Jacksonville Residence

Project Location: Jacksonville, North Carolina
Completion Date: November 2015

Challenge
Selecting a heating and air conditioning system that is both ducted and highly efficient

Solution
Zoned Comfort Solutions® from Mitsubishi Electric

Result
Low electric bills, reliable operation and a lifelong customer

For over 20 years, Brian—a homeowner and business owner—has brought his heating and cooling needs to Floyd Nealey, owner and operator, All Weather Mechanical Inc., Jacksonville, North Carolina. About 10 years ago, the two installed Zoned Comfort Solutions® from Mitsubishi Electric in Brian’s old home. When they recently set out to condition Brian’s new, 6,700-square-foot house in Jacksonville, Mitsubishi Electric’s P-Series systems were the obvious solution. They would provide extreme efficiency and the discreet look of a ducted system.

Brian said, “We spoke on the phone and Floyd said to me, ‘I know you don’t want a normal a/c unit.’ I said, ‘No, I want something that’s going to save me money on my electric bill.’ He came over and showed me brochures [for the P-Series]. I was impressed. I really was. I was trying to build an energy-efficient home, and the unit is efficient—amazingly efficient.”

Nealey knew Zoned Comfort Solutions would let Brian live the way he wanted. “Brian wants to be a little more independent—to stand alone from the grid. He’s putting a solar field in, making keeping the energy load down crucial. Noise was also important. So Brian wanted the true INVERTER that Mitsubishi Electric offers.”

The P-Series, specifically, was the clear answer. It would operate efficiently and quietly, and would decrease installation and operational costs. It also offered the option to go ducted, which Nealey said was important because “the way Brian’s home is set up, he didn’t have any space for wall-mounted units.”

“I’ve used the PVA unit in many applications now. There’s high demand for it because of the efficiency level of the system and its ability to work with existing ductwork. Americans love their ductwork. In order to keep a duct system in place, we can put in the P-Series system, and it’ll work just like the old system – only a lot more efficiently. It’s a game-changer,” said Nealey.

He continued, “Mitsubishi Electric is my No. 1 brand. They came up with the idea for this technology, and they’ve been doing it a lot longer than anybody else. The other manufacturers, even though they offer the INVERTER, they don’t have the efficiency range. If you want the best, you go with the best. Plus, being a Diamond Contractor® means we get the 12-year parts warranty. I stand behind it because Mitsubishi Electric does, too. And I accompany that with a 5-year warranty for labor because it’s hardly ever going to get called upon.”

Nealey doesn’t stop there. “I now put a one-year unconditional money-back guarantee on everything I install. A lot of people say that’s crazy but I have faith in my employees and faith in the manufacturers I use. Becoming a Diamond Contractor really changed the whole way I operate my business.”

Nealey also values his distributors and Mitsubishi Electric’s software. “We worked with Epting on this project. They’re great. They stand behind me and the equipment, which means a lot. And then I like Mitsubishi Electric’s programs. For example, other contractors wanted to put in more units based on the size of the house. But using Mitsubishi Electric’s sizing tool—Diamond System Builder™—I saw the exact size we needed.”

Given that strong support, it’s no surprise that Nealey said “the installation was very easy. Just like normal. And Mitsubishi Electric is a lot easier to install because you don’t have to run separate electrical to the inside units.”

The installation process did include one hiccup; ultimately, it proved Mitsubishi Electric’s strong customer service. Nealey said, “There was an odd code in the communication between the unit and the thermostat. Mitsubishi Electric’s engineers flew up from Georgia to help us, and Mitsubishi Electric ended up changing out the equipment so we wouldn’t have the error code. They really didn’t need to do that. But they went above and beyond to make a customer happy, and to keep a customer happy.”

Brian added, “And that’s not normal. I can tell you right now, I’ve had plenty of warranty problems with other companies—other things, cars, you name it. It’s not normal for that kind of service to happen. And I couldn’t thank them enough.

Brian also recognized that the hiccup was an anomaly in performance, since his experience with Mitsubishi Electric had otherwise been stellar. “The Mitsubishi Electric unit in my old house that’s been there 10 years —I’ve never had to have Floyd come look at it. Never. All I’ve done is take the filter out, spray it off, put it back in. I’ve never had a problem with it.”

Nealey also likes to tell the story of an incredible apples-to-apples comparison: “Brian has the exact same home, meaning the same footprint, layout and everything. It’s in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, so not a big climate difference—about an hour and a half drive between the two. And they put in traditional cooling from Carrier in that one. All ducted. And everything else is identical, too—same tankless water heater, same appliances, same family occupies both of them. So it’s a solid comparison. The house in Myrtle Beach with a traditional system has bills of $700 to $800 a month. At the Jacksonville home with Mitsubishi Electric, the most expensive bill he’s had is $190.” Brian also received a $250 rebate from the utility company in Jacksonville—an incentive for selecting a system over 15 SEER.

The project went well enough that Brian asked Nealey to install more Mitsubishi Electric—this time in Brian’s businesses. Nealey said, “He’s going ductless so he can take the ducts out and raise the ceiling height, and cut down on the cooling and heating bills.”

He continued, “After hearing this customer’s testimony, how can you go wrong with the one year unconditional money-back guarantee that I do when you’ve got a manufacturer like Mitsubishi Electric who will stand behind their product with an ironclad warranty? And now [with the PVA] I can go out to my customers’ house, like Brian, and offer more comprehensive solutions to their cooling and heating needs, plus take care of humidity. It gives my customers a better comfort level at not really that much more of a price than a conventional system.”

It seems Nealey has a strong recipe for success. Brian said, “I told my parents, my sister, the people who work for me. I told everybody about it. The system is amazing. I mean, it really is. They’ve got a customer for life now. I’ll always buy a Mitsubishi Electric unit.”