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Comment by cmui | Hacker News Reader

A few major improvements - (1) Purchasing experience, we'll connect you with a local contractor, arrange financing and help with rebates. (2) HEPA filtration, fresh air intake and humidity control fully integrated into the system, actuated off PM2.5 and CO2 sensors in the thermostat. (3) A smart thermostat that is optimized for operation with a variable speed heat pump, and reduces your monthly bills. (4) Help for the contractors in the form of a web app to do load disaggregation for heat pump sizing and figure out if the existing ducts can be used for the install. This is something a lot of contractors need an effective tool for.

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I'm really not sure how any of this is worth the extra ~$8k in price difference. Not saying there aren't people out there willing to buy but it's not for me.

1 - I already have a local contractor and financing shouldn't be a reason it costs more. 2 - This is ~$500 and I already own a air purifier. 3 - This is ~$200 and I already own a thermostat. 4 - I can't speak to the value in this but in my case I don't have central ducts.

Are you considering following in the footsteps of Project Solar? I've received 20 quotes from other solar companies like Solar Run as well as local solar companies, and they're quoting me around $3-$6/watt. This price includes their sales commission. Project Solar, on the other hand, eliminates the middleman, allowing us to purchase their system for just $2.2/watt. Those $3-$6/watt quotes didn’t make long-term sense to us. Project Solar made financial sense to us.

As a VC-backed startup, it's worth checking out their business model.

This is a big deal because if you can beat the rates of your competitors and guarantee a quality workmanship, then that takes away the 100+ hours we spend on sourcing quotes and negotiating better prices.

Here’s a story about what happens when you DON’T spend 100+ hours sourcing multiple quotes. You end up with a $36,000 heater + air conditioning unit where the installer caused a leak to occur on on the second floor. We were so desperate for cold air that we didn’t have time to get 20 quotes, but the 5 other quotes we did get ranged from $48k to $64k.

If you can save us that 100+ hours of time and give us a cheaper deal while guaranteeing workmanship, then I’m sold.

We’re getting really really really tired of overly inflated prices and the negotiation process.

HVAC engineer here - this looks great Chris. How are you doing the humidity control out of interest? I've done a few datacentres that won't touch ultrasonic humidifiers because they generate dust in areas with hard water. Less of an issue in resi but perhaps something to consider. Also, are you doing energy recovery for your fresh air intake? If you're ducting both intake and exhaust/spill, is there any opportunity to direct the exhaust/spill air back through the external condenser on the way out to get some extra efficiency?

First -- good luck with this!

> Purchasing experience, we'll connect you with a local contractor, arrange financing and help with rebates.

Hopefully constructive feedback: I replaced 2 of our residential furnaces within the last few years, in two separate transactions with two different vendors. I can say that this pitch doesn't resonate as an improvement because vendors already make this turnkey.

You call a furnace/air conditioning company, they come out and recommend a unit. You sign their financing thing, they come out the next day and install. I interacted with a single primary person (on-site) at each company. Cost aside, it's actually one of the more pleasant buying experiences of any major home improvement.

Finally, I can tell you who installed the ($$$$$) units but I definitely could not tell you who made them. Branding might be tough unless you do the installs yourself.

Thanks for the feedback. If you feel comfortable saying, what region are you in? I think where you might start running into friction is if you want a heat pump vs a furnace. There's a lot of variation between local markets in terms of heat pump install competence.

I’m in the southeastern US, USDA Zone 8.

I agree with runako. I suspect that you are going to have a hard time targeting areas where heat pumps are already common for cooling.

I'm in Florida. We got our A/C replaced a few years ago. Got quotes from three companies with varying ranges and the one we chose knocked it out in a (long) day. Including various "side-jobs" such as running a new electric line with a larger gauge, installing a hurricane pad, removing the loopback with the water heater, and lifting the air handler into the attic.

Total cost was under $8k. None of the quotes, including for name-brand units, were above $12k. $18k for an unknown name seems just right out to me.

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