Introducing Gen2

For more than five years, SmartAC has been learning how residential HVAC systems perform in the real world.  This year, we turned that learning into an intelligence model built from the ground up.  Our Gen2 sensor makes that intelligence accessible to every home.

What the market has already told us

This September, Contracting Business called out the shift our customers have been leading in its cover story, "Beyond the Tune-Up: Rethinking the HVAC Maintenance Agreement."  It featured contractors like Colley Refrigeration and Midwest Heating & Cooling, reporting what SmartAC partners see: annual membership retention of roughly 95%, and revenue per home up nearly 20%.

Their reporting highlighted that when a contractor can provide value between maintenance visits, the homeowner relationship and business benefit.  That’s great for homes on agreements, but the bigger question is – what about everyone else?

When maintenance offerings whiff

In a SmartAC survey of nearly 1,000 homeowners this August, almost 80% indicated they were not enrolled in any maintenance or membership program. Those HVAC systems are aging, drifting, failing… and no one is watching.  That large swath of homeowners does not have a built-in, loyal relationship with a contractor.  

In the same survey homeowners indicated what they would say yes to.  Among homeowners not on a maintenance agreement, a low-cost technology option was preferred over a maintenance/tech bundle by roughly five to one.  Over 65% were willing to pay $5/month to know when something was needed ahead of the inconvenience of losing comfort.  Homeowners do value proactivity and peace of mind, it’s just very few value it enough to pay $200-300 a year for it.

It may be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway… the opportunity to structurally own the future revenue in most homes, instead of a fraction of homes, is truly profound.  

What sits underneath Gen2

Gen2 is a sensor, but the value lies in the new intelligence it powers.

Our intelligence model draws on data from 300k+ sensors over the last 5 years, with each one capturing thousands of data points a day. Combined with context like climate, home characteristics, nameplate info and how similar systems perform, that data lets us go beyond alerts.  From a single, strategically placed sensor, we can characterize how the HVAC system is actually performing and see problems forming, opportunity for you, well before the no-cool call.  

This is the result of work by an engineering team, led by our CTO, Matt Robillard, that we assembled this year specifically for this problem, as we announced in April.  Gen2 is the culmination of work across our whole team: streamlined hardware, the UI/UX overhaul, the models for the underlying intelligence, and years of operations and gathering HVAC contractor and homeowner feedback.  They all made it possible, and I’m incredibly proud of each team behind it.  

Until now, SmartAC required more change management than some contractors could justify.  Gen2 removes that friction.  It’s only one sensor, for just $5/month, and the setup is now so easy that a homeowner can literally do it themselves in seconds.  No wifi needed – ask us about the magic. 

That means you can extend your visibility to claim homes that were never going to buy maintenance, through technician and DIY setup.  We understand the perils of overdependence on rising marketing costs, and we made Gen2 to help. 

Each sensor means a home under management: a system you can see, a relationship you own, a demand call that comes to you.

A word to our Gen1 customers

The new intelligence behind Gen2 is backwards compatible to all Gen1 systems in the field, which will now run on the same intelligence model.  We’re excited to provide more value for those homes, and excited to onboard you to Gen2.  It’s just a simpler, lower-cost way to bring way more homes into the fold.

What I’m most excited about

When we began SmartAC, our singular mission was: to perfect the experience of home comfort.  For most homeowners, that experience has been purely reactive – and thus painful.  Most of the time, contractors are denied or blind to the opportunity to help.  Gen2 is the first time we can offer a solution applicable in every home, members and non-members, at a price that works for the homeowner and the contractor alike.

If you are at Pantheon, October 5-7, come find our team.  I want to hear what you would do with remote visibility into every home you serve.

For the full announcement and details, read our press release →