Whether living and working in the South or the North, many of the challenges and successes of installing and servicing heat pump systems are similar, if not the same.

Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US (METUS) recently caught up with two HVAC leaders, both members of the Diamond Contractor program, to get their insights into what's driving their thriving businesses and the industry.

Meet Rachele Leonard, co-founder of SolarLogix (Belfast, Maine), and Erica Estes, owner and president of Southern Heating & Cooling (Scottsboro, Alabama). Leonard and Estes have extensive expertise in delivering quality heating and cooling experiences in some of the country's hottest and coldest climates. Read on for insights on how they are meeting residents' extreme-weather needs, managing labor challenges, and driving innovation in clean energy.

Heat Pumps Hold Up, No Matter the Temperature

Recent data confirms that 2024 was one of the hottest years on record. HVAC technicians have been on the front lines, working diligently to keep homeowners’ HVAC systems working and residents comfortable.

Rachele Leonard, co-founder of SolarLogix, says that air conditioning is becoming a need, not a want, as extreme temperatures affect the country’s most northeastern state more often. SolarLogix is a family-owned clean-energy solutions company serving Belfast and the surrounding area’s residential and commercial projects.

“In the past, air conditioning was unnecessary in Maine,” she said. “We were installing heat pumps for heat, and people thought air conditioning was just a nice little side benefit. But now with the extreme heat coming more frequently, air conditioning is starting to be seen more as a potential life-safety issue.”

More than 1,300 miles southwest of Belfast, the extreme heat keeps business sizzling for Southern Heating & Cooling, an HVAC company serving Scottsboro and the surrounding area in northeastern Alabama.

“Mitsubishi Electric all-climate heat pump systems also hold up very well during extreme heat in the South,” said Estes. “We had a lot fewer calls for heat pump servicing for these solutions this past summer than for conventional system servicing.”

However, increased sales come not only from heat pump installations to help Alabamans beat the heat, but also from installing Mitsubishi Electric’s Hyper-Heating INVERTER® (H2i®) units as more customers want to be prepared for cold snaps, too. The newest H2i® models will provide heating even in outdoor temperatures as low as -22◦ F, produce up to 100% heating capacity at 5◦ F, and offer year-round comfort even in extreme climates.

Fostering Growth in the HVAC Trade

Although this increased business is a good thing, both SolarLogix and Southern Heating & Cooling are dealing with the workforce challenges that accompany such demand.

One of the most significant hurdles Southern Heating & Cooling faces is staffing. The company has launched a Women in the Trades campaign to attract more female employees. In addition, Estes said, “We hire employees completely green in the HVAC industry and are easily able to get them up to speed.”

The company does this through in-house training and sending new technicians to HVAC manufacturers’ training programs, including workshops offered by METUS.

In Maine, Leonard said staffing has become much more competitive. To attract new employees, SolarLogix has raised pay rates for HVAC technicians.

“Maine doesn’t have the large workforce that you see in a lot of other places around the country, so we work hard to make sure we offer desirable positions at desirable pay,” Leonard said.

Building Businesses for Better Futures

Before founding SolarLogix with her partner Josh Oxley, Leonard and Oxley worked as farmers. They started SolarLogix to help transition their community to clean energy, with Oxley as the sole HVAC technician and Leonard executing the marketing and administration.

Today, SolarLogix is a 54-employee company that focuses on solar energy solutions, HVAC system optimization, energy-efficient water heaters, battery backup systems, electric vehicle chargers, and electrical service upgrades. SolarLogix offers Mitsubishi Electric heat pumps because “it’s the one provider that was so much more reliable than other brands,” Leonard said.

Leonard shared that prospects and customers often start with heat pumps and then want solar panels to help power them. This often leads to installing heat pump water heaters and even EV chargers for their electric cars.

“In the beginning, it was difficult to get people to trust that heat pumps would work in Maine’s cold winters,” Leonard said. “Most of Maine's population was not using electric heat pumps. They were using oil, propane, and wood systems for heating. Now, we have such a proven track record even during extreme cold snaps, thanks to us offering heat pump units that can deal with ultra-cold temperatures, that we hardly get any service calls.”

Estes said that Southern Heating & Cooling, which she bought with her husband in 2018, has always sold heat pumps and that they account for 70-80% of the company’s business today.

“We see the safety risks of conventional gas-fired HVAC systems, and we’re passionate about making sure that our community is installing safe heating and cooling systems – heat pumps,” Estes said. “Plus, people in our region also like heat pumps because they’re more energy efficient than conventional HVAC systems.”

Heat pumps are the HVAC solution of choice for both HVAC business owners and their clients across the country. Regardless of extreme weather or labor-shortage challenges, Leonard and Estes are committed to helping transform their communities with clean energy solutions, including the installation of all-climate, all-electric heat pumps.