I realize that. And I was never counting installers salaries at all. What I was factoring in was a reasonable labor rate charged to me. The installers are obviously getting a lot less than that. Around here, you go to the major auto dealers for service and they are charging the customer around $100/hr labor rate. That includes the wages, overhead, profit, etc sufficient to run the business.
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A certified Master HVAC Tech is not an auto mechanic, A certified Master Tech is a highly skilled, and highly trained specialist. Personally I do 5 -
7 semester hours every year in continuing educations and training just to keep up with the new technologies, and the latest advancements. Yes I am a certified Master Tech, and my labor rate has not been down to $100/hr in many years. Bubba in a pick-up truck with a refrigerant jug and ticket book as a rule doesn't have that kind of training, education or experience, nor does "Billy-Joe-Jim-Bob" that does it on the side. 3150 sq ft. And we have 90+ deg with high humidity too. Not as many days as you, I'm sure, but I still need the capacity for those days, no?------------------------------------------------
It depends on a whole lot of factors.... first you need a complete room-by-room Manual J heat load/loss calculation done. That will tell you exactly how many BTUs you need to heat and to cool your home, and if you even need a 5 ton A/C.
That's almost exactly what the lowest quote I have here for the Rheem system is. So, here's my issue. When I account for all the materials, I can buy them for about $4200. That's shipped here and me buying qty one. That leaves $4,000 to cover the labor of install. Allowing $100/hr for labor, (note that includes overhead, profit, etc and is not the what the installers are paid), and allowing a day and a half for 2 guys to install it, which I think is generous, that would be $2400, not $4000.
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Maybe you should give classes on how HVAC contractors can go broke in 6 months or less.
When you take your car in for service to a dealer around here, it's generally right around $100 an hour for labor. Given the job and skill set, and comparing it to an auto dealer rate, I don't think factoring in $100 an hour per man labor rate is unreasonable. And I would think that an HVAC contractor is probably getting a better price on the eqpt than I can. Maybe I'.m missing something here, but I don't know what it is.
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What your missing is the business of running a business, as well as the simple fact that a Master HVAC Tech is not an auto mechanic, and the HVAC tech is bringing his "shop" to the customer in the form of a service truck.
The contractors here, like most, are willing to negotiate.
They are "negotiating" just for the work, and don't care if they make enough to pay the bills, salaries, or taxes.
So, a legitimate company won't negotiate? Seems rather odd given the state of the economy. With new construction in the tank, I'm really surprised that these guys aren't negotiating even more.
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I don't do new construction because I can make more money sitting in my recliner. I will not work at a loss. I would rather not work at all if I can't at least break even. As far as the economy, I have had a record year.
I fired a customer because he asked if I worked on the side.... I told him that I am the company owner, and that I am not going to STEAL from my own company, and I would fire any employee that did any HVAC work on the side.