Position Smarter Systems & Save Customers More
What are homeowners really buying when they replace their HVAC system, a box or a better outcome? In a market full of look-a-like equipment and competing claims, contractors who can connect performance, comfort and long-term value are the ones who stand apart.
In this episode of Cracking the Code, Anton Martin, Owner of English Air, joins David Holt to talk about what it takes to deliver more than just equipment. From inverter technology and zoning to maintenance agreements and customer communication, Anton shares how contractors can create better comfort, lower utility costs and stronger customer relationships by focusing on the full solution instead of just the installation.
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00:00:00:02 – 00:00:19:00
Wow and wow. And this is what I’m talking about. And you know what the funny thing is? The utility companies and the rating system has not pulled up. You’ve basically cut your utility usage in half. You.
00:00:19:02 – 00:00:45:09
Welcome back to Cracking the Code. I’m David Holt, your host, and I am absolutely honored to be able to sit down with Mr. Anton Martin of English Air’s one of our contractor university members. He actually is a contracting business owner in Florida, and as a special, added a component to his resume. He’s also a board member for EGI.
00:00:45:11 – 00:01:12:07
So he helped guide us in some things that we do. And he’s also very involved with other manufacturers and industry organizations. So we’re going to talk a little bit about that on this interview. So welcome to Cracking the code Anton. Thank you David. It’s just a pleasure to be here a pleasure to be here. Absolutely. So I always like to start off these kinds of interviews, if you will, with, give us your kind of your beginning story, how the heck did you get into the Hvac industry?
00:01:12:09 – 00:01:41:15
So I was born in England and grew up in England, and, I was a pot fitter, and, I actually, I was a pipefitters helper, and, anyone needed help, I was there, you know, that’s that’s, you know, I was young, and one day an AC guy needed help. And when he walked into the room, everybody in the office, they almost tried cheering.
00:01:41:15 – 00:02:00:05
They were over the moon, happy that this AC guy walked in the room because of this. And they’d been without AC for quite a while. Maybe one day, maybe a couple of days. So before this man and even done anything, he he was going around the floors as by walking in the room. So I was like, who wouldn’t be that guy?
00:02:00:07 – 00:02:15:13
Not only that, he was also the type of AC guy who had his tools in a suitcase. And, he was impressive. So out of all the people I worked with, I worked with welders, pipefitters, you know, it, I was most impressed with him, and I was like, I want to be an AC man. I want to be that dude.
00:02:15:14 – 00:02:36:21
That’s pretty amazing. And that’s actually the first time I’ve ever heard anybody say they wanted to be a hero. That’s why they joined the HPC industry. That’s pretty cool. Yeah, well, as I said, if you’re in an office building and the AC goes out for a day or so when and you’re waiting for that guy patiently, you’re happy when they get there, right?
00:02:36:23 – 00:02:57:17
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you think about it, I mean, a couple years ago in 2020 now, it’s already been six years ago, which is crazy to think. The federal government here in the United States classified the Hvac industry as essential. I guess those, office workers that you saw also felt the same way. Yes, yes. All right.
00:02:57:17 – 00:03:14:00
Especially here in Florida. You know, we couldn’t touch the 100 degrees and, you and the AC to be working. You wanted to be working this out? Yeah. And not just not just 2 or 3 months out of the year, but 12 months out of the year in Florida. Right? Every month out of the year. We use some AC.
00:03:14:00 – 00:03:37:09
We use some of best. Yeah. You know, that’s actually really to your advantage in the Hvac business in Florida because it does get a lot of runtime than it does now. I’m not encouraging contractors to come down here. Florida is full. We don’t want that. You can come down to visit, come back that visit. But we don’t need no more AC contractors that even in Florida you will good that it’s not that good of a market after all.
00:03:37:09 – 00:03:54:20
Okay. That’s it. Yeah. We’re just trying to be real here. Right. And, Tom, we just found the parking lot is for Disney is full everywhere. It’s full. Come to visit, spend your money and then go home. That’s right. Go home. That’s awesome. But that’s exactly the kind of thing that we wanted to hear. So thank you for them.
00:03:54:20 – 00:03:58:05
Your chamber of Commerce, you.
00:03:58:06 – 00:04:20:09
Oh that’s absolutely awesome. But here’s here’s the here’s a funny thing. I mean, when you when you think about a market like Florida and you think about how much run time you get, and of course, you know, especially as you get closer to the coast, you get the good old sand and salt. So just eats these things up, man.
00:04:20:11 – 00:05:10:09
Thinking about all that kind of stuff. I mean, it’s super important for you to be able to offer heating and cooling solutions that are super efficient, super quiet, super effective. How have you been attacking that as a contractor? Well, we’ve really embraced the inverter technology. And when you start to research the inverter technology, and in the best endeavor to serve our customers, to give them, you know, the best bang for their buck, to make sure that when they spend their money, that they’re happy, not just the first, some of the second, some of the first week of second week being throughout the whole summer, and for years to come,
00:05:10:11 – 00:05:35:13
inverter technology is just way, way, the best choice as far as I’m concerned. It’s like the smartphone in, in, in the AC world, you know, if you don’t have a smartphone that you really don’t have a phone if you don’t have an inverter, as far as I’m concerned, you got robbed. Because what these things can do compared to a conventional AC system is night and day.
00:05:35:13 – 00:05:59:08
It’s night and day. Amazing. And, I’ve been in this industry, well, really realistically my whole life. And I’ll be 68 years old this year. But, you know, I’ve gone from seeing, you know, typical single stage equipment to, oh, my gosh, we got to speed now, right? And then we got variable speed and then we got this crazy thing called an inverter where it’s like, oh kind of speeds, right?
00:05:59:08 – 00:06:17:20
I mean, I don’t even know how many speeds there are on some of these things these days because it’s the speed heat pumps, you know, the variable speed. And it’s just it’s it is an amazing technology. And I leave the house here in Georgia. So I’m just a northern border state for Florida. And it’s just a beautiful place to be in Texas.
00:06:17:21 – 00:06:40:07
Right. Everybody everybody moved to Georgia. Now we’re close to, We don’t want any war. We’re good, we’re good, we’re good. Have you tried to drive in Atlanta? I mean, oh my God. Yeah. Yes. Anyway. But in my house, my house is, 22 years old. And of course, the original equipment when we bought it, still had the original equipment in it.
00:06:40:09 – 00:07:05:16
We did buy it only about 10 or 11 years ago, but because it would frame, it is a wood frame equipment, wood frame house with. Okay. Brick outside, brick, brick exterior. It’s a veneer. Yep. A brick veneer. It is, about 3000ft². Just under 3000ft². It’s, very well shaded. It has a dark roof. So I’m giving you all the load calc stuff for you right now.
00:07:05:16 – 00:07:39:19
Well, okay. And when we when we bought it, it had two standard efficiency single stage heat pumps, one on each side of the house there. So we were zoned with equipment. Right. We had two thermostats. We had two pieces of equipment split, heat pumps. And, you know, they worked fine for a minute. And then my wife, who of course, is married to a heating and air guy, is very used to having multiple thermostats throughout her house.
00:07:39:19 – 00:08:02:09
So she was okay with having to. But she says, why do we only have two? Yeah. Right. And so last year, finally it took till last year to do this. Last year we installed an inverter with various variable speed air handler. And we put in we completely ripped everything out duct and everything started all over, redesigned it to be a three zone system.
00:08:02:11 – 00:08:31:17
So we got a nice controller tied to our nice inverter Hvac equipment. And last, well, 2024, our highest temperature was lower, outside temperature was lower in Georgia. Then in 2025 we did the install in April of 2025. But the temperature in 2024 was lower. But our power bill for our peak month was over $600 for 3000 square foot house.
00:08:31:17 – 00:08:55:10
That’s crazy. And that’s with the old system. With the old system, right. With the old system. Then come around to April of the next year. We put in the new system the peak month one year later, less than $300. Wow wow wow wow wow and wow. This is what I’m talking about. Yeah. And and you know what? The funny thing is?
00:08:55:12 – 00:09:31:23
The utility companies and the rating system has not called out. They’ve got no clue. You’ve basically cut your utility usage in half, virtually in half. But the C rating doesn’t catch that. The utility companies don’t know what’s going on. So it’s kind of I, I don’t know why they’re so far behind, but, I heard that they put about 10,000 of these units all over the country to check on their energy usage during peak season.
00:09:32:01 – 00:09:57:08
Zero zero of them were running at 100% capacity in the peak of summer. Yeah, none of them were running at 50% capacity in the peak of summer, 95 degrees. Imagine that 95 degrees. Unless you got a five ton unit, but it’s only pulling the energy and running. Running two and a half tons, right? What is 95 degrees outside right now?
00:09:57:10 – 00:10:19:01
Makes huge difference in space. Yeah, and I’ll finish the rest of the story on my house. I pulled out five tons. I put back in three with a three zone system, and it’s more comfortable than it’s ever been. Clearly the power bills are fantastic. We actually have fresh air ventilation coming into the system. We have a nice huge air cleaner in there.
00:10:19:01 – 00:10:43:15
Nice, nice Hepa type air cleaner. The static pressure. I’m an old NCI guy, so I got to check static pressure and air flow and all that. So all that stuff is dialed in perfectly and so forth. 123. How? Yeah, it’s called diversity with the zoning system, I think about when the sun is going over the house. This side of the house is warmer.
00:10:43:17 – 00:11:01:18
This one’s got more shade. So we put the air over here because I got a thermostat over here. Then it gets up here and it starts to get a little anyway. So as you as you, you smarter than the average bear. You know, I actually I actually stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so.
00:11:01:19 – 00:11:29:06
Yeah. So anyway, I hate to say that the technology. Yeah, that’s that’s brought to you by Holiday Inn. So the technology is out there, right. And the, the knowledge and the application is out there. But unfortunately, you think about all those houses in Florida and all those big, big, huge subdivisions that have been built. Who’s the owner that makes the decision of what to put into those houses?
00:11:29:06 – 00:11:59:10
Is it the homeowner or is it the builder? Well, the crazy thing, crazy thing is, is that you’re saving what about 300 bucks? Yeah. During peak season. Yeah, the 300 bucks. Let’s just say you’re averaging $200 savings a month. Let’s say you’re averaging that. You times that by 12. Yeah 24 times $2,400 less is energy savings. Yes sir.
00:11:59:13 – 00:12:17:19
For yeah. Yeah. And while the unit is still in your IRA. Yeah. And let’s say while the unit is still in warranty. So take that 20, 400 times 12 years and let’s see what that does. Right. And then people say, well, could you quote me a two speed. It’s not going to do it. It won’t be a single speed.
00:12:17:21 – 00:12:45:15
It’s not going to do it. Yeah. You can’t I can, but I won’t. Right. How would you do that to your customer. Right. Because you’re basically robbing them over the lifespan of that unit of $28,800, 28,000 bucks, I only paid 34,000 for mine. Now, this was a complete renovation. It was a huge. Yeah, think about that. For the life of the unit, you’re saving the customer $28,000.
00:12:45:15 – 00:13:03:13
That’s with no rate increases, by the way. So maybe we need to start going up to customers and saying, hey, how about I give you $28,000 over the next 12 years? Yeah. How about that? How about that? I think you just added that to your sales. Continue. I think I just did I think I did because, Laura, you’re an inspiration there.
00:13:03:16 – 00:13:23:08
Yeah. I mean I appreciate your numbers and I’m, I’m impressed. I didn’t know you did the, the divas, the the diversification there with the East and the West. Yeah. We normally only see that in the commercial applications. Yep. And the heat recovery stuff. Right. But that’s the way to go. I am absolutely works. And I’ve been doing zoning.
00:13:23:08 – 00:13:54:03
I did zoning back in the 90s. So in back before the technology was anywhere near where it is today. But, you know, it’s it’s it’s amazing what you can do with the technology, you know, and so it’s, it’s up to us as contractors to embrace the technology, learn how to actually use it. I mean, the the reason we got really good at zoning is the first job that we did residentially for zoning was at my own house and went once we did that at my own house, my wife became a big fan.
00:13:54:05 – 00:14:18:06
And one of the things that’s interesting that I learned as a contractor is if you were to ask customers to rank for words in terms of what’s important to them, if you said efficiency, if you said comfort, if you said safety, if you said health, if you put those four words in front of the customer and asked them to rank them in order, what’s their top priority?
00:14:18:06 – 00:14:41:01
Interestingly enough, most women that I was sitting down with because I’d usually I had these on for cards and I’d put them in front of the customer, put them in front of, slide them in front of the wife. Usually if I’ve got two people there and I’d say, would you please read these cards real quick by the definition in which each one of those words said, read these cards and rank them in terms of their importance to you and your family.
00:14:41:03 – 00:15:12:12
And she looked at them and she would say, safety, health, comfort, efficiency. Isn’t that interesting? So we’re sitting here talking about efficiency because we think that’s cool. And we can measure that efficiency and we can see that result. That’s awesome. But reality is homeowners would rather be safe, healthy and comfortable. And I tell people all the time, efficiency comes along for the ride, because if I put in the safe, the safest, healthiest, most comfortable system, it’s going to be efficient by default.
00:15:12:12 – 00:15:29:17
No extra charge will do. You know what’s also amazing about that? The new modern inverter systems and that sound system compared to the old systems? Well, the old Zug systems, we all know we had a black on standby.
00:15:29:18 – 00:15:53:13
Well, on the smart zone systems you don’t need a bypass damper because you just white the unit. So the fan speed is going to be according to each one. So you can say, hey, give me 40% for downstairs and give me 60% airflow for upstairs. And that fan is going to ramp up and down. She there’s no recirculating of air like you did with the old.
00:15:53:18 – 00:16:21:14
The old zone system makes it even more efficient. It’s kind of it’s mind blowing the technology out there. And it’s really important for homeowners and contractors, to educate themselves so they can give the customer the best option and put $28,000 back in their pocket. It’s it’s a it’s an amazing thing. So thinking about all this craziness, I mean, like, well, you know, we got this technology going on in our industry.
00:16:21:14 – 00:16:44:23
That’s fantastic. We got technology that’s trying to help us run our business like AI, right? We got all these different things going on in the industry, but in the long run, it’s still a people to people business, isn’t it? Yes it is, it is. And you know, it’s it’s so important that a that we listen to our customers and we learn to connect and we learn to communicate.
00:16:45:00 – 00:17:13:06
It’s it’s really all about communication, understanding your customer’s wants, desires and needs and, and kind of reaching into the bag and giving them what we call the best fit. Yeah, yeah. We had a we had a little in the way that we did it with my dad’s business. We talked about, you know, we’ve got a good, we got a better and we got a best no matter which one we do whichever, whichever system fits your budget which we understand.
00:17:13:06 – 00:17:31:20
Ultimately they have the final say in how much money they’re going to spend. Yeah. Oh, and by the way, our $7,600 jobs, about 80% of them were financed even back then. And now you can finance, you know, on a phone it’s like, no big deal. But back then we had press hard three copies and take paper to the bank.
00:17:31:22 – 00:17:59:10
Right. It was on carbon copies. I don’t even know the kids know what those things are. Oh well, yeah. Well, yeah, this one didn’t even have carbon. But, this these were, these were NCR forms. So they were they were cool. Anyway, when you, when you think about what customer decision making has, how it’s changed too, because now they’re pelted with so much different information from so many different places.
00:17:59:10 – 00:18:25:00
And when, when they don’t know who to believe, right. And when they see things like 118 unlicensed contractors get arrested in Hillsborough County. You know, when they see those kind of ads or those kind of news or news stories on the TV is we walk in as contractors and I always remind people, think about the first three letters of the word contractor gone.
00:18:25:01 – 00:19:03:05
Right. We go in and we’re already at a disadvantage unless unless we have a relationship with that customer. And you and I both know the best relationship with the customer involves a little thing called a maintenance agreement. I mean, how important is that to the to the relationship, but also to the increased value of your business? Well, I mean, the the reality of it is, I mean, it’s apparently the undefeated way, the undefeated way to be a successful contractor is the maintenance agreement.
00:19:03:07 – 00:19:22:23
If if you want to survive your high seasons and your low seasons, you got to do maintenance. You know, you do maintenance when you can’t. You know, back in the day, we would we would laugh at people’s like, oh, man, my engine blew up. Well, why, did you get your regular oil changes a regular what?
00:19:23:00 – 00:19:51:13
Well, she wasn’t well, it was running fine until it blew back. That was like. Yeah, well, oil breaks down, and anything that you maintain will last longer. But also a maintenance agreement allows you to build a relationship with the customer, to let the customer know. We have one customer who said, and, everybody in my subdivision has changed their AC unit except for me.
00:19:51:15 – 00:20:13:10
And I says, you know why, right? It’s like, why? Because we’ve been maintaining live in the last 15 years. And I say, and we put it in and when it’s put in and it’s put in right, it lasts well. And now you can replace it on your terms. You’re not going to wait till the middle of summer. You’re going to say we to let you know, hey, the average lifespan is 10 to 15.
00:20:13:12 – 00:20:35:09
You know, 14 right now is coming along. But it’s a little bit of a knock here. And and we can take care of that for you. Convenient time. Because things don’t like breaking a convenient time. Anton, I appreciate you again. And, guys, if you guys want to learn more about how Anton does stuff, check out English Air.
00:20:35:11 – 00:20:58:17
Is that it? English. Air. English? Arabic.com. Oh, yeah, I think that’s right. English air inc.com. If you’re in the area. Check in. Anton loves to show off. So, it’s all good, man. We appreciate you. And thanks so much for being part of our leadership team at EGA. On the Board of Directors. We appreciate your insights in that, in that, and that way as well.
00:20:58:19 – 00:21:11:09
So look forward to seeing you soon, buddy. And likewise. Take care. You bet. All right. So this is David Holt with Anton Martin saying see you next time. Don’t forget to like, share and comment. Take it easy with you.
