Bonner offers 23 years experience, newest HVAC technology – The Union-Recorder

As the first day of summer rapidly approaches and people retreat inside their homes to the comfort of air conditioning, Barry Bonner prepares for another long season in the Georgia heat.

Attics, said Bonner with a laugh, on the toughest part of owning Milledgevilles Bonner Heating and Cooling. Attics in the summer are the worst part of it.

While Bonner has spent most of the past 35 summers fixing and installing heat and air conditioning units, often in a part of the house that gives new meaning to the phrase hot air rises, the seasoned technician has slowly built up a reputation as a local source for central heating and air conditioning.

Bonner Heating and Cooling, which he has owned for the last 23 years, was recently named the best Heating and Cooling Repair Business for the fourth year running in The Union-Recorders Readers Choice awards, and the companys attention to the finer points of the heating and air conditioning business have paid off in a big way.

[We do] just service, repair and installation of heating and air conditioning equipment, said Bonner. People like the super high-efficiency units, and people have started calling us saying their power bills have dropped dramatically. Weve started selling two-stage and variable speed systems, which is not a basic system but just a higher-end unit, and it seems like weve gotten a lot busier doing that. We specialize in residential service, repair and installation.

In offering their customers variable speed as opposed to single-stage systems, Bonner is helping usher in a new technology with the potential to change the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry. Essentially, while single-stage air conditioners have only two settings, one for on and one for off, variable-speed systems come with sensors that can adjust the systems output based on current temperatures inside a house or business. Variable-speed units often run at lower settings and turn on and off less frequently than older single-stage units, which saves energy and improves airflow throughout a building. While the newer systems provide customers with a significant cost-cutting upgrade, Bonner has had to rely on his son, Blake, for some of the systems more technical aspects.

Blake has been working with me since he was in a car seat, said the elder Bonner of his longest-tenured employee. Id have to put him in a car seat and let him go with me because he wouldnt let me leave the house. He diagnosed his first unit when he was 7, and he was braising copper pipes when he was maybe 6 or 7. He knows all the new stuff, and anything with a computer in these new units is so far advanced than it was when I started doing this 30 years ago. He just picks up on all that stuff, and he can fix anything; he really can.

While Blake has worked with his dad in order to one day take the business over from him, the younger Bonner is not the only family member involved in the business. In addition to Blake fixing and installing units out in the field, Barrys wife Lauren handles the businesss official correspondence, including the sizable task of registering each piece of equipment they install.

If you dont register the equipment, it wont have a 10-year warranty, it will only have a five-year warranty, he said.

By most traditional measures for a small business owner, Barry has found success. After 23 years in operation, Bonner Heating and Cooling is a trusted local source for HVAC services, and the seasoned owner even has a ready-made successor-in-waiting. He said his main motivation now is to provide the best possible service for his customers on his own terms, as evidenced by the businesss policy of being on-call seven days a week. As Bonner Heating and Cooling prepares for its 23rd summer of catering to Milledgevilles HVAC needs, the owner offers a few bits of advice for people trying to keep their homes cool for cheap this season.

Its very simple, he said. Change your air filter every month, keep your thermostat on 78, keep as many blinds and shades closed as you can, and make sure you have adequate insulation for your attic.

Bonner Heating and Cooling is on call 7 days a week, and can be reached by phone at 478-452-2684 or by email at bonnerheatingandcooling@hotmail.com. The business services units from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

See the rest here:
Bonner offers 23 years experience, newest HVAC technology - The Union-Recorder