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Why should contractors care about the connected home?
Wi-Fi thermostats, light bulbs, doorbells, security cameras, and even showers!
by Brian Miller
Every day we hear more and more about connected home products. Currently there are roughly 35,000 products out there for the homeowner to choose from: Wi-Fi thermostats, light bulbs, doorbells, security cameras, music, and even showers! The list goes on and on. But why should you care about the connected home?
1. Many of the connected home products easily tie into the products and services HVAC contractors and heating contractors already offer. In some cases, the product warranty is longer if the product is installed by a certified professional.
2. There is no trade directly associated with connected home products. Sure, there are security companies out there that can install locks and cameras, but do they really know anything about the heating system in the home? Can they install a shower that alerts you when the water is warm enough to get into it?
3. As easy as many of these products are to install, homeowners still have trouble with them. Others just don’t want to deal with it, they would rather have someone do it for them. DIY is turning into DIFM, “do it for me”.
4. On some new systems, some connected home products we wouldn’t even think of offering are now a required element to make a rebate-eligible system work.
Many contractors have decided they do not want anything to do with connected home products because they cannot make any money off of selling and installing them. While it may not make sense or be profitable enough to install a connected home product by itself, it can be profitable when done as part of another project.
So take another look at what’s out there. For a minimal amount of time, you can really increase your sales to your customers.