TESTIMONIAL
HYTECH 24/7
SITUATION
HVAC industry veteran Chip Lafferty believes in driving improvement through innovation. Chip had built one of the largest HVAC mechanical businesses in the country but was not satisfied. He realized the impact IoT technology was having on all types of businesses and saw an opportunity. Chip and his team set out to find a predictive intelligent controls platform and cloud-based delivery mechanism that would transform the way the HVAC industry markets itself to small- and medium-sized companies.
CHALLENGE
To execute his vision, Chip needed a solution that was simple, robust and cost-effective, and that could integrate with a wide variety of rooftop HVAC units (RTUs). It needed to provide the data, visibility, and intelligence to reduce energy costs, and fundamentally change RTU maintenance. In short, it needed to be able to recognize and predict problems before they happened.
SOLUTION
After a year and a half researching thermostats, sensors, portals, and algorithms, the team chose Entouch and launched HYTECH 24/7 (HYTECH). ENTOUCH's fully integrated and proven technology stack met all of HYTECH's requirements: » The technology starts with a simple, well-documented mobile installation application to ensure the system is installed right the first time. » The system is intuitive and enables experienced HVAC contractors to install the hardware quickly without disrupting the client's business. » Once correctly installed, the system immediately provides improved comfort and system performance while reducing energy costs and unplanned maintenance. The heart of the system is the Entouch.one smart thermostat that pulls data from Entouch's sensors and monitors and uploads information to the Entouch.cloud. In the cloud, Entouch provides a suite of functions that enables HYTECH to monitor and control temperature, air quality, lighting, system performance, and efficiency. The Entouch algorithms and fully documented API allowed HYTECH to develop a custom suite of applications specific to the needs of HVAC contractors. The combination of Entouch and the HYTECH tools creates a platform that alerts mechanical contractors to system problems before a unit fails. Instead of the standard annual preventive maintenance visit that forces most contractors to blindly discover issues after arriving on site, HYTECH's customers now have detailed data about specific system issues as they are occurring, saving time and money and improving equipment performance.
RESULTS
Since partnering with ENTOUCH in 2015, HYTECH has continued to expand its offerings to HVAC contractors, including: » Unrivaled service. Participating contractors can use the data that is only available through HYTECH to offer their customers a level of service that previously would have been very difficult to provide. » Substantial growth. With the ENTOUCH-enabled data, HYTECH and contractors have realized substantial growth in their traditional service and maintenance business. HYTECH earns revenue from the fees contractors pay to access the data and portal, and contractors earn from selling maintenance contracts to their customers. » Energy savings. HYTECH finds that the ENTOUCH solution provides average energy savings of 15% for their end customers, along with improved equipment performance. » Recurring revenue. Earnings from maintenance and replacement work are providing five times more recurring revenue than originally expected.
Full coverage inside a single quarter
1,745
Stores brought online
20
Weeks from first install to full coverage
16%
Average reduction in annual consumption
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