about COP values, CFMs or heating capacity, in fact bringing up this kind of stuff will have the opposite effect and lose you the sale.
Even the name, “heat pump” often misleads clients, and they are shocked to learn it can also cool their home too. It is clear, whoever named heat pumps did not think about how to actually sell one, and we can surmise it was probably named by an engineer and not a marketer. The fact that the unit actually doesn’t have a “pump” in it nor pumps air causes all kinds of confusion while interfacing with clients.
What is actually happening is latent heat energy is being transferred from one place to another, and with the aid of refrigerant and a reversing valve, it can either blow hot or cool into a room. Even this explanation can be further simplified.
Explain heat pumps this way to clients, heat pumps are like AC units but it can also make warm air, with an ac it pulls hot air out of your home and replaces it with cooler dehumidified air, but a heat pump can also do the same for heating, it simply reverses this process and blow warm air into your home.
If clients have follow-up questions about this process, like how does it work in the cold?, tell them that it uses extremely cold gasses (refrigerants) to create heat energy in the winter.
Selling A Hybrid Heat Pump Systems
Depending on the climate, a heat pump will not be able to heat a home sufficiently, while the technology has become much better, it struggles to heat a medium to large size home once the temperatures reach below -2 degrees Celsius. The hybrids system is then a heat pump and forced air furnace working together to heat a home. When the temperatures are above freezing, the heat pump heats the home, and when temperatures drop below freezing the furnace heats the home. This means both natural gas and electricity are used to heat the home independently in a hybrid system. Keep in mind that only one piece of equipment is running at any given time. This is controlled by the house’s smart thermostat which typically chooses which one should be running or allows the owner to turn them on or off. The furnace and heat pump are a package deal because they must be manufactured to work together.
From the perspective of energy usage, a great sales tactic is to inform the homeowner that they may choose to heat their home with a lower-priced energy source. If gas prices are high, then they have the option to use electricity instead and vice versa.
A hybrid system can only be installed in a home that has ductwork.
Selling a Ductless Unit
A ductless unit, on the other hand, is often used in smaller applications to heat a single room or a smaller home. Environmentally conscious people can also be sold no gas heating since a ductless system uses electricity only.
Another great sales option is when a home does not have ductwork going to a room, but they want it conditioned. A ductless unit can be a solution they are seeking. For example, in a room that may be used as an office space within the home, and the homeowner finds it too cool/warm. Also, many homeowners who have shops or garages could have a ductless unit conditioning this space.
Equipment Options in Review:
You can offer clients the following heat pump equipment applications:
1) Hybrid system: The heat pump, furnace, and thermostat are all compatible and the home needs ductwork.
2) Stand-alone heat pump, also called a ductless unit: blower heads (indoor units) are placed in rooms and conditioned in those rooms only. The outdoor unit sits on the ground or is bracketed to the side of a wall.
3) Ductless units with electric heating strips: these are uncommon because they consume too much electricity. The heating strips are inside of the heat pump and turn on when the heat pump technology cannot keep up with the heating needs of the home.
4) Hybrid Water Heaters: These electric tank water heaters have a heat pump located on the top of the unit and use electric heat strips as a backup heating source.
Let’s look at some general tips that will help you sell more heat pumps!
Client’s can easily get hung up on minor details. Try to avid going into the weeds with clients on how heat pumps work because this technology is counterintuitive, and most people are unaware about how refrigerated gas manipulate temperature and pressure to produce energy. Instead use an analogy one of the following analogies to explain how they work. We advise against using the technical explanation even if you yourself are a heat pump expert.
Ex.1: Heat pumps are like your AC, expect it uses its cooling technology in reverse. Now it is blowing warm air into the home. Think of like an AC that works backwards.
Ex.2: Heat pumps transfer warm or cool air between spaces, you simply choose which direction that air is going.
“I thought heat pump do not work in our climate”. You come up against this objection when a client has done previous research about heat pumps but is working from outdated information and has simply not kept up with the advancements in heat pump cold climate technologies. Previously, operating a heat pump at negative temperatures was not possible or very inefficient, but this has changed with the advent of smart thermostat controls and hybrid heating systems. When temperatures are lower, the furnace will kick in and the heat pump will shut off. The 1% coldest days of the year will find ducted heat pumps unable to keep up the heating needs of a home. Therefore, you as a salesperson should recommend a hybrid gas furnace and electric heat pump.
However, when dealing with a ductless system, the heat pumps are cold climate rated for temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. Simply, explain to homeowners that the technology has made major breakthroughs in the last decade and is able to heat the space effectively even on the coldest days of the year.
When dealing with environmentally conscious clients, explain that a heat pump that uses refrigerated gasses is a cost-effective solution. While geothermal heat pumps may be the peak in terms of green technology, not all home have infrastructure to support one. Furthermore, the costs for a geothermal heat pump will be much higher and take much longer to get installed. A hybrid systems is a good stop gap technology for the next 10 years until a greener option comes along. Homeowners who want to go fully electric and gas free, can always have a multi-head ductless heat pump installed in their home.
“Heat pumps are too expensive.” When met with this pushback try to ask the client what they are comparing the costs to, is it the cost of furnace only? Are they forgetting that a heat pump also acts as a fully functioning AC for their home. Is the extra cost made up by your company’s warranties and guarantees? By placing prices next to the relative comparison, it makes them feel lower.
For example, if you think of drink size pricing, the small size establishes the base cost and the medium size is only slightly higher than the small. Most people will buy the medium size drink. So, put the price of the heat pump next to the full cost of similar systems. Show them that the price difference is not as big as they think it is.
How long does a heat pump last? A part of this is proper use and maintenance of the unit. Advise clients that with an annual check up, just like the one you get with your furnace or AC, heat pumps typically last for 10 years or more. This is comparable to an AC or furnace’s shelf life. Point out any programs your company runs and guarantees you provide that will safeguard the system you plan to install.
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