Driving Sales With Utility Rebates

With the HVAC market slowing, now is a good time to step back and think about initiatives that can create demand.

Sometimes, the “best” way is bringing discounts to customers that you are not directly funding. This means rebates.

Rebates can come from manufacturers, the government and utilities.

Earlier this year we shared opportunities presented by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that benefit the HVAC industry.

Recently, Encentiv Energy, a utility rebate management company, shared information on utility-driven rebates. Granted they are not in all states, but these two articles reference rebates that are in 13-14 states:

Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) – According to the article, “This system works by exchanging the indoor air with fresh outdoor air while recovering the energy from the outgoing air to precondition the incoming air. This process helps to maintain a healthy indoor air quality while reducing the energy needed to heat or cool the building.” Sounds like an HVAC application! And there are Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) systems. The primary difference between the two are “an HRV transfers heat, while an ERV transfers both heat and moisture.”

The article mentions how to calculate ERV and HRV and lists 13 states and 2 Canadian provinces that have rebates. And some of the states include Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois.

Interested in UVGI? Could be for Lighting. Could be for the HVAC system. I know, you’re in HVAC, not electrical. But some lighting company’s sell UVGI lighting through HVACR distributors. One who does is Puro Lighting. Did you know that there are utility rebates for UVGI? In fact, 13 states including Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Wisconsin offer these rebates based on the tonnage of the host HVAC system as well as some that are specifically tied to the wattage of lighting.

Some next steps:

• Learn more about ERV and HRV
• Determine which products are appropriate
• Identify if there are opportunities in your market … and you may be able to quantify them
• Contact suppliers for more information and training materials
• If appropriate, learn about rebates in your state.
• Develop a marketing plan, consider involving key suppliers
  • Can you develop an ROI analysis? Show the benefit of the utility rebate?
• Train sales
• Identify target accounts … for sales and marketing
• 2^nd half initiative?

Consider rebates as an opportunity to recapture your tax / utility dollars and, more importantly, drive sales.