Are pellet techs needed?

[SmokeyTheBear]

I'm sure ill catch some chit for this from the big brother hating liberals. Licensing, prerequisite and mandated continuing education... I have been at our state Capitol all week testifying and crafting such for my industry..

Consider yourself in catching mode.

The very last bunch you want involved is the poor customer service people aka the gubmint under the guise of protecting this or that they will destroy it all. You'll get all kinds technical requirements from lots of experts and damn little in the way of customer service skills. Both are sorely needed and very hard to come by when dealing with heating devices in a home.

Take a really good look around at the mish mash of codes and requirements already out there for other "professions".

To answer the OPs original question yes, someone has to do that which someone else isn't willing or able to do on their own or in the alternative maybe those that can't or won't shouldn't have what they have.

Perhaps a case to point out where I'm coming from is in order, a Nurse now well on her way to becoming a Doctor bought a house and in it was a forced hot air furnace. You know those things that you set the t-stat for and have on auto fuel delivery (out of sight out of mind). Evidently it had never occurred to her that they needed regular service and especially cleaning, after things not being too warm for a long while one day she called a freind asking what to do. The answer was to call a heating system company for service. She had been in that house for several years before even one person serviced the furnace, it had enough dust and dog fur in the system that it was a wonder it ever got to turn off.

The OP is also right that there are a lot of DIY folks on here, while a lot of us just like doing things some of us are also cheap and know how to get the blood out of that buffalo on the nickel (and likely a lot of other animals as well).

 

[Delta-T]

for modest fee I can "toughen the skin" of any green tech with my sarcasm, wit and humerous condescention....then they will be ready to learn how to go about fixen thangs. I teach them to stop thinking and "feel" the stove, be the stove, and ultimately join together in communion with the stove, strictly plutonic of course. Only then can they master the craft of stove techie guy. Is not easy, is not for everyone, and, as a young industry we wrestle with how to go about implementing a "best practice"...its not fair to compare what we do to other established industries. Name the other industries fighting the fossil fuel maga giants, actually SAVING PEOPLE MONEY, fighting against the box stores (or worse, cleaning up after them) and doing it all for a fairly reasonable cost (neither I, nor any of my co-workers has a new car, second home, or even takes 2 weeks vacation a year). I'm not trying to make excuses for poor service, there really aren't any IMO, but you have to expect to pay somewhere in the chain..be it up front, or after the fact..someone has to make an investement in the people, and that cost has to come from the customers somehow, it is, afterall, a business.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

for modest fee I can "toughen the skin" of any green tech with my sarcasm, wit and humerous condescention....then they will be ready to learn how to go about fixen thangs. I teach them to stop thinking and "feel" the stove, be the stove, and ultimately join together in communion with the stove, strictly plutonic of course. Only then can they master the craft of stove techie guy. Is not easy, is not for everyone, and, as a young industry we wrestle with how to go about implementing a "best practice"...its not fair to compare what we do to other established industries. Name the other industries fighting the fossil fuel maga giants, actually SAVING PEOPLE MONEY, fighting against the box stores (or worse, cleaning up after them) and doing it all for a fairly reasonable cost (neither I, nor any of my co-workers has a new car, second home, or even takes 2 weeks vacation a year). I'm not trying to make excuses for poor service, there really aren't any IMO, but you have to expect to pay somewhere in the chain..be it up front, or after the fact..someone has to make an investement in the people, and that cost has to come from the customers somehow, it is, afterall, a business.

Become one with the air flows and all will be revealed.

 

[PoolGuyinCT]

Consider yourself in catching mode.

The very last bunch you want involved is the poor customer service people aka the gubmint under the guise of protecting this or that they will destroy it all. You'll get all kinds technical requirements from lots of experts and damn little in the way of customer service skills. Both are sorely needed and very hard to come by when dealing with heating devices in a home.

Take a really good look around at the mish mash of codes and requirements already out there for other "professions".

To answer the OPs original question yes, someone has to do that which someone else isn't willing or able to do on their own or in the alternative maybe those that can't or won't shouldn't have what they have.

Perhaps a case to point out where I'm coming from is in order, a Nurse now well on her way to becoming a Doctor bought a house and in it was a forced hot air furnace. You know those things that you set the t-stat for and have on auto fuel delivery (out of sight out of mind). Evidently it had never occurred to her that they needed regular service and especially cleaning, after things not being too warm for a long while one day she called a freind asking what to do. The answer was to call a heating system company for service. She had been in that house for several years before even one person serviced the furnace, it had enough dust and dog fur in the system that it was a wonder it ever got to turn off.

The OP is also right that there are a lot of DIY folks on here, while a lot of us just like doing things some of us are also cheap and know how to get the blood out of that buffalo on the nickel (and likely a lot of other animals as well).

My trade is essentially masons and mechanical contractors... I agree with you points smokey, it is difficult. Our licence is coming to fruition after 8 years of heavy government relations, regulatory, educational, prerequisites. It is a major job, to create such.. It is essential to led the regulators and can only be done proactively. Our success stems from "we knocked on their door before they knocked on ours" I am glad we are almost done.

 

[smwilliamson]

So you all know and going back to mike's post...My rates are set, whether I send 1 guy two guys or myself. We don't charge more cause two techs are there. It's not uncommon for me to eat $500 to $1000 a week during training season.

Truthfully, I never get much push-back from folks about pricing or this or that. Most problems are solved the first time and if we have to go back...well, we have to go back. We NEVER charge for a return visit....even I have to do those from time to time...even if it is two hours away from my shop. I would say that if you are not 100% sure of your own abilities you really don't have any business teaching others. Yes, there is money to be made in this business and in many ways I'm in a cat-seat position, but I bust my ass to do things right the first time, every time. Necessity is the mother of invention, yes?

I was out servicing stoves, getting paid and learning it all at the same time. There were times, and to some extent it still happens, that I am learning something while I'm getting paid to solve the problem...I just don't don't show it. Always learning and that's what keeps me interested and excited to do my job. Try solving a feeding problem to a stove that was made 22 years a ago from a manufacturer that went out of business 21 years ago...yeah, how am I supposed to know...but I go because no one else will...and that is my insurance or job security...I do what many other will not and I have become good at it...heck, ok GREAT at it!

If you are the only guy that will show up, if you a pleasant, if you are committed to learning and doing right by the customer, if you are honest in your abilities and fair in your pricing...p[ellet stove owners by and large are blue collar hard working people too...just be fair with them, don't charge for what you cannot do. Don't mismanage their expectations. ALWAYS return to solve a problem for free that you failed on the first time and most of all....

Commit to being NFI Certified, Licensed, Insured and HUMBLE...you will do well.