Did a homeshow today (The Youngster)

Weezbo

Do you happen to have some pictures of the home show? I think you have done a good thing in the work . By giving some of your time to the community that way , you open up doors for many new and good work for many people,not just yourself. Radiant heating and cooling ,one day, will be incorporated all over the world...it must. You are sort of a pioneer. plenty of people have seen your presentation and while many may not Know what they have seen ..their minds will function away subliminally until it figures out a solution...:)

Josh_10

It was exhausting. I think working on boilers is easier than standing on cement all day talking to people.

Started out the day with the boiler covers off. We realized this may be intimidating so we took put the covers on and got twice the traffic. Go figure.

Two more days of this abuse!

steven E.HEAT

where is the home show?

hydronx_3

trade shows

I feel your pain. My only employee is my wife so we end up standing in the booth all weekend. After the fortieth time you explain what radiant heating is you are ready for a break and then you realize it is only noon! We haven't seen a ton of business as a result of doing them yet, but it is a great way of educating the public. It seems alot of builders in our area poo-poo radiant so we've got to get at the consumers somehow.
I have found the same thing with the boiler covers to, though my wife disagrees, with it off we just attract service techies and other heating contractors wanting to get a look a vitodens. The average consumer wants something attractive and simple to look at in their home. Of course the usual question is "That's one of those instantaneous water heaters right?"

J.C.A._3

It was explained to me....

When Scott was working on a couple of articles for a "County wide" magazine, the photographer said just about the same thing. The folks reading the articles will be looking at your trucks and maybe a job or 2 . They have no knowledge of the piping aspects, and will think it all too complicated when viewing something that would look righteous, here on The Wall.

KISS. That about sums up the advertising end of the trade. Dazzle the customer with performance and savings numbers, and they'll tell a couple more....Baffle em' with Bullshine, and they'll tell 20 people.

Josh, good show. I hope you get the message across. I also hope you have enlisted the companies whos equipment you are showing for some financial support.(They DO that sometimes).

Stay on your feet and your game for the rest of the weekend.
Best of luck. Chris

S Ebels

At least you had people at yours

The home show here was a non event. You could've touched off a 12 gauge through there and not hit anyone. Worst we've ever had.

[Deleted User]

#1 question at spring H&G shows....

"Whaddya do if it leaks?"

Answer, "Fix it..."

People must have common nightmares about plumbing that they do about heating, like fear of falling into the toilet, water coming up through the cracks of their floors...

You explain to people that they have a better chance of their potable water pipes failing and causing major water damage then they do the heating system failing, and ask why they didn't ask the same question about their plumbing. They shrug and walk on...

We've ceased doing the H&G scene. Too many lookie loos and tire kickers. I suppose we should do it as a matter of market presence, but we can't handle the work loads we have right now...

I AM thankful. Just really stressed out:-(

ME

Josh_10

Mark you're right about "the question". My answer was "it doesn't". Then explained the durability of PEX.

We had alot of folks stop by and say how much they wished they had installed Radiant but they couldn't afford it. I explained that they can't afford not to. As Dan says only rich people can afford poor heating systems.

I'm not sure how many sales we generated but we got the company name out there into a county that we have not marketed yet. We did network with cement workers though. I get about 10 referals a year from cement workers so that is good.

Thanks for the encouraging words guys. Now for day 3...

schiller

Josh, we had one this week end too, and my heals are killing me. We place a boiler mate indirect that was cut open by the factory by the front of the booth, more people stoped and asked about it than any thing else. we got 15 or 20 good leads and a few sets of plans so at least it was worth it. I agree w/ you that to much tech. stuff and the buyers just get lost. my old boss used to say we " we dont sell pipes and fittings we sell what pipes and fittings do" sell them the benfits.
and now its time to head back there and tear down our booth.
what fun!

John Ruhnke

I do one or two a year..............

I find home shows to be good market presence. We get leads even 9 months later from it. I love them. I get to talk about radiant and energy efficiency for two days straight!

I want to expand my company. Unfortunatly my bottle neck is in employees. I need to hire my first office worker soon.

JR

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Rob Blair

10 days in Pittsburgh

I just finished my second homeshow last night. 10 days and a total of 88 hours! No help except my Rehau rep for 4 hours on Saturday. Favorite question is "What if it breaks?" of course to which I answer "IT WON"T!". Then I add that someone may break it but it will not break on its own! I have an NTI mounted in my display shed and too get the question "Is that one of those instantaneous water heaters?". Gave out about 1600 business cards and spoke to alot of quality people. I think this is going to be the year that will put me on the map. Unfortunately I work by myself and plan on keeping it that way. I guess I will be able to pick the quality jobs and clients.

Rob

Unknown

Interesting, I did a home show mostly all by myself in Hartford, CT march 2, 3 and 4 pushing radiant and those Robur heat pumps I've been raving about. My results were so so. Lots of lookers but I did get a few leads that I'm following up on now. It WAS a chance to educate the public as well as myself as to what the public is looking for. Lot's of electric heat people are crying for relief, in my area anyhow. Hopefully I'll get a few calls 9 months from now too!

Another interesting thing here is how many of us work for ourselves and could use a few good employees. I don't feel so alone anymore.

hydronx_3

booth pic

you're right weezbo, I'm not to bummed when I see others at our show pushing Radiant. The more exposure people have to finding out forced air isn't the only way to go, the better for all of us.
Here is a picture of our booth this year. I made a little electric panel so people could walk on and feel it. Not alot of people like taking off their shoes though. The chasing radiant rope lights were a bigger hit and great for stopping people and getting them to take a closer look.

Rob Blair

Booth Picture

Well since we are showing pictures of our booths I figured I would put one in too. I told my wife that I get about 60 percent of the men and if I had a naked woman I would get 100 percent.

Rob

PS: Yes I know there is no expansion tank on the system! Ha-Ha!

Weezbo

i like the pic's

next time you are in the home show... as a thought, enlist a couple of the General contractors,HRV, Gypcrete,and insulation contractors to stop in and "keep it in the family" that way the public gets the idea that it is a synergistic home that you are into offering...plus you can take a break while they Chirp up their contribution to top quality homes in your area... just a thought...

BillW@honeywell

Huge home show 2 weeks ago in NJ...

Over 40,000 attended, Kevin O'connor from This Old House was the featured celebrity, after 2 days, I could barely talk, mucho foot traffic thru booth. Lots of interest in high-efficiency, IAQ and steam??? You betcha! Radiant too, and I had one lady ask me about heated towel racks. They had trouble understanding wall-hung units..."That can't be a boiler!!!" Very few HVAC guys, maybe 2-3. Shows are tough, expensive, but a necessary evil.

Rob Blair

Honeywell classes

Hey Bill,

Does Honeywell have any classes on hydronics and controls. If so please email me.

Thanks,
Rob

Dave Heath_2

Home Shows

Wolseley is a Plumbing, HVAC, Hydronic, WaterWorks Distributor in Canada.
In Calgary, we have participated for over 17+ years in two Home & Garden Trade shows a year. The last show we did in January 07 was a HUGE success. Booth size was 800 sq.ft.
We have always had great success in them. Every shift time has a Mechanical Contractor working with our staff to promote proper installation and to promote the Trades.
We promote and encourage homeowners to work with a qualified installer and allows the contractor on the spot to arrange jobsite appointments and the viewing of the Home Building Plans. We encourage homeowers that if they cannot at the time of build have hydronic heating system in the budget to at least be "Radiant Ready". This means that the Radiant Tube is installed in the basement / garage at time of construction. This allows the homeowner to have the option of installing the boiler and control package at a later date. This even saves them alot of money as the Builder does not have huge markup on price. This has allowed a constant flow of jobs that are many years old to be installed because a this early planning. Once floor is poured and pex tubing is not installed no luck in selling the boiler later!