A-1 Guaranteed Heating and Air Conditioning considers whole home

SUSAN HILAND SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

Richard and Krissy Hiteshew opened A-1 Guaranteed Heating and Air Conditioning 27 ago on Valentine’s Day.

The idea to run his own business came to Richard Hiteshew after working for a company that didn’t really fit with what he wanted for his life.

“My daughter had a birthday and I asked for the day off a month in advance and I didn’t get it,” he said. “I came home that day and told my wife I was quitting and starting my own business.”

Their four children are now grown and three of them are working with him today, along with a crew of about 25 employees.

One of the employees just celebrated 20 years with the company. They threw him a small party in celebration of that accomplishment.

Hiteshew said he has learned a lot over the years as his own boss and expanded his repertoire to include not only repairs and installations of heating or air conditioners but to see the whole house as being part of the solution to a client’s home comfort.

He became a certified plumber, although he doesn’t actually do plumbing, but got certified so he could install the solar.

“After taking a BPI certification, I look at the house as a whole heating and air solution,” he said.

Building Performance Institute certification helped teach him to perform comprehensive, whole-home assessments, identify problems at their root cause, and prescribe and prioritize solutions based on building science.

“This helps to make the system more efficient, safer and more comfortable for clients,” he said.

A-1 Guaranteed can install solar water heaters, tankless water heaters, windows and more with the idea of heating or cooling being the most efficient as possible.

The company was considered an essential business during the pandemic, which means they were able to keep the doors open – and they were busy.

“People were working from home and realized that the furnace needed to be replaced,” co-owner Krissy Hiteshew said. “It made a lot of people aware of their HVAC.”

With the extra time and money from the government, many people finally did the upgrades they needed to get done. They also put in new units.

“So it wasn’t all doom and gloom,” she said.

One of the things she noticed was the amount of rebate money that came back to people, which she said was more than in past years.

“I saw people getting $3,000 to $4,000 back on rebates,” she said. “Now that isn’t the same as during those years, but people are still able to get rebates back.”

One thing people are not willing to compromise on is their comfort – and proper heating and cooling is essential for creature comforts.

A-1 Guaranteed has also implemented Kasey’s Club, which is a service club for customers that helps keep customers’ air conditioning and heating in tip-top shape. It also happens to be named after the Hiteshews’ daughter.

“It is like a gym membership club where customers can get discounts on home repairs,” Krissy Hiteshew said.