Hansen SuperTechs February 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
News Radio seven to ten WNTM. Uncle Henry here with
the Hansen Supertext. Brianna mcadori is back with us, Regional
manager with Hanson. Brianna, thank you for coming.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
In, Thank you for having us. We're happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
And who did you bring with you?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
I brought Chris Guy with us, one of our Hanson
Supertech experts. Chris has been with us for quite a
while and he's been in this industry for over twenty
years now. So you have all the experience at your fingertips.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
So the Hanson Supertext listener, if you're not familiar, Hanson Supertext,
the handle heating and air conditioning, the handle your electrical
needs to handle your plumbing. So what was it like
last month? We had a once in a lifetime historic
snowfall and super cold temperatures here on the Gulf Coast.
What was it like with the Hanson Supertext at.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Hanson We were extremely busy. Obviously, our customers were in need.
One of the things that stood out a lot to
us was the fact that we can't drive good in
this weather, nor can anyone else. So we're typically the
team that a hurricane passes within minutes. Our guys are
out on the roads ready to take care of you.
So it was a little bit of a different experience

(01:16):
for us. We did have to shut down for about
a day and a half to make sure that our
team was safe. Once the roads were cleared up enough,
we were ready to roll. We had over a thousand
incoming calls with services in need between plumbing, electrical, and HVAC.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Okay, so I know you get lots of calls year
round about heating and air conditioning. What about plumbing? How
was it?

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Plumbing saw the highest volume with this snowstorm than we
have ever seen in history. I couldn't tell you the
amount of customers that had busted pipes. Even with leaving
the fauceage slowly dripping, it wasn't enough. It really wasn't enough.
So a lot of customers they had their fausage dripping
and they also didn't have the warm water on to

(02:00):
keep those pipes to frosted. So it was a major
experience for us. We served at least eighty customers a
day just with busted pipes in their home.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Wow. And so Hanson, if somebody has that happen in
the future, you can call Hanson.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
For that, right absolutely.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
So we know that that taking care of HVAC systems
in advance, keeping them maintained is a key to long
life for the system and less problems. Can you say
the same bit about plumbing or there are things that
people can do with their plumbing to make sure that
the plumbing system is doing well in their home.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Well, I mean, one of the few things we could do,
Uncle Henry, especially with the piping when you have these
extreme temperatures, is just make make sure they're insulated properly,
make sure they're going to be resistance to any type
of freeze. And like Brianna said, before you want to
drip those pipes, you know, you want to get ahead
of it, even maybe some hot water that we drip,

(03:00):
getting water heaters flushed, you know, making stuff, making sure
stuff isn't sagging in a crawl space that maybe need
some insulation, all right, So that really helps even in
an attic application, right, those pipes being insulated in an
attic application. So those are things that are helped from
prevent freezing.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, I've talked on the air that my big experience
with Hanson was from the plumbing side of the Hanson supertext.
Getting a water heater. Is that a big part of
your plumbing business is people replacing water heaters.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yes, absolutely, And that's another thing. If you want to
make sure that you extend the life of your water heater,
we offer water heater tune ups. Not many people knew that.
In fact, I learned not too long ago about the
water heaters. You have to get those flushed out. They
need to be clean too. You would be very surprised
at what's at the bottom of that water heater that

(03:52):
you're taking showers with, that you're cooking that water using
to cook with. It's not good. Once a year you
have to make sure you get that water heater tuned up,
flushed out. That's something that we take care of as well.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Now you just talked about the water quality issue. There
is it going to last longer if I'm flushing that
thing out every year?

Speaker 3 (04:14):
I would say so. I grew up in a rural area, right,
so I remember having some water heaters changed and there's
a really high rust content in the water, high iron content.
I can just remember being little when we flushed that,
we had it flushed out and all the sediment and
everything that came out. We tried to do that a
little bit more proactively after that. Just remember getting it

(04:35):
changed out and it didn't really last as long.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
So when it comes to plumbing, what what are you
available to do with the handsome super texts. Can you
take care of just about any plumbing issue.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
We can take care of just about any plumbing issue
that you need, from commercials residential on the plumbing side,
re pipes, water heaters, new tub or shower install pretty
much everything you can possibly think of. Look, we cover
in our plumbing department water purification as well. That's been
a big hit here lately. We offer systems for that

(05:11):
same with HVAC. We cover everything across the board that
you can think of. We made sure to hire the
best experts in each trade and we're here to help
in any way you need uh.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
By the way, you the listener, if you were inspired
at any time in this conversation with the hands and supertext,
remember the numbers eight fifty five to five hands and
that's eight fifty five five hands and you can also
go to hansondsupertext dot com and learn more. Now I
understand you have a bit of a change on your website.
You're offering something on your website. You never offered before
in terms of quotes.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yes, So obviously times are changing the you know, the
environment's different now and a lot of customers don't just
want anyone in their home without an expectation on pricing.
So we're working to change the industry to the next
level and be a lot more transparent with that. So
on our website www dots in supertech dot com, you

(06:02):
can now get an instant quote for an HVAC system
replacement as well as a water heater. So in the
coming weeks we're going to add on to that. Obviously
we do electrical as well, so we'll have EV chargers, panels, generators,
all of the large components that you're looking at replacing
in your home. You'll be able to get an instant
quote on our website for that. So it's something we're

(06:23):
super excited about.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
That that is exciting, and everybody wants to know upfront
these days what's it going to cost.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Absolutely, So that's the thing that we're working on now
is just to make sure we provide that upfront expectation
for our customers even before they're in serious need. A
lot of customers are going on there just to see
how much does it cost. Get ready for that, for
that change that you're gonna need. Because hvac, plumbing and electrical.
It's not beautiful. It's not buying a new car. No
one loves to do it, but it is something that

(06:52):
we need to do.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Let's talk a little bit about buying a new HVAC
system because HVAC systems, you can correct me, they last
if you take care of them ten ten to fifteen.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Years into fifteen years.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
So there are people listening right now that haven't bought
one in ten to fifteen years. What is possible now,
how you've been in the business quite a while. How
are they different now? I know they're better.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Well, we've got new refrigerant changes, right, so and that's
something that the government does every so often. There's new
efficiency standards, right so they you know, everybody's going green, right,
so they make them a lot more efficient good, a
lot more bells and whistles, there are a lot more controls,
the are a lot more electronics, right, so it's important
to have them, you know, service maintained, when to have

(07:39):
them checked regularly. And it's important to have a good warranty,
right because you've got expensive boards, you got expensive repairs
from time to time, so they've changed a lot. It's
not your grandfather's air conditioner in the last thirty eight years.
You know, I'm not going to say a new one does, right. So,
but there's a lot of advances, a lot of energy efficiency.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Now. I know you mentioned that you can get quotes online,
but if I want someone from Hanson to come out
and take a look at the house and make recommendations,
is that something you do?

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Absolutely? And we prefer to come out right, Let's put
our eyes on it. Let's see what we're working with.
Let's see what specific to your house. You know, what
fits your budget? Right? Do you need all this extra stuff?
Do you need to keep it simple? Right? So we
prefer to come out, meet the customer, give you a
personalized quote. Obviously we can do it online, like Branda said,
but let's come out. Let's make it personal for you

(08:31):
and your home and something that's gonna fit your budget.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
I've met people in the past that made the mistake
of having like somebody's brother in law do their h
back and when it's sized wrong, it ruins the whole thing.
If it's not if it's too small for the house
or too big for the house. It's wrong. That's one
of the most important things is isn't it getting the

(08:53):
right size air conditioner?

Speaker 3 (08:54):
This is the most important thing. Right. We don't want
to they're expensive, They can be expensive, right, we don't
want to do it. Like I said, you know, prices
will went up, especially after COVID with these efficiency standard changes.
Let's get a load down on the house heat load.
Let's make sure we put it in right, we service
it properly. You don't want to have to put it
in twice, uncle.

Speaker 1 (09:14):
I know people buy HVAC systems when they need them.
Is there anything seasonal about it at all? Is there
a good a better time of year to get one
or is it always a good time to get an
HVAC system.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
The best time to get it is in the you know,
in the off season, right. The reason why we typically
have a little bit better pricing. Yeah, we're not in
a rush to put it in. Yeah, right, so get
the better pricing. Let's put it in on your terms.
Let's be proactive. Let's don't wait till it's one hundred
and ten degrees, right, which I mean you have those customers,
you know, they don't have an option right, Let's why
it rakes. Some people are more proactive. The more proactive

(09:48):
you can be, typically, the better deal you can get. Right,
you don't have to feel rushed, and you can just
make a better decision. And it's like anything you.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Buy, talk about the the importance of taking care of it.
Can you compare an HVAC system to maintaining a car?

Speaker 3 (10:07):
Absolutely? Right? So you want to get a new car,
We're not going to drive it for six years without
popping the hood on it, right, and then we're not
changing the oil and the motor tear motor blows up? Right,
what's the what's the uh distribt? Uh? What's the dealership
going to say when you bring it back in?

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Uh? Huh?

Speaker 3 (10:25):
You know so, same principle. Let's pop the hood on
that unit, right, Let's check it twice a year. Let's
make sure it's clean, it's running efficiently, it's not running
your power bill up. Let's get those savings that you're
gonna get with that newer system, a new and more
efficient system. Let's get all the benefits out of it.
Let's maintain it properly, maximize the warranty. Let's just maximize

(10:47):
your purchase.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Now, we've had we've all been in cold weather recently,
but living on the golf course, we know that at
any point it can be hot. Uh, it may be
hot the week that we're doing this show. Tell me
about a maintenance call. What is that like? What will
you do if I ask the handsome supertext to provide

(11:08):
me maintenance?

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Well, you know, on a maintenance all right, So we're
gonna come out, We're gonna break the unit down. We're
gonna clean it up for you. We're gonna check the electrical,
the refrigerant, the condensate, the you know, the drain lines.
We're gonna make sure it's draining properly. We're gonna check
your airflow, your duck work. We're gonna make sure it's
not leaking. We don't want to have a good running
unit that's leaking on the attic or in the crass space,

(11:30):
all right, So we're just gonna make sure it's running efficient,
you're getting everything out of it, and we're kind of
just maximizing the life on it. Now. On a service call,
we're gonna take a real similar approach. We'll go straight
to the issue and we'll just kind of see what
it's gonna take, you know, to prepare it now, keep
it running long term and just give the customer the
options and let them kind of choose which route they

(11:52):
want to go is.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
And I'm gonna guess that this is the time of
year that it's great to get these maintenance calls. So
you'll make sure that you don't start the season, the
warm with the months with a problem.

Speaker 3 (12:04):
You gotta be ready, you gotta be ready. Now's the time,
all right again.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
You can find out more about the HANDS and Supertext
by visiting their website handsondsupertext dot com. You can call
them at eight fifty five five hands and that's eight
fifty five to five Hansen. Now you also do electrical work.
What kind of calls do you get for electrical and
what can you do in terms of electrical work for customers?

Speaker 2 (12:30):
So electrical is typically the same thing as we do
in all three trades, so we cover pretty much everything
you can think of. The majority of the calls that
we get in electrical can be from a socket that's
not working, to a panel that has a recall and
it's outdated and it needs to be upgraded, to a
customer want to quote for a generator to get a
generator at place. We actually got a good bit of

(12:52):
calls regarding generators with the snowstorm, to my surprise, as
I'm not used to the snow either. We had over
ten thousand customers in our service area without power. Obviously,
our infrastructure is not built for that. They're definitely not
built for this type of weather. So we actually installed
several generators in the last couple of weeks. Customers getting proactive,
which that's absolutely another thing that now is the best time.

(13:14):
Generator season is going to approach us before we know it,
and you might as well get that taken care of
now before everything's backed up during the seasonal hits.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
For a lot of us on the Gulf Coast, it's
kind of a bucket list purchase. You know. I've got
a neighbor. I've got a neighbor across the street with
a whole home generator and every time the power goes out.
The power went out yesterday at seven thirty in the
morning in my neighborhood for what the power company says
was an emergency repair. I could hear that neighbor's generator

(13:44):
go off, and I was so jealous. I was so
envious I.

Speaker 3 (13:47):
Thought they've got that generator.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
I want to generate. Talk to me about generators in general.
Does everybody get a whole house? Are there there different
levels to generators. I don't know anything about them.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, so generators that we sell here whole home generators. Okay,
so it's it's very similar to an HVAC system. We
come out make sure that that system is sized properly.
A lot of what we've seen in the past with
generators for customers who may go to someone else, like
their brother or cousin wants to do a little bit cheaper,
they're not properly sizing that generator or making sure that

(14:21):
that gas meter is operating proper with enough capacity. So
that's that's the biggest things we run into. We come
out and we make sure that that system is sized properly,
because believe it or not, you can get too small
of a generator or too large and your meter not
even be the right size.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, what you've described shows I could even be dangerous
because you're you're dealing with electricity and gas.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
You got to know what you're doing.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Extremely dangerous and extremely expensive. Same thing goes for a generator.
If you don't have it the right size, and you
can you can have a power search come through your home.
And I don't know about you, but I purchased a
refrigerator recently and I definitely do not want to do
that again anytime soon. Appliances are very expensive as well. Honestly,
that's one of the most common offers that we have

(15:07):
in electrical, our whole home surge protectors, so they protect
everything in your entire home. When it comes to the electrical,
you can have a power surger anytime. It does not
have to be a storm, You don't have to have
anything uncertain come through. You can have a power search
come through and take out all of your appliances. In fact,
most of the new homes that are being built are
all already coming with a whole home search protector that

(15:30):
goes to show you that, you know, we're getting more
efficient and learning what's needed. A lot of the older
homes customers don't even know what a whole home power
surge is, power search protector is, and that's something that
we're doing right now as well.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Now for things like the whole home generator or an
HVAC system, you have financing available for all that.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
Absolutely, yeah, we got finance and pretty much for any budget.
We've got some longer term options, a longer term low payment.
We have some shorter term zero percent that's really popular.
So we can pretty much tailor it to fit any budget,
whether it's air conditioning, electrical, or plumbing.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Now on the electrical side of what the hands and
suprotects do, can can you also do smaller jobs? I'd
mentioned this in a previous show. If somebody moves into
an older home and there are no outlets outdoors and
they'd like at least one outlet for outdoors, you can
do something like that, just install an extra outlet.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
We do a lot of that. We do a lot,
a lot of the smaller jobs, a lot of the
bigger jobs. You know, we really don't discriminate uncle bigger small.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
You know, do do people come out and ask you
to uh to help them figure out the electrical system
when they bought an older home.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
We run into that a lot, a lot of stuff
needs to be brought up to code. Maybe it felt
a home inspection, or maybe it was a recommendation on
a home inspection. So we've got the electricians to come
out kind of diagnose it. Let's see what we need
to do to bring it up the code. Maybe it
gets you comfortable in your house. Maybe it's outlets, maybe
it's exult fans you want added. Maybe it's some exterior lighting,

(17:04):
so we can tackle all that.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
Another thing I wondered if you did. I know that
when people put in HVAC systems, oftentimes they'll notice that
they need more insulation. Do the Hanson superrotexts ever help
people with additional insulation if they needed.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
We do most of the time, well, our text will
notice it while we're out there if the customer hasn't
already mentioned it. Like I said, we do check the airflow,
so that means we're up there checking duck work. Well
that's where the insulation is as well or lack thereof.
So we typically will bundle it together with the unit.
We have some customers, well we just do installation for them.

(17:42):
We blow that insulation in so we can kind of,
you know, whatever they need, whether it be unit, duck,
or insulation or all three. You know, we can definitely
handle that.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
One other thing, and I don't know that this would
be a big part of what the Hanson supertexts do
on a regular basis, but I know people that live
in mobile that have terrible issues with allergies. Are there
ways to get an HVAC system to fillter the air
a little bit better? Do people ask you for that
for help with air quality in their house.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
We've run into that a lot, whole lot, okay, especially
in this climate with this type of humidity. Right, So
we have a newer product that we've been offering the
last couple of years. It's called a Premiere one whole
home air purifier works really nice. Right, So we've got
an electrostatic filter, We've got an air purification system that
goes in the duck work, plus the strongest UV light

(18:35):
on the market. It's really nice, neutralizes all the air,
works really good on older homes, newer homes with new
duck work. That's probably our best seller, and we have
customers ask for it every day. We've got really good
plans for that if you wanted to package it with
your new unit, your new AC unit, or if you
just want to buy it independently.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
Right.

Speaker 3 (18:57):
So, the strongest on the market and a lot of
good success from the customers.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yes, one thing that most customers aren't aware of it Honestly,
I wasn't too aware of it until here recently. The
air purifying systems that we offer our customers, they don't
just help with allergies and colds and flu season they
also help with with asthma. So I have an eight
year old son who's had extreme asthma since he was

(19:23):
as young as two years old. We were going through
some seasonality allergies and cold and flu, so I went
ahead and got an air purification system put into my home.
Not too long ago, he went from having two asthma
attacks a week down to one to two a month.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
Oh hey, he.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
Made a dramatic improvement. And I think it has a
lot to do with purifying that air from the dust,
you know, from it may seem just like allergies, but
when you have, especially a child with asthma that's that severe,
that air purifier was a make or breag difference for us.
It's absolutely amazing. I cannot preach it enough for every person,

(20:00):
especially someone who has a child with asthma.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
Before we were out of time, I was just curious
about any kind of government grants or rewards for us
being energy efficient, anything like that, because I know that
years ago you could buy certain windows or getting certain
installation and you could get deductions for that, anything like
that in your realm these days.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yes, sir, we have a couple of Energy Star credits,
one of them being the energy Star heat pump qualifies
for a two thousand dollars tax credit. Oh okay, that's
pretty nice on an energy Star heatpump. Yeah. Also for
any improvements to the envelope of the home, whether it
be duckwork or attic insulation, up to twelve hundred dollars

(20:47):
in rebates on that as well. So if you bundle
a new duck working insulation with a new energy Star
heat pump, it's up to thirty two hundred dollars tax credit.
It's really nice. A lot of the customers are really
loving that tax credit. Pretty good incentive replace now it is.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
And I didn't even think to ask you about duct work.
Do you you provide a new duck work or do
you have ways to repair old duck work.

Speaker 3 (21:10):
We can do both, depending on the age and condition.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
Right.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
Sometimes it's better when you're getting the tax credit. Sometimes
it's better to just upgrade the duck get the benefits
of the bigger duck work and the tax credit. Sometimes
on a newer home that just needs some maybe adjustments
or need to be resealed. We take that approach. Let's
go ahead and get some more life out of the
current duck you have, and down the road if we
need to change it, we can look at them.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
Okay, but you set a certain heat pump tell me
that again.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
Yes, sir, it's an Energy Star heat pump. So that's
anything over fifteen point two the new Seer rating and
a heat pump application. I said, the straight cool doesn't qualify,
but on the Energy Star heat pump it is two
thousand dollars and that's a federal tax credit.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
So anyone listening to this show that has any questions
about things we've talked about, they can go to hansonsupertext
dot com or they can call you right eight fifty
five five Hanson, Yes, sir, all right, Well, thank you
for coming in. Great talking to both of you.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
Thank you for having us Oncle Henry

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Alabama license number two two one three two, MG twenty
fifty seven, MP forty one twenty eight and E L
E C zero zero nine one nine