How to Build Influence & Install Heat Pumps

Editor’s note: This issue of Heat Pumped was written by Drew Tozer. He’s the author of Feel-Good Homes and runs an HVAC company in Toronto, Canada called Foundry Heat Pumps.

Drew’s writing parallels my own experience in the heat pump industry. I don’t have formal HVAC training, but my previous background as a rocket propulsion engineer gave me a unique lens that has paid dividends in my own HVAC company, Vayu.

I got into HVAC for climate reasons. Heat pumps are a path to sustainable heating—which makes them a key part of decarbonization.

As far as the climate’s concerned, every heat pump counts the same, regardless of why a homeowner chooses to install one.

That’s good news. 

It means we can sell and install heat pumps based on all their merits, not just sustainability.

When a right-sized heat pump replaces an oversized furnace, it can make a house more comfortable, eliminate temperature swings, improve air quality, reduce maintenance, and increase safety. Heat pumps are a tool to improve quality of life.

The goal is to find the right heat pump for each house, and install it properly.

But the HVAC industry isn’t delivering.

The market is mostly emergency replacements—swapping like-for-like equipment. That means homeowners are left with the same comfort and health problems and it puts contractors in a “race to the bottom” where quotes are compared on speed and price. 

Oversized furnaces and ACs are the default option over heat pumps.

So, how did we get here, and what can we do?

I have three ideas—and they’re all related to skill:

1. Skilled labour is commoditized. That’s a problem. Homeowners and contractors are stuck in a feedback loop of emergency replacements and low expectations. We need to talk about HVAC in a new way to reframe its features and benefits.

2. Stacking personal skills can put you in the top 1% of your field. You can leverage a combination of above-average skills that you already have to build a personal brand and authority.

3. Four business skillsets are a throughline for successful companies. Business is a team sport and it’s easier to succeed when you’re surrounded by the right talent. I’ll commit to the team sport analogy and compare those skillsets to the most important positions in baseball.

By the end of the article, you’ll have a clear path on how to leverage skills to build your influence in the industry.

The state of the industry

HVAC is a commoditized product.

Here’s an excerpt from my book Feel-Good Homes that explains what that means and why it’s a problem:

A big reason for commoditization is that homeowners can’t tell the difference between good and bad HVAC contractors even after the work is done.

It can take months or years for low-quality equipment or poor installation methods to surface. This was especially true for older low-efficiency gas furnaces with inefficient but reliable fan motors that were easy to install. They were clunky, oversized, inefficient, and led to comfort and safety problems—but they slogged along for years without a care in the world.

They were more forgiving to poor installation quality, and that’s why we undervalue skilled labour today.

But heat pumps are different. They can transform average houses into comfortable, healthy, sustainable homes, but only when they’re sized and installed properly. Poorly installed heat pumps will fail early and often, increasing maintenance and repair costs.

There’s a growing risk of bad homeowner experiences, but it’s a tremendous opportunity for high-quality heat pump installers to emerge.

While traditional contractors continue to focus on fast and cheap emergency replacements, heat pump installers can spend their time delivering transformational results for homeowners. 

Now, let’s talk about practical steps.

Delivering results means understanding the needs, goals, and budget of the house and the homeowner, and finding the right solution within those limitations.

Since everyone has access to unlimited information, contractors need to start giving away expertise, knowledge, and advice for free—and charge for proper implementation.

The most successful contractors will provide free homeowner education that’s accessible and engaging.

They’ll have longer conversations with homeowners to deliver value and support upfront, and then install higher-quality All-in-one HVAC systems with skilled labour that doesn’t cut corners. 

The upfront costs can be justified by homeowners because the core offering is to solve comfort, health, and safety problems rather than delivering fast and cheap emergency swaps like other contractors.

When it’s done properly, All-in-one HVAC is a single piece of equipment (a right-sized heat pump) that creates a comfortable, healthy, sustainable home while reducing maintenance.

Integrated add-ons can add functionality: fresh air ducts, larger return air drops, thick MERV 13 media filters, and central air quality monitors allow the heat pump to replace standalone equipment like ERVs and UV purifiers that are traditionally upsold by contractors.

Instead of the negative spiral of the “race to the bottom”, heat pump contractors will enjoy a positive feedback loop as an oversubscribed, top-performing contractor.

That’s how an HVAC contractor can become a leader in the industry—but what can you do, personally?

Build authority by stacking skills

What are your strengths?

It’s a classic interview question, and I’m just starting to see the appeal.

I was asked recently about character traits that make successful leaders, and I talked about a part in James Clear’s Atomic Habits. It’s a story about Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created Dilbert, and the character traits that led to his success.

Unintuitively, Adams doesn’t consider himself a great artist, comedian, or businessman. But it’s clear that he’s better at drawing than the average person, and he’s certainly funnier than most artists. 

The way he talks about his strengths is important—because the most successful cartoonists aren’t great artists or stand-up comedians. They’re above-average at drawing and comedy, while holding a point-of-view or topic that resonates with readers.

He worked in a corporate job for 15 years (at a bank and then a phone company) before becoming a full-time cartoonist. That gave him a topic that few other cartoonists personally experienced: office culture.

It was his combination of skills, not any deep expertise, that let him stand out.

When you combine (stack) skills, you’re choosing to play a game that lends to your strengths. Instead of competing with comedians at the local comedy club, he competes with a small group of cartoonists around the world.

Skill stacking is an actionable framework to build authority.

How did it work for me?

Well, my focus is on climate and decarbonization. My early career was spent in the solar industry and then energy efficiency and conservation, which largely focused on Excel tools and data analytics.

I was competing with professionals that were much more passionate (and frankly, more skilled) at data analytics. I’m thinking specifically about Nabeel Jadavji and AJ Canavor during my time at the IESO.

I wasn’t flourishing, for the same reason that Scott Adams wouldn’t flourish if he focused exclusively on his art. I was competing against deeply-skilled specialists.

In hindsight I realize that I wasn’t inherently skilled at data analytics—I just had an ability to hyperfocus on technical subjects for long enough to understand them. And that allowed me to be good enough to get by.

When I became interested in electrification as a climate solution, I used that skill to learn about building science, HVAC, and entrepreneurship.

I used Nate Adams (for building science and HVAC) and Daniel Priestley (for business and entrepreneurship) as virtual mentors.

And I dug further into building science by reading articles from industry experts like Joe Lstiburek, Allison A. Bailles III, and Martin Holladay.

I’m not a building science expert, and I can’t fix or install HVAC equipment, but I certainly know more about those topics than an average person.

My breakthrough was connecting that technical knowledge to my above-average writing skills. An area where most HVAC professionals struggle.

I followed the framework: pick a field and stack skills to stand out.

I know more about heat pumps and building science than most people in the climate industry, and I’m a better writer than most people in HVAC.

Like Scott Adams being funnier than artists, and better at drawing than comedians—my skills aren’t exceptional, but I’m among the best in my industry for that combination of skills.

There’s an opportunity for other climate folks to do the same.

You don’t need to be the best at anything. 

You just need to find the right combination of above-average skills that you already have, and stack them to stand out and build authority.

Once you’re viewed as an expert in your niche, it’s easier to create partnerships or pull talent onto your team.

But you need to build that team the right way, if you want long-term success.

Combine skillsets to create a winning team

The common origin story for any HVAC company is a skilled tradesperson getting hired as an apprentice for another contractor. 

They work their way up and become a top-performing technician. Eventually, they leave to start their own company, usually for reasons like The boss is making money off my work, or I don’t like the choices the owner makes, or It’s not that hard to run a business, I could do better.

They’re reasonable thoughts.

Whether a new business succeeds or not depends largely on the team—specifically, the individual strengths and skillsets of the players on that team.

Business is a team sport. Yes, there are successful solopreneurs and AI tools are making it easier to succeed with smaller teams—but every business still has foundational roles.

Daniel Priestley talks about the four skillsets that show up in every successful business. He compares them to the suits in a deck of cards, which align with the main roles on executive teams: CEO, CFO, COO, and CMO.

I’ll follow a similar framework but stick with the team sport analogy and compare baseball to business.

In baseball, you can’t win a World Series with one great player, even if it’s the best player in the sport (sorry, Angels fans). You need a full team.

Anything can happen in baseball, and you can luck your way into a championship—but it’s not a blueprint for sustained success.

So, how do we build a team that wins?

By filling the most important positions with top-performing players.

The consensus “most important positions” in baseball are pitcher, catcher, and shortstop. I’ve included the manager to round out the top four—not because a manager has more impact than an elite center fielder, but because a good manager is behind the scenes, using analytics and metrics to position the team for its best chance to win.

Why are those positions important, and what does it mean for business?

 Pitcher (CEO): They’re standing in the mound with all eyes on them. If your pitcher is at the top of their game, it makes it easy for the rest of the team to perform.

This analogy is right on the nose because a CEO’s primary job is to pitch their vision of the future. Top CEOs bring in leads, opportunities, and partnerships that make it easier for a business to stay profitable. 

Catcher (CMO): It’s less flashy than a pitcher or shortstop, but the catcher controls the game. They have the best viewpoint to keep track of opposing players and they work closely with the pitcher to see what’s working, what’s not, and what to do next.

A great catcher also frames the pitch, increasing its odds of success. A good CMO sees opportunities in the market where the business can gain an advantage.

Shortstop (COO): A great shortstop is vital to a championship team. They organize the infield defence, they see the most action when a ball gets hit, and they’re expected to be an elite batter that carries the offense, too. 

They’re the ones doing the work on both sides of the ball. That’s evident in little league (kids baseball), where the best player is always the shortstop because it’s the position with the most opportunity to deliver results over the season.

An MLB team plays 1,458 innings per season, and eight shortstops played 90%+ of those innings for their team in 2024. By comparison, the top catcher was around 80% and the top pitcher was only 208 innings (less than 15%).

All that to say, shortstops (COOs) put in the time to deliver results.

Manager (CFO): A great manager works behind the scenes. They’re thinking about what needs to happen over the course of the season for sustained success. Managers are the only ones focused on the team as a whole, and they use metrics and data to make informed decisions to give the team its best chance of winning.

But a great manager on a bad team can’t do much to help the team win—and it’s the same in business, where a great CFO is useless in a company with no vision, products, or revenue. 

So, the pitcher is in the spotlight with the most leverage to make a game easy or difficult based on the quality of each pitch. The catcher frames the pitch and adjusts the plan based on what’s working and what’s not. The shortstop spends the most time on the field while consistently delivering results on both offense and defence, and the manager is behind the scenes making sure everything aligns for the team to be successful.

The positions (skillsets) are equally important.

Bringing it back to the HVAC industry: contractors are shortstops (COOs).

They’re incredibly skilled at doing the work and delivering results. HVAC companies are built entirely around that strength with no focus on the other skillsets. There’s no product ecosystem, or plan to create a company that solves high-value problems for homeowners. There’s no one pitching, framing, or analytics in the business.

That’s an opportunity for professionals from outside the industry (like climate folks!) to join or partner with contractors to build businesses that are more profitable, deliver better results for homeowners, and contribute to the energy transition.

It’s an opportunity to add high-performing players to key positions for a better team.

It might sound similar to private equities (PE) firms buying mid-sized HVAC companies—but I’d liken a PE takeover as trading an all-star shortstop to get a prestigious manager. The resulting company cares deeply about analytics (manager) and they’re skilled at marketing (catcher), but they fail to deliver results on the field because they’re lacking the other skillsets.

PE-backed contractors are the 2024 Oakland Athletics of the HVAC industry.

Be a leader in the energy transition.

The path is clear: 

Find a combination of above-average skills that could put you in the top 1% of your field—and stack those skills to become an authority and build a personal brand. 

That gives homeowners and companies a reason to know, like, and trust you.

Then take a moment and realize that you can’t do it alone. Find a co-founder or partner with an existing company that has a complementary skillset.

Next, hire the remaining skillsets to build a team that delivers a product ecosystem (including free homeowner education) and installs high-quality projects that solve difficult problems that matter to homeowners.

That’s the way to use your existing skills to build authority, scale an HVAC business, and be a leader in the energy transition.