With so many older homes in the Upper Valley area, the demand for replacement of heating systems and the need for plumbing is almost a constant. Harold Elliott is general service manager with Cota & Cota, a full-service heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and plumbing business that serves both New Hampshire and Vermont. In an interview with Enterprise, Elliott talked about last year at Cota & Cota and what has impacted the industry.

Question: How was 2024 for Cota & Cota?

Answer: We were extremely busy. It was probably one of our busiest years. There was definitely no shortage of work. For us, we are primarily a residential company, so we mostly do residential replacements and upgrades to systems.

Q: A lot has been written in recent years about problems finding new people to become HVAC technicians. Has Cota & Cota been experiencing this?

A: I think the industry as a whole is definitely struggling to find help and meet the demands of the business. We are fairly fortunate in bringing in new help, and I think we do better than most because we are willing to offer training. There is risk in that, because you put a lot of money into training and you could end up losing them to someone else. But we have always done it that way. I feel you get your best product that way.

Q: Do you have an apprenticeship program that leads to certification for new employees?

A: Yes. We give them on-the-job training where they work with an expert technician or plumber. We put them through school for oil heat and propane and a class on handling refrigerants.

Q: How successful have been recent efforts to encourage more young people to consider the trades?

A: We could still use more in the industry, but I feel it has gotten better, and the stigma of working in the trades has been erased a little. Many are beginning to understand that a four-year school may not be for everybody, and there are some very good careers available in the HVAC and plumbing industries.

Q: What are the advantages of replacing a heating system, and how old are some of those you replace?

A: We see a wide range, but a lot of older stuff is 20 years or more. There is a huge return on investment to replacing a system. You will be going from mid-70% efficiency to more than 90%. Customers will see a significant difference in how their systems operate and how much fuel they use. Systems today also have the added advantage of being able to be monitored remotely using an app on a phone.

Q: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot of talk about the supply chain breaking down across nearly all sectors of the economy. How did those problem impact the HVAC industry?

A: It is still a little crazy and there are some things that it takes a crazy amount of time to get, such as many electronics, control boards and certain parts. Unfortunately, there are not enough manufacturers out there. It has gotten better, but there are still some things we have to wait longer for.

Q: How has inflation affected your industry?

A: Your typical boiler installation the last five to eight years has doubled from about $5,000 to $10,000. That is a substantial jump, and our parts in general have gone up significantly.

Q: Are there any legislative efforts underway on either a state or federal level that could impact HVAC?

A: The Certified Employment Training Program (CETP) is the training program for the propane industry in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine to get employees certified. The company that ran it, PERC (Propane Education & Research Council), will end it as of the first of the year, and it will be replaced by PEP (Propane Education Program). Unfortunately, New Hampshire and Vermont only recognize CETP right now, so we won’t be able to teach some of these programs anymore. Vermont is working on language that would allow an “equivalent” program (to CETP), so it looks like we will be OK in Vermont.

Q: What do you see in 2025 for Cota & Cota?

A: I think we will continue to be busy. When the economy is good, we see bigger projects and a lot of upgrades. But we are always keeping systems going. We see more of that when people can’t afford to replace them. So I think we will be busy, but it will just depend on the type of work.