From HGTV to High‑Efficiency: Anthony Carrino on Real‑World Comfort

Designer–contractor Anthony Carrino, known for his HGTV background and decades of real‑world building experience, breaks down what “comfort” really means inside a modern home—and why it’s far more than setting a thermostat. Learn how temperature, humidity, airflow, and ventilation work together, why tightening a home’s envelope can backfire without an ERV, and the simple design decisions that prevent those infamous “it says 70°, but it doesn’t feel like 70°” moments.

Anthony shares candid stories from the field—from retrofits gone sideways to ductwork decisions that make or break a space—and reveals the behind‑the‑scenes collaboration that happens between architects, GCs, and HVAC pros. Plus, hear why he now expects a mint on his pillow after learning the industry’s term “comfort advisor,” how zoning and variable‑speed systems changed the game, and the unexpected chaos that can live behind old walls.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make comfort truly predictable—or how to translate design choices into healthier air, quieter systems, and happier homeowners—this conversation will reshape the way you think about building performance in HVAC.

Interested in becoming a Trane dealer? Visit us at partners.trane.com to learn more about how you can partner with a leader in HVAC innovation. Explore opportunities to elevate your business and stay ahead in the market with Trane!

Creators and Guests

Host

Mary Carter

Mary Carter is a seasoned sales and marketing leader with over six years at Trane Technologies, currently serving as Regional Sales Manager. With a strong foundation in RHVAC, consumer finance, and strategic account management, Mary brings valuable insights and real-world experience to every conversation.

Host

Stephen Ross

Stephen Ross is a dynamic sales trainer and leadership coach with over nine years at Sandler Training. A former HVAC business owner, Stephen combines his technical knowledge with proven sales expertise, offering a unique perspective on what it takes to succeed in the RHVAC industry.

Guest

Anthony Carrino

Anthony Carrino is a seasoned developer, designer and owner's representative with over 25 years of experience in the construction and design industry. His expertise spans from historic restorations to new ground-up builds. He has also made a mark in television, producing and starring in over 200 episodes of design and construction content for major networks like HGTV, A&E, and Hulu - to name a few. Carrino's approach is characterized by empathy, curiosity, and adaptability. He emphasizes collaboration, effective communication, and the strategic use of technology to streamline his projects.

Producer

Jessica Blair

Jessica Blair is a Senior Learning Manager at Trane Technologies' Residential HVAC unit. With 20+ years of experience in learning and development, she designs and markets blended learning programs to enhance customer learning and align with business goals.

Editor

Kerianne O'Donnell

Kerianne O'Donnell is the Digital Learning Manager at Trane Technologies and serves as the editor of the HVAC Full Blast podcast. With a background in graphic design and a strong passion for developing digital learning experiences, Kerianne brings her creative expertise to the podcast, delivering engaging and impactful content to listeners.

What is HVAC Full Blast?

HVAC Full Blast is your bi-weekly dose of HVAC business growth, powered by Trane. Hosted by Mary Carter (Trane Technologies) and Stephen Ross (Sandler), this podcast is built for residential HVAC dealers who want to scale their business, sharpen their sales, and lead with confidence.

Tune in for expert interviews, dealer success stories, and practical tips on pricing, service agreements, workforce development, and more. Whether you're in the field or in the office, HVAC Full Blast helps you stay ahead in a competitive market.

Interested in becoming a Trane Dealer? Visit our website at https://partners.trane.com/

We'd love your feedback and suggestions on future episodes. Please email us at [e-mail].

This podcast channel is for general informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in these episodes are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Trane Technologies. Trane Technologies makes no warranty or guarantee concerning accuracy or completeness of the content presented in this webinar.

Trane does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material is for informational purposes only and it should not be relied on for tax, legal, or accounting advice. Tax law is subject to continual change. All decisions are your responsibility and you should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors. Trane disclaims any responsibility for actions taken on the material presented.

All trademarks referenced are the trademarks of their respective owners. ©2025 Trane. All Rights Reserved.

Join hosts Mary Carter and
Stephen Ross as they sit down

with designer contractor
Anthony Carrino for a candid

deep dive into
real world comfort,

what it actually takes to
make a home feel great,

not just read seventy
degrees on the thermostat.

From tightening the building
envelope to rightsizing

ductwork, zoning and
variable speed systems,

and knowing when
an ERV is a must,

Anthony shares practical
plays to deliver quiet,

balanced comfort and healthier indoor
air without blowing the budget.

Whether you're retrofitting
an older space,

planning a basement finish,

or advising homeowners
as a dealer or GC,

this episode offers step by
step cues to align design with

mechanicals and turn
comfort, airflow,

and IAQ into a
competitive advantage.

Let's get started.

Welcome back to another
episode of HVAC Full Blast.

I'm Mary Carter.

I'm Stephen Ross.

And we have a guest today,

but in the win loss
column of how many friends

does Mary not have,

I don't I think we both
get a neutral for this one.

Yeah. That's you you cannot
take the loss this time, Mary.

That's for sure.

I I I really don't enjoy losing,

so that's a good thing for me.

Welcome Anthony Carrino.

Thanks so much for having me.

Mary, I make fast friends
so let's see how we do here.

Maybe you can claim me by
the end of this episode.

I like that. I think
that's a great goal.

So Anthony, were recommended
to us by some folks

over at Trane Technologies and
you are a designer contractor

that has been in the
space for thirty years?

Yeah, just about twenty,
twenty five, twenty six,

somewhere up there.

I mean, all the gray and the beard
should tell you all you need to know.

Amazing, okay so we're really excited
because obviously we're called

HVAC Full Blast, Stephen and
I have done a lot to talk

about the business side of the
house and really where you can

grow more skills when you're
running a small business.

But we're HVAC full blast.

We gotta talk about
HVAC sometime, right?

Yeah. Let's do it. Yeah.

I've I've been working with
with my friends at Trane going

on maybe five or six years now,

but even before that
they've always been the name

in the industry that I've
always looked toward when it

comes to quality, high
efficiency, comfort,

technology, pushing pushing
HVAC as an industry forward.

I'm always excited to have the
nerdy conversations and get

into the good stuff around
you know temperature control

keeping your home comfortable
really wherever you guys want

to go we can dive in.

Can we start with comfort? I
Mary, I got a story for you.

I, with my first year of being
in heating and air sales,

I came from outside
the industry.

I had some sales background,

but I didn't know a whole
lot about heating and air.

So my first year
was a little rough.

And I went out to go
see this very polite

Southern little old
lady, gray hair in a bun,

had her glasses on.

I walked in, we sat down at
the dining room table and my

competitors kind
of proposal trifold

brochure was there and his
business card was there and his

business card said
comfort advisor.

And the first thing that
we said when we sat down,

she picked this up and she goes,

now they sent out
a comfort advisor.

Are you out here to put a mint
on my pillow or are we going to

talk heating and air?

And it just struck me as really
funny because in our industry,

we think comfort, of course
it means heating and air.

But I mean, mattress
companies use that term.

This lady equated it with
putting a mint on her pillow at

the end of the install, I guess.

So Anthony, you're the
general contractor.

I mean, you we are
just looking at houses

through the heating
and air lens,

but comfort is
kind of a big term.

Maybe we should just, can
we start with defining that?

Yeah.

Well, first we could start with,

I'm going to be asking all
my HVAC subs for mints on my

pillow at the end
of these jobs now.

Didn't know that was an And

I'll tell you, man,

good on you because HVAC is
one heck of a deep pool to be

jumping in that first
year, like holy cow.

And

yeah I mean so comfort in the
home it does mean so many things.

To someone like me who you
know I was a general contractor

for a long time and a developer I
still develop my own properties.

My focus now is in
the design world both

architectural and interior
and project management.

So my level of project management
is a bit different in that.

I really focus on
pulling the anxiety

off of my clients shoulders.

So it's kind of this
full service where I take them

through architectural design.

How do you use your house?
How do you entertain?

Let's talk about flow and choke
points and you know spatial

awareness through
the interiors and

that's everything from cabinets
countertops and backsplashes

to what kind of HVAC
system are we gonna spec,

do we need any
kind of makeup air,

ERVs which we can get into?

There's enough acronyms in this
industry to knock you over but

for anybody who isn't aware
energy recovery ventilator it's

basically changing indoor
and outdoor air quality.

So when I talk about design,

talk about everything from the
pretty things to the systems

that run your house and like
really selecting the right

products to accomplish
the end goal

within your budget.

And that within your budget
is always the trade off point

where you have to say, well,
what's more important here?

A or B or C or D or go to
the end of the alphabet?

We all know how many decisions

are need to be
made by the end of

a construction project.

So when I think
about, sorry Mary,

when I think about
comfort in the home,

I think about the envelope
that separates the outside

environment from your house
and how efficiently we can

keep that at a
constant temperature.

I'm in the northeast, so that
means heat and cooling for me.

Depending on where you
are in the country,

you may have more or less of
one or the other depending on

that outdoor climate.

But it's basically saying how
do we keep the outdoors out and

the inside in without giving all
my money to the utility company.

Sounds like a good good

definition to kick
us off with comfort.

Yeah.

I love that you acknowledge
just the all of the decisions

in designing and whatnot.

When we bought our house,

we had an unfinished basement
and just the finishing

work for that basement.

I remember by the end of it,

I couldn't make a
decision to save my life.

I mean, it was like, what
do you want for dinner?

And I was like, I think
the answer is food.

Like I didn't even know how to.

That's great.

I didn't even know how to.

On the humidity down there, are
you putting a French drain in?

Do you need vapor barriers?
Do you have radon issues?

I mean,

is why I have a job.

And I gotta tell you,

it's one of the things that
drives me crazy going back to

my HGTV days about, you know,

the lack of knowledge that
television network shared with folks.

And it was always,

I remember the amount of
speaking I would do in front of

a camera and then I'd
watch the episode.

And it's not that I wasn't
proud of what we put out and

that project came out great,

but like there was no real
educational value there.

So it's, I so much prefer having
conversations like these where

you can actually help
folks try and discern,

you know, the left from
the right and how to get

to the finish line at
the end of the day.

I like to say a lot like
you don't have to know

in-depth everything
you're talking about,

but just knowing the
questions to ask,

if you just listen
with a logical brain,

you're going to be able
to pick A or B when a

subcontractor in any trade is
telling you the pluses and the

minuses of the two
choices in front of you.

I think one of the interesting
things and maybe this is

a maybe you could share with

us some stories.

I think I've learned probably
the most from when you

kind of watch things go wrong.

And I've been a part of some
conversations where we at least

caught it ahead of time.

I'll give you a quick example.

Like we were looking
at design for a house.

I'm I'm in the southeast.

We have a huge lake outside
of Columbia, South Carolina,

and this very nice
house was going in.

And, you know, a typical
heat load for a a a,

let's say a three bedroom house,

you'd have four or five
people in the house max,

but their dining room was designed
to seat like thirty people.

And so we're looking at this
thing and we're going, hey,

I think there's a problem here
because the the design is perfect.

The mechanical engineer
actually did it.

It's it's for a five ton system
but if we went back and said,

what if they do put thirty
people in this dining room?

All of a sudden, the the
numbers change dramatically.

Anthony, do you have
any like, I mean,

some examples of how maybe
comfort got skewed one way or

the other by unexpected usage.

That a fair question or?

Yeah, for sure. I
mean, not directly.

I think the most
experience I've had is like

not sizing the system
properly for the

number of windows in
a particular room.

You know glass is is a
is a huge heating and

cooling loss factor and
when that's not taken into

account properly, you know, if
you were in a room that was all

sheetrock and all insulation,

no natural light, a
lot of fun to be in,

but if you're in a room that's
fully insulated, no glass,

okay that load was probably
accurate but you got to take

into account all of the factors

in order to make sure that
that room is gonna stay at that

constant temperature.

It also matters what
glass you've selected,

what insulation you've selected.

So if you're using a
standard fiberglass bat,

if you're using rock wool,
if you're using spray foam,

those all have different
levels of insulation.

The R values in glass,
is it single pane?

I mean it's not single pane
anymore but just for hyperbolic

storytelling.

Is it single pane? Is it
dual pane argon filled?

Now you've got
triple pane glass.

Do you have low E
coatings on these things?

So like the number of questions
can kind of be endless

But the answers to those
questions are really important.

So one of the things I do
with my clients as we sit down

and I always tell
them, this process

is very layered.

Every decision you make impacts
another decision you need to make.

So we try and work from
the outside in because once you

understand what that envelope
is going to be made up

of the glass whether
you've got you know a

masonry structure a frame
structure what what your

sheathing is do you have
exterior insulation on that

building and then
you work your way in.

Okay now we're now we're at the
sheathing layer now we're at

the interior wall layer now
we've got our insulation in the

interior sheetrock glass.

Okay, now that that's done,

let's talk about sizing the
equipment that we need in

this home appropriately
so that I mean look Stephen

you're having a thirty person
party I think that's an outlier

case and if you're sizing a
system to handle that kind of

BTU load that that a human
being throws off I think you're

going to be way oversized.

But when you're talking about
windows and insulation and

walls and the
general environment,

sizing that for the number of
people who live in the home for

the most amount of time is what
you're trying to accomplish.

Yeah, in that scenario,
the homeowner actually, I mean,

we pushed back a little
bit to go to the builder.

They really gonna, I mean,

why do you have a dining room
this big was the question.

And they said, hey, we
plan on entertaining.

So we, to your point,

we did have to oversize
the equipment a little bit,

go with two systems
instead of just one,

but then put variable speed systems
in that could ramp back down.

Because to your point, I mean,

you're even though
they're saying, hey.

We host people on
a regular basis,

it's still not in terms
of hours of runtime.

It's not it's not
that many hours.

It's just that when it happens,

it's a real big deal if the
heating and air can't keep up.

Yeah.

And and like and like
anything in construction,

it's always doable.

It's just Yeah. Yeah.

How how much is how much
it's gonna cost you.

So if you've got an
unlimited budget, hell,

we'll figure it out for you.

I'll I'll put in a dedicated
mini split unit that's just for

that room that when you have
a party, you flip the switch,

and you're gonna get all the
cooling you need like no problem.

I wanna zoom out a little bit
because you mentioned that all

the layers and we were talking
about comfort and you mentioned

some a few key areas of comfort.

So temperature feels like the
one we're all most familiar

with agreed, but you
also mentioned humidity,

airflow and then air quality.

Right.

So why, you know, do those three

variables of comfort
then guide you in this

kind of designing process?

Where are these four in total
when you get temperature?

Where are they gonna take Okay.

I think it's
important to note that

humidity, temperature and
airflow are all the things

that impact your
indoor air quality.

Your indoor air quality is the result
of the things I just mentioned.

So in order to
keep an indoor air

quality or IAQ again with
the acronyms is just you know

the fancy way of saying am
I breathing healthy air?

Know and in terms of working
with my clients and in my

approach again like I always
just try and break it down to

the most basic way someone
can think about it.

Instead of trying to
take this heady approach,

it's like how do you make
somebody who's never worked in

this industry before
help them understand it?

Are you and your family
breathing healthy air?

That's it. Bottom line. So
a couple of factors there.

With the way technology
has been progressing

in all manner of life,

but specifically in the
construction industry,

you've got these really tight
envelopes now or you have the

ability to have these
really tight envelopes now.

I mentioned rockwool,
I mentioned spray foam

insulation, so two
great examples.

Rockwool is gonna
breathe a bit more.

It's a stone mineral
wool insulation,

super dense, it's a
hundred percent recycled,

know so it's made
up of actually crushed rocks.

That's gonna let
a little bit more

transmission come from
indoor to outdoor.

When you get into
the spray foam world,

especially with closed cell,

because there's closed cell
and open cell spray foam,

but when you get into
closed cell spray foam,

that chemical
reaction is going to

bleed into each nook and cranny.

You're gonna have the tightest
possible envelope from the

outdoor environment.

Great.

Yes.

Also really bad if your home
isn't designed properly.

So you need in
that circumstance,

you really need to have an
energy recovery ventilator.

To explain that as
simply as possible,

when you're not changing the

air that's in your
home regularly,

you start to breathe a lot
more carbon dioxide because all

the oxygen that you're
expelling has nowhere to go,

you're not bringing fresh
air in so that quality

deteriorates over time.

Now for example Trane has got
the CleanEffects air filter

that communicates
with their systems.

I happen to have it in my home
and especially like in the

springtime when all that pollen is
in the air I'll just hit the

allergy button and
my fan will run for a

consistent twenty four
hours and change over and

filter all the air
that's in my home.

I don't have spray foam
insulation. I have Rockwool.

So that to me is sufficient.

If you've got spray
foam insulation,

you really need that
ERV where, oh boy,

I'm gonna do my best to
explain this really simply.

So the energy recovery
ventilator is connected

to your HVAC system and
based on the system design

that is definitely above my
pay grade just to be clear.

You are exchanging
indoor and outdoor air,

you're exchanging the indoor
and outdoor air but you are

doing so in a manner that
doesn't take for example in the

middle of the winter,

it's not taking frigid air from the
exterior and dumping it into your home.

It brings it in and
it crosses the air

with the air that's being spit
out so it's bringing that new

frigid air up to temperature
to keep your home comfortable

is our theme But it's also
bringing in it's all fresh air.

So you're not losing all
the heat that you have done.

You've not losing all that
conditioning that you've done

to the inside air.

So it's this

efficient swap of
air if you will

from the not so healthy stuff to

the fresh healthy stuff so
you're breathing good quality

air on the interior.

Sorry, I know that
was a long one.

These answers are not
short in this industry.

Well, that's kind of,
it's important though,

like you said, to get into
the meat of it, right?

Because what I have found even
in my own education on products

and just getting a little bit
more technical is there's sort

of like this level one.

And then it's like level two,
three, four, five, six, seven,

eight come really
fast behind it.

Yeah. Level level one is just
enough to get you in trouble.

Yeah.

That's where level
one takes you to.

Oh, I know what I'm doing.
Let's just do it this way.

No, no, no, no.

You gotta get to at least
level three or four.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I think there's a little
bit of an intimidation factor

in our industry on going
there because not only are

these the technical products
but then you're working in

people's homes and how
intimidating is that?

I appreciate the
level of detail.

Yeah, awesome.

And yeah, it's exactly what was
missing from the TV days like

I said. Yeah. I'm
I'm I'm to do it.

I just feel bad that
I ramble on sometimes.

Yeah. No. It's good. Hey.

In the in the southeast, you
know, we are bigger I mean,

we have we have heat,

not necessarily like
the southwest has heat,

but we have heat.

But, you know, our bigger issue
a lot of times is humidity.

And, you know, I've had a homeowner
tell me one time that said, hey.

You know, we go to sleep.
It's ten o'clock at night.

We have the thermostat set at
seventy. We're comfortable.

We fall asleep. We wake up at
two o'clock in the morning.

It's still seventy,
but now we're hot.

Because and they don't
know what's happening.

They're just saying,
hey. Why are we hot now?

It still says seventy.

But, obviously,
we know, you know,

that relative humidity went up.

The the the air conditioner was
running a lot in the evening to

cool the house down, but then
in the middle of the night,

it's not running as much.

So how does that
factor in, Anthony,

when you're designing a home?

You know, how does that humidity
control piece factor in as well?

Yeah, it's interesting.

I have not dealt with
humidity control as much.

The Northeast,
typically speaking,

I find that forced
hot air in the

wintertime and air
conditioning in the summertime,

we already have the
right balance there,

I don't have to add that
additional humidification or

dehumidification piece.

For those that aren't aware,

air conditioning is a natural
dehumidifier forced hot air

is also quite dry.

So I would say if anything
I think I remember maybe one

project years and years ago
I added humidification to it

because of that dry forced
hot air in the wintertime

just making a little more
comfortable so you're having

the scratchy throat or dry nose
at night when you're waking But

it's not an area of expertise
for me That's where I really

lean on my subs where
I'll say look you know

somebody has an allergy in this
house or you know they tend to

be it tends you know
something's very dry or

too moist and we want to
make sure we control that and

then I dig in with them
and just continue to ask

questions using overall
you know industry knowledge

to then help the homeowner
ultimately make a decision there.

The one thing I will say that
I'll do specifically when it

comes to at night and you
know like you said the air

conditioning will kick off
and it's not kicking back on.

I'll tend to add additional
temperature sensors to

different rooms you know you
have your thermostat centrally

located or located where your
HVAC tech is recommending it

and that's usually in an
area that's sufficient to

read that temperature.

It's somewhere where it's going
to be between your registers

and your return air so air
continues to flow by it and

it's getting relatively
accurate readings for the home.

As we know, depending on
the size of your home,

there's a lot of different
factors to consider.

At night, for example,
having a separate or remote

thermostat reader in the bedroom

or where bodies are that are

releasing BTUs that helps you
to modulate that temperature

a little bit more.

There's been a pretty good
evolution in zoning systems as well.

I mean I think when I first got
into it, which was, you know,

the mid kinda early
two thousands,

everything was single stage.

There were bypass, know,
for the zones and now,

it's way better.

I mean, it's just some of those
old zoning systems were so rough to

try to maintain and install
and get balanced and so on.

Wild.

Yeah.

It's super cool.

All those mechanical dampers
and all that stuff it's really

really interesting.

I'll tell you, Stephen, even
beyond the zoning of it all,

you said single stage.

You remember when those things
kicked on and literally every

light in your house just
dimmed down because it whacks

your electric load so, so heavy.

The train unit I
have in my house,

I think it has something like
seven fifty stages in the motor.

Anecdotal, but when my HVAC tech

turned the system on for the
first time I was like are you

sure it's running?

And he's like you can feel
that I'm like I know but and I

literally had to climb up to
the attic stairs and put my ear

on the thing it's dead
silent because you don't

feel that kick on and the
clunk of the ductwork and all

the rest of it.

It just steps right through
those stages as needed

and that variable
speed is so so key when

it comes to energy efficiency.

It's so funny how that single
stage experience is what

we've come to expect
or even you know,

we we compare so much to cars,

But like that that rev of
the engine is like what we

wanna hear to make sure
we know it's all working.

So I I think that's
so interesting.

So I wanna go back to
some of this, you know,

how we're designing and picking
things because when we did our

basement, as I
brought up earlier,

I was very excited and not to
just fall into my stereotypical

role here, but I thought,
oh, this is so fun.

I get to go pick
out colorful cabinets and pretty hardwoods

and just do all the
fun designing things.

Little did I know there was
this whole design element going

on before we even
touched aesthetics.

And in the moment I was a little
resentful of the time it was taking.

However, I can say post
project completion,

I'm really thankful for all the
smart things we did down there.

And like, for example,
recess lighting,

like at the time I was
like, what is the deal?

And now I'm like, oh,
this makes so much sense.

We, it's a short basement.

We have so much more
room because of this.

So

are the recessed lighting
parts of an HVAC system?

What's kind of thankless part of
the design that really matters?

Yeah, so first I'll say Mary,

the hardest client I have to
convince when I'm interviewing

for a first time for somebody
to hire me is someone who's

never been through a renovation.

Any client, whether I've
known them in the past or not,

that has been
through a renovation,

it's a fifteen minute
conversation like yeah yeah we

know you're hired.

You go through it once and
you understand that you want

somebody on your team who has
fully focused for the last

twenty, twenty five,
thirty years on this thing.

It is a full time job.

It is not to say
that the homeowner isn't involved.

They're involved a ton. It's
a very collaborative process.

It's the ability to make sure
you don't miss something and

that every box is checked.

Specifically to answer your
question with respect to HVAC,

the number one thing that
needs to be considered is

where you're placing your
ducts because they do impact

aesthetics so much or they
can impact aesthetics so much.

I say can because if you do
have really nice tall ceilings

I'm in an old historic
firehouse here in Jersey City

I've got fourteen feet
on each floor so I don't

have a single soffit
anywhere in my home because

I said let me steal six,

eight inches from

the roof down
and hide absolutely everything.

You only see a few nice sleek
registers in my ceiling But if

you're in an eight foot
finished ceiling home,

you don't have that option or you
can't bury the ducts completely.

You've got to think about where
the trunk line is running and

then that translates
into, okay, well,

this system needs to be sized
as Stephen was saying earlier.

So what is the
size of that duct?

And how much of a soffit
are we talking about?

Where can we place it
know make it the least

intrusive into the home
design as possible?

And I had a similar
situation Anthony.

I moved into a house that was
built in nineteen forty nine

and so it wasn't just a
matter of swapping out the old

heating and air system for
something new and fancy.

It was that we had to
completely redesign the

ductwork because the old
ductwork would not have even

been compatible with
kind of a newer system.

So, it's it is a process
to your point that if you miss

that step during your
renovation it comes back to

bite you in the
butt down the road.

Yeah without a doubt and it's
like you know even to this day

like I still don't I'm still
not comfortable sizing the

ductwork for the
tonnage of this system.

I always go to trusted HVAC
pros to make sure it gets done

right because if
you get it wrong,

it's something that is going to
rear its head after the project

is done and it's going
to cost you thousands

if it's even
possible to rectify,

because you to have the volume

of air flowing
through those ducts.

Number one, it's quiet.

Number two there's enough back
pressure hitting the system so

that you know it can take the
right readings and it knows how

much air to push.

These are not things that
you want to say yeah I'm a

GC, I can do some math and
figure this out, no way.

And if you've ever been in a
home where you've either heard

those clanging ducts or
you feel the rush of the

air, that's the
other thing people,

you're not supposed to
feel an HVAC system.

It's supposed to just kind of
you know be that silent hero

that keeps the home nice and
comfortable keeps your indoor

air quality nice.

You don't don't want to know
about it and if it's installed

the right way you won't
ever know about it.

You change your filters on a
quarterly basis or clean your

filters on if you've got reusable
ones like I do and that's it.

Give some advice.

I think I got very
lucky in that I picked a

good general contractor and I
had never done a big renovation

before and so I say lucky
because I think I went into

it thinking that I knew all
the right questions to ask,

and I really didn't.

But, you know, our listeners are
gonna be all over the country,

and and some of them may be
close enough to you to say, hey.

I wanna work with Anthony.

But what kind of advice would
you give a homeowner that is

looking for a good general
contractor to either build a

house from scratch or
retrofit to keep in mind?

I mean, we don't just want
a house that looks pretty.

It's got to be functional. Does.

We use that word comfort at the
beginning with proper airflow

and temperature control leading
to good indoor air quality.

So help me shop for a GC Sure.

That you knew just
on a basic level.

Yeah. So first and foremost,
you can't be in a rush.

If you think you're
starting tomorrow,

you're already in trouble.

You've got six, eight months
in prep work and that's

everything from finding
your GC, selecting products,

design, architecture,
all that stuff.

That's the first thing
to get right is to

set your own expectations
properly for the timeline.

If you want to be
starting a project

in eight months, you need to
be starting today on all that

legwork from the
homeowner's perspective.

When it comes to finding a
general contractor or someone

like myself who's a designer
and project manager in the

commercial world, we're
called an owner's rep.

I am your represent, I am the
homeowner's representative.

So I'm another person that
you can gut check against,

GC hands you a change order.

I can say, listen, Stephen,

this is an honest change order
this guy couldn't see through

these walls when he was quoting
the project this existing

condition is here we
really owe him this money.

Okay got it.

Conversely GC hands you a
change order and I go BS man

we had this on the scope
of work it's here on the

architectural plans I'm sorry
you missed it we'll help you

work through it but this is a cost
you're gonna have to eat here.

You know there's a common
misconception I think that a

project manager and owner's rep
just sides with the homeowner

and that's not what
what the job is.

The job is to make sure the job
gets done and that we divide

responsibilities appropriately
and we do that through being

honest and through communicating
overly communicate.

Answer the question directly,
how do we find a good GC?

You gotta be willing
to put the legwork in.

This is not a couple
of phone calls.

This is not looking at
pretty pictures on a website.

You gotta go to some jobs.

You know, hey Bob I'd love to
see something you have under

construction when can I come
by I'd love to take a walk?

You do not need to know
what you're looking at.

People who I don't know I don't
know if it's frame right I

don't know if the
wires install right.

No, but you know the
difference between a mess,

you know the difference between
a disaster and a neat and well

kept job site.

Orderly or chaos? Is
the job broom clean?

Does the plumber have all
his raw materials stacked neatly?

Has the electrician run all the
wires straight and nail them

off or are we looking at a rat's nest
of wires going all over the place?

It's like basic
pride in workmanship.

Anybody can discern that stuff.

This is not asking the
specialty questions like we're

getting into here and talking
about duct sizing and locations

and where all this
stuff is gonna sit.

You're looking for
pride in workmanship,

you're looking for organization,

you're looking for
good communication.

Do you see a lot of spray
paint marks on the floor with

different indicators?

Do you see Sharpie marker
written on the wall for

switches and outlets
and different things?

You know these are
all indicators that

people are passionate about
what they do that they don't

want to make mistakes because
they know how long and how

costly they are to
go back to rectify.

They're getting it done
right the first time.

This is not to say that
you still can't make a mistake,

but I find those things to
be some really good early

indicators, early signs to
help you make that decision.

You know it's funny I have
this conversation a lot with a

couple buddies in the industry
because like we'll recommend

different trades to each other or
you know you recommend a GC

to a homeowner and then you get
called up yelling and screamed

at and it's like

sadly word-of-mouth isn't
always the best like people

what's that phrase past
performance isn't a guarantee

on future blah blah blah.

I think it's a stock market

disclosure or something or an investor
disclosure but it's the truth.

I remember a buddy of
mine was having an issue.

He's like can you come by and just
read this guy the riot act for me?

I don't want to bother you but I
said yeah no problem I come by.

I'm looking at my buddy's job
I'm like what is going on here?

So as we're getting ready to
leave this contractor pulls he

just happened to pull up and
I start getting into it with him

and we're having a conversation.

About a half hour goes
by, I'm now his therapist,

he's going through a divorce,

he's upset this and that is
kids and the thing and it's

like okay well we know why this
guy's a disaster now so let's

help him get this you know
project across the line but

it's just to say like life
happens and this is a very

hands on process so you
know I don't know if I gave

you a great straight answer there
but everything I said is true.

Oh yeah. No, you did.

And you know what I love about
that advice is we had done an

episode about some hiring
best practices and how to find

really good talent.

And a guest had told a
similar story about, you know,

just walking the candidate back
to their car and you can do a

real quick assessment on someone's
car to know like, do they care?

Are they orderly? You
know, is it a mess?

And, know, just, you know,

kind of quick judgments that are
going to help you make that decision.

And I actually love the
idea of asking a contractor

like hey can I see some work
you've done and I would imagine

that the good ones say yeah
come on in you know and the bad

ones are like oh I don't
know about that you know?

Yeah and you know Mary just to
put a clarifier there so number

one like not work you've
done meaning okay like

I love the industry I'm proud
of my work I'm still I'm

not letting you in my
house to see my house but

not only do I think it's
important to see something

that's under constructions
preferably in the rough stage

so you can see inside the walls,

but I prefer to go in the middle
of the day when guys are working.

How many trades are on-site?

Are people communicating
well together?

Watching the organized
chaos unfold into a

well executed orchestra
and this guy who you're

gonna hire is the maestro conducting
it is a great thing to witness.

Nice, nice.

So I guess just trying to keep
it all straight in my head.

I like how we started out.

I like how you said at the
beginning that indoor air

quality is really the result
of temperature control,

humidity control, pop
proper airflow, and so on.

We talked a little
bit about duct design,

making sure that that's done
properly so that we we do get

the the airflow that we want
in each individual room,

not just blast it all in
the living room and hope it

trickles out with the rest
of the house kind of And

then I like just kind of like
keeping that in mind as you go

on-site to go check out a
general contractor's work.

Yeah, they frame
the ceilings down?

Or did they not have
the ability to do that?

Did they think about the
soffits thoughtfully?

I guess, Stephen, it's
kind of worth saying too,

there's so many
overlapping areas of

responsibility

in construction.

By way of example,

a lot of architects don't even
bother drawing ductwork on the plans.

They just leave it to the
mechanical sub to do that.

Some architects do draw it
and then mechanical subs just

ignore it and so really
as a homeowner this is

a lot to take on as a homeowner.

I guess it's an advertisement
for my line of work again,

but I'm very specific
about saying,

hey, architect,
you can skip this,

I'm going to work
through it directly

the HVAC sub because we've got
some existing conditions I want

to take care of or
the homeowner is still

contemplating an ERV and we're going
to have to work that into the attic.

Just a VIF on the plans,

verify in field and we will or
duct design in field by contractor.

Making sure those notes are there
because if you don't do that,

then everybody has the ability
to point at each other and say,

it's not my responsibility,
it's not Myers, oh,

it's his fault, they
should have done that,

And you try and limit the
amount that that can happen and

bring it as close
to zero as possible.

Everybody's got a really
detailed outline scope.

And when we do have that
issue, we can go to one person.

If you have a really good GC,

they're obviously
your point person,

but I try and think beyond that
in an effort to be helpful and

efficient on behalf of
the GC to say, okay,

this is what's going
on as we progress here.

Mary I got a story for you.

I'm not surprised.

All right but it was all right
but you know similar to your

house it a homeowner
that was doing they were

retrofitting their attic.

They were building a
room in their attic.

And we came in and
we did the heat load.

We we measured it all out.

We did the duct design, and
they called us back midsummer,

which was, like,
three months later.

And they're like, hey.

The room won't get below
eighty five degrees.

And so we had a technician
troubleshoot the equipment.

Equipment was
working as intended.

We came out. We remeasured.
We redid the heat load.

The heat load was proper.

Finally, we went in there
with an infrared gun,

and we could see the
studs in the walls.

The, the guys that put up the
sheetrock and the insulation

just did insulation
in every other chase.

Oh.

So when you saw it on
an infrared camera,

it was like zebra stripes all
around the attic where they had

just cut corners and so the
contractor had to rip the walls out.

You got to be kidding me it's
like they thought they were

filling every other cell
in a CMU wall or something.

Jesus.

Yeah.

They thought they'd get away
with it and and blame it on the

heating and air guys but we
figured it And it'll one of

things I mean insulation is
relatively speaking one of the

more economical
portions of the job.

Like what are we
doing here guys?

Yeah I think it just either
they were waiting on a truck

that wasn't going to arrive in
time and they wanted to get it

done or it had to have been
more schedule or manpower

related because like you said
the cost of the insulation is

minimal so they weren't saving a
ton of money leaving it out.

Was but there you go.

That's wild.

Yeah the amount of stuff you
see on a construction site

never ceases to amaze
in all my years.

It's so true.

So I'm just making it
about me as I always do.

Yeah listen that's the
best way to ask questions,

the best way to learn.

If you have something that's
personally applicable it tends

to stick around in
the mind a lot more.

So we live in a pretty old
house it was built in the 50s.

I live in the Northeast and

definitely relating
to Stephen here,

us East Coasters and humidity,
wow, we're, we're, we've seen it.

But as I've mentioned, we did
a project on just half the house.

But it was really kind of
interesting to work through a

lot of retrofit
situations because

we weren't tearing this thing
down and starting from the studs.

We were making it
work with the output,

the footprint that we had.

And so I'm kind of curious on
retrofit jobs that you've seen and

maybe the good, the bad,

the ugly when it
comes to HVAC and

how it can impact a job.

Yeah, so it's one of
the harder things to

retrofit and

I sound a bit like
a broken record,

but I guess especially when it comes
to train for those that aren't aware,

you have to be certified in
order to install those systems.

You take a bunch
of classes and you

to keep your certification up in
order to install those systems.

It's why it gives me a super
high degree of confidence when

I call my HVAC tech
who is a trained

guy and it's typically
the system that I install

or have installed on my behalf

because you got to size
everything properly.

You can't just say I
need a new air handler.

If you can't replace the ductwork
and you are retrofitting,

you've got to size the air handler
appropriate to the ductwork.

And then if that system
now retrofit is not

enough airflow to properly
control the comfort inside the

home as we've defined it here,

then you need to
add supplemental.

So that's either
a mini split unit

or a secondary air
handling unit with

additional ductwork and
have those those units work

in concert or with
mechanical dampener.

A dampener just means like
it's it's zoned so you can the

damper opens if the zone
is calling for heat or cooling

damper closes if it's not
needed and then that gives

additional power to another
section of the system or

the system ramps down so as
not to overpower the ducts

that are in use.

But I think the short answer
there is it's complicated and

it's why when it
comes to HVAC like the

quality of that
sub is infinitely,

infinitely important.

And well, kind of,

and it might be a very similar
answer as when we were asking

about, how do I go
shopping for a good

GC or project manager, but how do
you go shopping for a good sub?

How do you kind of,

what are you looking at when you're
looking at an HVAC contractor?

Yeah, I mean, the risk
of sounding repetitive,

you being trained being my
preferred brand and the one

that I recommend to
clients as much as I do,

Having those certified
installers gives me peace of

mind so that, you know,
twenty five plus years,

like we've said, I've got my
subs around the area that I

know I'm ingrained
in the industry,

but I do travel for work,

or I'll have a family
member from somewhere else.

I say, listen, I don't
know anybody in your area,

but this is what I can tell you.

Trane has certified
professionals like I've done

work up in the Catskill
Mountains down here in Jersey

City, I've gone down to
Florida, I have clients.

Anywhere I work with a
trained certified pro,

I've had a very
similar experience.

You know, different name,
different company name,

different logo, but the system
is installed in the same manner,

it's always sized the right
way and these guys know these

systems inside and out.

Not to mention Trains
got tech support

specifically for
their certified techs.

You can't call them,
I can't call them,

But those guys
have direct lines,

so if they're working through
an issue on-site, hey,

I'm unsure of A, B and C,
they've got a direct line to,

let's call it pro certified support
for their pro certified techs.

And they and I mean I've seen
guys on the phone for two hours

with headphones in literally
like working while the guys

talking move that wire there,

move this way and it's it's
usually solved in one visit.

So you know all of those
things are really important.

The build quality of
the system is important,

the longevity is important,
the warranty is important,

but supporting the guys who
go and install those things is

just as important because when
you come out for a service call

if you can't troubleshoot that
thing on your own like having

those people at corporate that can
help you through that is really dialed.

Well, we love to hear that.

So I'm really glad that that
is a big part of the answer.

And I'm also just gonna plug
the fact that now that we have

our actual trained technician
app and technicians can

actually, you know, our
support lines are incredible.

And I agree with you.

I've spoken with them myself
and I've always come away with

so much knowledge, so
incredibly helpful there,

but with the power of the app
in your hand and being able to

actually text back and forth and get
quick images and quick troubleshooting,

we're hoping to just even
increase that speed to service.

Great points.

Mary, I can even
share with you like

I did an install,

it was on my own house and
it was in the heart of COVID

and

I forget there was some
material in short supply and

like basically my systems
installed and like we can't

turn it on because like
we're missing this thing.

One of the techs was like if
you have this relay box and you

do this, we'll send
you one of those.

We have one of those
within, you know,

as soon as we received
the relay box,

they were basically able to
jump cables or do whatever they

did, but they were able to just

heat and cool my
home the right way

based on like this guy's
insane knowledge of how all the

systems worked and how a new system
can interact with an old system.

And that ran my

HVAC system on the first floor
until the part became available

and now thankfully all those
supply chain issues are in the

past but all to say is like it
wasn't like sorry that's not

available you'll have heat when we
get the part it's like oh no

I'm passionate about what I do.

I'm gonna figure
this out for you.

Here's a solution
that's gonna work.

And being that problem solving
is my job you know I always

appreciate someone who's
willing to go the extra mile to

figure out that they're not
so typical solution you know.

Definitely.

Yeah.

So Anthony you've been on
something like two hundred some

home improvement shows
and episodes and daytime

TV. Where are we
gonna see you next?

Oh my gosh.

You know I'm actually taking
a break from the cameras man

I've actually even stopped
shooting my YouTube stuff

because I just I am so busy
right now with private client

projects I've got a
new wood fired pizza

restaurant I'm designing and
project managing here in Jersey

City.

I just took on a new
brownstone for a friend who's

converting an old four family
into a single family home for

him and his family

I pop up on podcasts,

make little appearances here and

there when I get called and
I'm sure as the weather starts

getting nicer again the cameras
will come out and we'll be

shooting more YouTube
stuff as well.

I'm very interested just because
you said it's just the uptick there.

Are you seeing a little
bit of resurgence in home

projects right now or building
projects for that matter?

Because we know just from lots
of economic data that there was

a huge boom in COVID and then
consumer confidence kind of

weaned, it kind of dropped off.

But are you seeing a little bit
of a shift into some curiosity

on like, what can
I do with my space?

Yeah, for sure.

So I think COVID was
such an anomaly that

anything after that is
gonna seem like a pullback,

but at least in my area around
here, Hoboken, Jersey City,

Northern New Jersey,
like it has remained

relatively speaking busy.

I think interest
rates not coming down

as much as people
were anticipating in

'twenty five has people
saying, okay, well,

if I can't move or
it's not a good value

proposition to sell my home and
buy another one because I'm trading

a two percent or three percent
mortgage for a six percent mortgage.

Let's do a renovation.

HELOC money is typically cheaper
money than mortgage money.

I find people taking a HELOC
or something like that or

doing a securities back line
of credit or something and then

get you know getting into their
renovation that way and just

creating that quality of life
in the place that they are.

And if you have good consumer
credit you should ask your

trained professional about
those consumer finance promos

because they're
in my wheelhouse.

Oh yeah and I'll get some good
promos that's a good plug.

Definitely see Mary I knew we'd
be friends by the end of this.

I had

no doubt I'm really
happy about this.

So I got one last question
speaking of are we friends or not.

So my family's from outside
of Philadelphia both on the PA

side and the New Jersey side.

So, and I went to Penn State.

So Saquon Barkley is now
a Philadelphia Eagle.

Are you any chance
you're an Eagles fan,

or are you so far North
Jersey that you're a Jets fan?

Like, what what's your god.

I'm not a Jets fan.

I'm not I'm not a glutton
for punishment, man. No.

You know, honestly, I've
never really had an NFL team.

I like a good game and I
typically only watch during the

playoffs because I've got
a four year old daughter.

There is no world where I get three
hours to do anything uninterrupted.

But

I you I'm a big Penn State fan
because my cousin John who

I did the TV show with he's a
graduate of Penn State as well.

And

admittedly I'm really only an
Eagles fan because now Saquon

Barkley's there. I am more of
a college football fan myself.

Yeah.

And my sister went to
University of Michigan.

So I've I've got some I've
got some big football.

Big big college football.
Yeah. In the family.

Nice.

That's great.

Well, Anthony, this has been really
interesting to just kinda learn

about another layer of
the product management

world and how it plays
with our space in HVAC and

what you're looking at,
what you're looking for.

I'm very, very curious now,
and I can't help again,

just I can't help but go into
my own task list and think

about all the cool home
projects that I wanna do.

I appreciate Yeah, very good.

Once you get that bug,
man, wanna just keep going.

And the more you learn,

the more efficient you get
with them and you realize,

you know, as long as you put one
foot in front of the other and you

follow all the steps, it
doesn't have to be that anxiety

ridden process.

Yeah and plan the time, right?
I really like that advice too.

Just don't go into
it with a rush.

Low is fast.

Good

advice.

Excellent. Where can
the people find you?

Yeah so anthonycarrino dot com
and then on all social media

various platforms
CarrinoAnthony, C A R R I

N O A N T H O N Y.

Is me. Perfect.

Well, thank you so much.

And then listeners can always
email us at HVAC underscore

full underscore blast at
train technologies dot com.

And if you're interested in
looking at some more technical

information about our products,

you can always check out field
tech help dot com to just

explore a little bit more about
what we have going in the space

of products and environments
and just different

troubleshooting questions.

Wanted to throw that plug in
here today since we touched on

that a little bit as well.

Stephen, all good?

All good.

Thanks for being

here, Thanks for having
We will catch you soon.

Appreciate it. Thanks.