Heating Help

Good morning! And thanks for giving us the opportunity to make a proposal on your new heating system. We realize that at times like these people incur trade often speak a language other than plain English, so we’d like to take a few moments to explain how we arrived at the price for your project.

It began with ahead-loss calculation. You may recall we spent a good deal of time going through your home, measuring the dimensions of your rooms, windows and doors. We looked for fireplaces, exhaust fans, recessed lighting fixtures, and other things that can cause heat to escape from your home. We inspected the quality and quantity of insulation in your attic. We also asked whether you have had any additional insulation installed in your walls. These things can make a big difference in how much fuel you’ll use, and what size your heating system will be.

We took the time to survey your home and perform an accurate heat-loss calculation because this always results in the greatest economy for you. We would never guess at how much heat your house might lose on the coldest day of the year. Nor would we ever base the sizing of your new heating equipment on what’s already in your home. That’s simply not good engineering. We can’t take for granted that the long-gone contractor who first sized your heating equipment was correct. It always pays to check, especially nowadays with fuel costs so high.

And when we performed the heat-loss calculation on your home, we certainly didn’t use "rules of thumb." Rules of thumb often make the sizing process easy for a heating contractor, but these overly conservative rules also are guaranteed to increase your fuel bill every winter from now on.

Most of the rules of thumb we’ve run across in our travels come from the days of single-pane-glass windows, little or no insulation in the walls or ceiling, open-window ventilation, and cheap fuel. We refuse to provide you with an oversized heating system, and that’s why we always take the scientific approach.

And nowadays, the science is pretty advanced! We’ve invested in both computer hardware and software that help us do our job of sizing your system quickly and accurately. The system we’re proposing will fit your home like tailor-made clothing rather than something off the rack. There is no reason to increase your long-term fuel bills by Oversizing, and that’s why we began your project by sizing it accurately.

Next, we’ve made sure the radiation we’ll be placing in your home is sized to your home’s needs, and is also pleasing to look at. There are many ways to heat a home nowadays, and we considered all our options before putting your price together. We may even propose a hydronic radiant heating system for your home, and if this is the case, you’ll feel the comfort, but you’ll never see the radiators!

We’ve also engineered your new system into "zones" so that you can heat your home according to the way you live. You’ll be able to keep different parts of your home at whatever temperature you choose. We may even have proposed a "Smart System" that keeps track of outdoor weather conditions and adjusts your indoor comfort from moment to moment. Having a "Smart System" is like putting a cruise control on comfort!

What you find in our proposal is the best possible combination of efficiency, economy, durability, and style. And as we install it, we promise to be as meticulous in our workmanship as we’ve been in preparing this proposal. The people we will send you will be professional heating technicians. They’ll have years of experience installing accurately sized systems just like yours. They’ll take great care and pride in the work they do in your home.

Inputting this price together, we considered the training that went into the preparation of these valuable people, and the salaries and benefits we pay them. We knew you wouldn’t accept anything less than the best technicians. Our people have graduated from technical schools sponsored by the manufacturers of the products we’re proposing for your heating system. They know these products inside and out, and they understand how to meld them into a system designed to provide you with long-term economy and unsurpassed comfort.

Our people also regularly attend industry trade shows. These shows allow them to monitor, first hand, the rapid advances in heating technology. If a new product has been proven in the laboratory, and in the field, and if it enhances our "systems approach" to heating, we will consider it, test it, and then offer it to you. Our proposal contains several such cutting-edge heating products.

In designing your system, we’ve also given a great deal of thought to the service it will need in the future. We want to make sure your future service contractor will have easy access to all of your new system’s components. We also checked with our supplier to make sure they would have parts on hand for these components as time goes by. We never include in our proposals any cheap, fly-by-night products that may be here today and gone tomorrow. That wouldn’t be in your best interest.

In selecting the components for your heating system, we’ve consulted our friends within the local and national trade associations to which we belong. We regularly attend meetings with these people, and we gain by their experiences, as they gain by ours. By networking with others in our industry, we’re much better able to offer you the most trouble-free equipment available.

We’ll be buying this equipment from a reputable suppler. We've had years of business experience with these people. We know they stand behind the products they provide - as will we.

When we were through designing and engineering your system, we totaled the costs of labor and material, and then we included a fair percentage for profit. As we have in the past, we’ll invest a good portion of this profit back into our business. By doing this, we’ll ensure that our company remains healthy, and that we’ll be there for you in the future.

All in all, this price represents the best combination of first-cost and long-term operating cost. And while you’re profiting by the savings your well-engineered heating system will provide you’ll also be enjoying an unsurpassed level of comfort.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to explain how we arrived at this price, and, within the coming days, for letting us show you how very good we are.