Ep 010 The Hybrid Home - What Does It Look Like?

Welcome to Be a Smarter Homeowner Podcast, where you'll discover strategies to save money, save time, and be better organized in managing your largest financial asset and biggest expense, your home. Your hosts, John Bodrozic and Beth Dodson, who are co-founders of HomeZada, have been supporting homeowners for over 20 years. They are here to share with you their tips and suggestions, as well as interviews with industry experts, with the goal of helping you become a smarter homeowner. Now, here's your hosts, Jon and Beth.

Welcome to another episode of Be a Smarter Homeowner podcast. We're quite excited about today's show because we're going to talk about a concept called the hybrid home. Let's face it, we in America and all around the world have been facing a COVID-19 pandemic, and that has dramatically changed where we work, how we work. We work at home, all of the energy associated with that. And we've got a fantastic guest that's gonna walk us through what that all means to us as consumers and homeowners. So Beth, why don't you introduce us, our guest?

Oh, I'm so excited for our guest today. So Dennis Stinson, I'm gonna read his bio. He is the Vice President of Sales for Fujitsu General America, a national manufacturer with distribution in local communities across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, and brings over 30 years of experience in this particular industry. Dennis leads a team of sales professionals selling over $300 million of Fujitsu products. At Fujitsu, and I apologize when I always mispronounce that, Dennis has held the responsibilities of Regional Sales Manager in the Mid-Atlantic and the Director of National Accounts. Prior to joining Fujitsu, Dennis spent his career as a manufacturer's rep, Representing various manufacturers in the HVAC industry throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Dennis earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, where I have many friends who went there. So thank you, Dennis, for joining us. We're excited to have you on our podcast.

Well, thank you so much for inviting me and thank you for having me. You make my career sound very exciting, so thank you for doing that.

It's amazing. It's amazing. You've been doing this a long time. And because we're talking about this situation, COVID, and it's changed the way we work at home a bit, can you tell us a little bit about what you define as the hybrid home?

Yeah. So today we look at the hybrid home as really a home that's changing the use that might maybe how you originally planned on it happening. So Prior to COVID, we didn't necessarily have students working from home. We didn't necessarily have us working from home. We would have commuted to an office and worked there. So now our homes are changing their use, and maybe our home comfort system isn't really set up to handle that. So if we're moving into rooms that didn't have sufficient heating and air conditioning, now we need to take a look at that and repurpose how we're doing some of the living spaces in our home.

Dennis, quick follow-up on that. Have you seen any statistics around what people are predicting the overall impact of people who used to work in an office that may now be either committed to fully working at home or sort of the hybrid model? Can you kind of quantify maybe some of the magnitude that you've seen with industry research out there?

Well, the numbers are moving, right? And I don't know that we've really settled into what the new normal is. We can look at the empty office buildings and realize right away the volume of people that are no longer returning to the office space. And as we continue to expand, and every business in America is expanding, or most businesses are, you're now finding that that new pool of labor wants to have some level of hybrid work, that wants to be able to have some level of work at home. So, I think we're going to look at a new normal. I'm not sure that the balance is going to be 100% in the office. And I'm also not sure the balance is going to be 100% at home. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be something in the middle where We're gonna spend a fair amount of time at home and repurposing our homes and our home comfort systems, and then also a level back in the office. So I don't know that we've really settled in on what it's all gonna look like moving forward.

So with that happening, you know, obviously this does impact energy bills for homeowners because they are home more often. And let's face it, technology does use a lot of energy. What has your team understood about these energy bills and how is that impacting the homeowner?

Well, so what we know is that a significant portion of our home energy costs are dedicated to the home comfort system. And whether that's either heating or air conditioning, a significant part of our bill is dedicated to our home comfort systems. So that really comes down to now that we're spending more time in our home, where we might have set back the thermostat when we went off to work. Nowadays, we're not. We need that room comfortable throughout the course of the day. Not only are we coming back at the end of the day and having some dinner and enjoying time with our family and then maybe watching some TV and going to sleep, now we're spending the entire day in our property. So we really want that to be comfortable the entire time that we're here. So We now have a 24-hour-a-day load on our home.

Yeah, that's a lot.

Yeah, a follow-up that I'd like to ask you, Dennis, is most people may have bought a home and they've never actually— they may not even know who the current manufacturer is of their HVAC units or how old they are. Can you talk a little bit about sort of some guidance that you might give homeowners as it relates to trying to assess maybe their current HVAC systems and how they might consider looking in the market for maybe more energy-efficient models as it looks to, you know, trying to decrease that energy bill?

Yeah, that's a great follow-up, right? So how do I know what I have? So the easiest thing for a consumer to do is to take a look, not necessarily at the thermostat, but at the equipment that's outside and see if there's a name on it, get a good feel for what it is. But the best thing you can do as a consumer, if that's not your area of expertise, is to call in an expert. To locate a quality contractor and have them come in and give a good assessment. What we know as homeowners is if we're comfortable and if it's affordable. So if I move from room to room in my house and I'm comfortable, then I know that my system's working. It is that simple. And then also when the bill comes on a monthly basis, does it seem to be reasonable? Is it on par with what I expect it to be for the size of my home and those that are equivalent around me? Does all that seem to make sense? But really, as a homeowner, you should have a relationship with a variety of different contractors. An HVAC contractor is imperative. Try to find one before your system breaks. So get on a regular annual maintenance program to have your system maintained and cleaned and get some good advice before it goes south on you and you need to find somebody to come fix it. But on that same note, you should have an electrical contractor that you know. You should have an exterior contractor that you know. There should be a couple of contractors that you should be comfortable with reaching out to and not trying to find while you have a leaky roof or a down air conditioner or are in an emergency. So, it sounds kind of boring, but as we gather for the holidays and as we gather over the summertime, you know, ask your friends between hot dogs, who do you use for this? Or who do you use for that? That's the time when you really want to find somebody. From a recommend— recommendation from a friend is when you want to find somebody.

You are speaking my language, Dennis. In fact, my HVAC guys were out here yesterday in my home checking on everything because I do those annual and biannual. I actually have them come in twice a year to check on my HVAC systems because I have more than one, and, um, that can be costly if something should happen. So one of the other things I want to talk about too is how can homeowners actually leverage smart home heating and cooling And what are some of the available systems and technologies that are out there?

So there's a variety of different kind of heating and air conditioning systems, and at Fujitsu General America, we specialize in a couple. Our flagship product offering is our Halcyon product line, which is a ductless product offering. And what that really means is we still have an outdoor unit, we have a condenser, that's where the compressor is, and then we have indoor units and we stick those units in the point of use. Almost in every room would you have some type of indoor unit. We make a couple of different kinds. Everybody's used to seeing the wall mount product. The graphic that you're seeing now is your ceiling cassette, but we also have ones that look mini air handlers and we've got some floor mount product. But effectively what you're doing is putting in a unit in each location throughout your home. And what that does for you, we don't get any duct loss, so you don't lose any efficiency from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit, but that also gives you zoning.

Mm-hmm.

And what that really means is, is that if I like to sleep at 68 degrees and my kids like to sleep at 72, nobody's got a blanket, nobody's got the window open, you're sleeping where you want to be. And then now that I've got some kids off at school and I've got some empty bedrooms, I don't have to air condition or heat the house to one constant temperature. I can temper the room that my wife and I spend time in and not worry about keeping the other bedrooms warm or cool. So that in and of itself is gonna save a considerable amount of energy. amount of energy, not doing the entire house, but doing just where we're living at a fraction of what it was. So tremendous energy savings just in that fact by itself.

Follow-up on that, Dennis, is sort of back to what you talked about, the size of your home, right? People who live in, you know, 2,000-square-foot homes, 5,000-square-foot homes, and everything in between. And as I was reviewing the Fujitsu product line, Maybe it's a question of, is it— do homeowners have to consider either A, replacing their whole existing central unit, or can they look at the Fujitsu product line as in addition to by adding your split units but still maintain perhaps their existing units because they want more flexibility in those different rooms of the house?

Yeah, great lead-in. Thank you. So you really look at the product line. When we came into the market some time ago, about 20 years ago, we were really considered spot Heating and cooling. So we were supplemental. So if you were in a house and a room was uncomfortable, or you finished your basement, or you put on a sunroom, then you would have this as a spot heating and cooling. Then we kind of grew into supplemental so that if you had a piece of equipment that maybe the room over the garage didn't quite get warm enough or cool enough, then you would supplement what was already there. Everything we make is a heat pump. And the technology of heat pumps has come a long way. If we look at heat pumps from back in the '80s, I was that guy that bought that house with a heat pump thinking that I was gonna be very environmentally friendly. And I found out that once it got to be 38 degrees outside, they didn't work so well. And I learned the concept of backup resistant electric and the cost of doing that. The technology now is, is that we are a whole home year-round comfort solutions. So I can look at my product and it'll do over nameplate performance at -15 degrees. So if your listeners have the concept that heat pumps are expensive once it gets cold outside, ductless technology and inverter technology is an entirely new realm in terms of technology and can be a year-round whole home solution, which hasn't always been the case in heat pump market.

Hmm, interesting. One question that we get asked a lot at Be a Smarter Homeowner podcast is we're all about preventative maintenance, right? Which is trying to get homeowners to do all the things that you mentioned as it relates to the roof and the siding and the gutters and everything else. But we always get asked the questions around the smart home IoT. Can I control these devices with my phone? Am I gonna get alerts and those kinds of things? Can you talk about how your product lines maybe address some of that sort of— consumer experience aspect of the technologies that you guys provide?

Yeah. So we do— we can be traditional or we can be pretty forward-thinking in terms of the technology. So if you want a wall-mounted thermostat, we have that. If you want a wireless remote control that would remind you to the degree of a cable box changer, we have that. If you want to tie into Wi-Fi and control your home Comfort system from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a router at your house, we can do that as well. And we can also tie into the Google and Alexa properties. So if you want to sit on your couch and bark at your air conditioner to get it up and down, we can do that as well. We also tie into a really neat app called IFTTT, and it stands for If This Then That. And that's one of those open protocols that allow you to tie a variety of different things in together.

Yeah.

So if it senses movement in the driveway, it can turn on the air conditioner. If the doorbell rings, it can do other things. So it's, uh, the IFTTT app is, uh, is pretty neat in and of itself. So in terms of technology, uh, we can tie into all that.

That's fascinating. And that's efficient and also, um, exciting for our customers. They, they love hearing this kind of stuff. So, um, one of the things that we always like to leave with our customers too is what are some easy tips and tricks that people can do around their house for simple fixes that can help them with energy efficiency? Because I know everyone's asking about that right now.

Yeah, so energy efficiency, it really comes down to you want to maintain your equipment. So you wanna give it the best chance to operate. So there are a lot of things that as a consumer you can do, and whether that's change filters or clean filters, you want to be able to do that. If that, the next step you can do is not all the time does the entire property need So if at nighttime, if you're using one of the night setbacks features, you can, in the wintertime, you can have the house get a little cooler while you're comfortably in bed under a comforter. And then in the summertime, you could allow the temperature to creep up a couple of degrees. So using your programmable features and maintaining your equipment as a consumer is a great step to be able to save some energy, some considerable energy, to be frank with you.

And that ultimately impacts your bills and your spend, which, you know, can be significant, at least where I live, it can be significant as it relates to energy costs. And you want to make sure you're constantly maintaining that.

Dennis, as a follow-up, can you talk about— I know that a lot of the energy utility companies across the country, they're incented to provide various rebates to customers to put in solar or energy-efficient units. And How does Fujitsu work with my local energy company, whoever it happens to be across the country? And you kind of, can you talk about sort of that rebate aspects over everybody looking at trying to lower energy costs?

Yeah, so we are all heat pump and we know that throughout the United States there is what's called strategic electrification, which is a movement towards less carbon-based And there are some incentives to be able to do that. It's part of our national energy policy, really has been there since the '80s, to be able to incentivize higher efficiency pieces of equipment and a move towards electricity. So by going to our website, going into our rebate section, it'll locate where you are. So it's a geolocator. You can put in a zip code and it'll tell you exactly what rebates are available. I really like this website simply because as you click on the dollar amount, it'll take you directly to your local utility. It'll list the guidelines and also all the forms you need to actually submit for your rebate. So on that particular device there, which is a typical unitary device, in that zip code where that's located, there's $725 in rebates. So really what it does, it allows you to step up to a higher efficient piece of equipment for about the same price as what the bare minimum would be. So by using the rebates that are there, it's our federal tax dollars that are coming back to us. We might as well use it, but allows us to step into a greater level of efficient piece of equipment and save ourselves some comfort and some energy along the way.

Fantastic. Maybe a bit of a recap 'cause we always like to give our audience kind of like action steps, right? So if you were listening to this podcast as a homeowner, How would you recommend a homeowner sort of go through the whole process of like assessing their situation and then maybe researching your product line or finding a contractor? Can you guide us through what the whole process might look like if a consumer went and did all this, you know, working with your organization?

Yeah, absolutely. So I would start with spending some time with my family and my spouse and just getting a good assessment on are we comfortable? Are we comfortable in our home? Have we changed the use of our home? And do we, is there a need for us to take a hard look at this? And once we have the opportunity to do that, then I would find, I would ask my friends a good contractor that they've used, a trusted contractor, and I would bring them into my home and have a conversation about my home comfort system and look at some of the options out there. Today's consumer's considerably more educated than what used to be in the past, maybe even 25 years ago with the advent of the internet. And I would encourage 'em to visit my website Take a look at the exciting products that are there. Take a look at the eco rebates that are there and take a look at some of the options that are available out in the marketplace to be able to address the needs of my home. But it really starts with getting a good quality contractor, get a good feel for yourself of what your expectations are and the usage of your home. Get a good idea of what your family budget is to invest in an upgraded HVAC system. And then also what you want your operational costs to be. That's where I would start. That's how I would do it.

And one of the questions that I have for you, which is fantastic, one of the questions I have for you, Dennis, is if people want to buy these units direct, can they buy them direct through Fujitsu or do they need to go through a contractor to do that?

We market all of our products through professional trades. So HVAC equipment really, really is not a DIY product. And technically speaking, because it has a refrigerant in it, you do need So you wouldn't be able to do this by yourself. You know, there are a few things in this world that we can tackle by ourselves as homeowners, right? And there are some things that we should leave to the professional trades. HVAC is one of those. Understanding electricity, understanding airflow, understanding the mechanical side of the business, you know, that's a learned skill. It's equivalent to somebody trying to do drywall that doesn't know how to do it. You don't know how bad it is until you get it all done. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a great point. And HVAC is one of those bad things.

Thank you for that. Our, our audience is always asking, what should we do ourselves and what shouldn't we? And we are big proponents of, yes, HVAC, electrical, anything to do with water, please have someone else do it because they're just more experienced.

And there's the safety issue, right? If you can't, uh, perform the task safely, you should definitely hire a professional. Um, Dennis, quick question for you. Our customer base is all across the country, so I'm assuming if they were trying to find a contractor for your products, representation, whether you're in Florida or North Dakota or Arizona, I'm assuming all available on your website? Yes.

So again, fujitsu-general.com, and we've got a section on there to locate a contractor. We've got a live chat feature, and we've also got an engagement feature that comes out and connects you to Our elite contractors, our elite contractors are those that have got a lot of installations under their belt and have done a level of training with us to be able to earn that badge. So our elite contractors are our best business partners, and from them there's some benefits as well. So I would ask if somebody is looking for a contractor, we're covered across the U.S., through Canada and the Caribbean, and you'll be able to find all that on our website.

That's fantastic.

Great. Yeah, maybe one last follow-up question again, based on— again, our audience asked us this question. Would they expect to get a contractor to come out and provide them a quote over like, what's all this going to cost in that sort of assessment phase? And we know that a lot of contractors may sort of charge like a come-in and assessment fee, or they may incorporate that as a free part of their costs. But trying to get out there, any sense over how contractors deal with coming out and assessing your home kind of mentality?

Well, certainly we leave that business model to our partners and we don't prescribe to our contractor partners on how to conduct their business. But I think that when you have a conversation, it starts with having a conversation over the phone, and that's an extended conversation that this is where I am, this is what I'm thinking, and this is what I would like you to come out and give me an assessment on. I think there are probably As long as there is a viable option there for the contractor, I would think that most of them would offer a free estimate. But again, I wouldn't— I'm not here to make that commitment on behalf of the contractor. That's their business model to run. But all of us are always looking for the opportunity for business. And that starts with a good, solid conversation and an understanding from the consumer to the contractor when you're on the phone. So you know what to expect when they get out and they know what to expect when they come out.

Great. So it very— so you bring up a very good point. As a homeowner, do your research prior to having that conversation. Go check out all of your equipment that you currently have today. Take photographs of it. Contractors are open to seeing those photographs and helping understand and make that assessment better. So thank you so much for that. Any more questions, John, for Dennis?

Maybe an open-ended question, Dennis. Is there anything that we didn't ask you that you want to get out? Because we're so We're so excited about you having on our show. Sometimes we miss a key question or not. Anything you wanna address at the end?

No, I just thank you for the opportunity to talk to you and to your listeners and talk about the exciting side of the business in ductless heat pumps. And with that, you know, we look at just tremendous efficiency and great zoning comfort. And it is a different technology than what we typically are used to seeing in the United States, but it's continuing to grow, continuing to emerge as a leader in the marketplace. Thank you for help spread that word to your loyal listeners and giving them some options and some insight and some knowledge on a different part of the marketplace that, that maybe they weren't aware of. So thank you.

Thank you for being our guest. We really appreciate it. So with that, we're going to end this episode of Be a Smarter Homeowner podcast. We thank you for joining us. Please share this with any of your colleagues, friends, family that you think may need this kind of information. And by all means, please rate us on all the major podcast platforms. But with that, thank you so much. And we want to be here to help you be a smarter homeowner.

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