Testimonials
HVAC Tech Profile: Daniel Jacob Goral
The BUZZ: How long have you been an HVAC tech?
Daniel Jacob Goral: I have been an HVAC tech for four years now.
The BUZZ: Where’s home for you?
Daniel Jacob Goral: I live in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto.
The BUZZ: Who do you work for? How long have you worked for them? Could you describe the company you work for?
Daniel Jacob Goral: I work for a family owned company, Air Treatment ComfortCare, in the Toronto area, which was established in 1965. It’s a cool place to work for. It really feels like a family not an office of a big business. It’s definitely different than other places, from what I’ve been told. Employees are allowed to bring their dogs to the office for the whole day.
The BUZZ: What are your primary job responsibilities?
Daniel Jacob Goral: Installation of appliances, commissioning, ducting, and gas lines.
The BUZZ: What do you like about your job?
Daniel Jacob Goral: I like the challenges that come with each new project. Every day, we do something different. I like that! It’s definitely not monotonous. I really like the people I work with, and for. This company really feels like a family.
The BUZZ: Did you go to school to learn to become an HVAC tech? If so, what was the name of the school and was it helpful
to you?
Daniel Jacob Goral: Yes, I went to Halton Skilled Trades Academy in Oakville, Ontario. They offer courses on gas licenses, G2, which is everything up to 400,000 BTUs and G1 400,000+ BTUs. The school has a state-of- the-art shop where you would perform repairs on furnaces, boilers, pool heaters, etc. It was a great place to learn.
The BUZZ: What’s your favorite YELLOW JACKET tool?
Daniel Jacob Goral: Tubing bender, gauges, and service valve tool.
The BUZZ: Why do you like YELLOW JACKET tools?
Daniel Jacob Goral: I like your tools because they get the job done, are reasonably priced and have great warranty. I buy my YELLOW JACKET tools at B&B Trade Distribution Centre in Mississauga.
The BUZZ: So when you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing the most?
Daniel Jacob Goral: When I’m not working I spend time with my daughter. We go skiing in the winter almost every weekend. Summers we spend at the cottage in Wasaga Beach (longest freshwater beach in the world!!) For hobbies, I enjoy ham radio and working with electronics. I started soldering when I was eight years old. Small radio projects, some electronic kits, Electric RC cars, off-road ones, that go 100km/h
The part of his job that HVAC technician Stephen Genakos loves the most is looking closely at a big 40-ton rooftop AC unit and identifying those small little parts that aren’t working just right.
“Here’s what I would tell my 18-year-old self if I were doing it all over again,” Genakos said, “when you come up to a big machine, it can be overwhelming. But the key is not to try to think of the entire machine at once. Instead, just break it up into smaller pieces.”
A resident of Townsend, Mass., Genakos is an HVACR technician with the Raytheon manufacturing plant located in nearby Andover, Mass., where he has worked for the past two years. He’s been a professional HVACR technician for about 14 years.
While I working at a local hospital, Genakos came to realize that HVACR was his calling.
“I came to realize that I could make a difference,” Genakos said. “Keeping people comfortable, especially patients who need to be kept comfortable to heal.”
Throughout his career, Genakos has relied on hard-working, American-made, YELLOW JACKET HVACR tools.
“I think my favorite YELLOW JACKET tool is the Ratchet Bender,” said Genakos. “I mean it symbolizes everything that I respect about YELLOW JACKET. I’ve used many tools over the years, but I can pull out my Ratchet Bender and it’s as good as the day I bought it 12 years ago.”
“I pride myself on having the best tools around on hand,” he added. “And I put my tools through hell. But YELLOW JACKET tools — they’re true.”
Reflecting on his career, Genakos says the key to his success has been his work ethic and ability to keep learning. He says he learned from a number of seasoned professionals, but among them, Bob Ernst sticks out.
“I learned to listen well. Watch what they were doing. Not argue. And asked them smart questions,” Genakos said. “Work as hard as you can to become the best you can be. No one is going to hand anything to you. You will get out as much as you put into it.”
Technicians in the HVAC industry know that when they’re on the job, customer service and quality work go hand in hand.
For Hugh Rowe, owner of Provillian Services Heating & Air, located in Ellenwood, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta), providing outstanding customer service is a top priority. Just a quick glance at the heartfelt testimonials on the company’s website is proof enough of the exceptional work that Rowe and his team provide to their clients each and every day.
“I’ve been an HVAC tech for eighteen years and if there’s one thing that I’ve learned during that time, it’s that the customer comes first,” said Rowe. “We’re not salesmen here. Our number one priority is to meet our customers’ needs.”
Provillian Services is a full-service residential and commercial heating and air company that specializes in indoor air quality, hybrid heating, heat pump units, high-efficiency furnaces and AC units, as well as all HVAC accessories. Rowe has been the owner, operator, and a technician at the company since 2012.
On and off the job, Rowe and his team of three full-time employees are always looking for new ways to do their job better and more efficiently. He picked up the YELLOW JACKET MANTOOTH earlier this year and hasn’t put it down since.
“The MANTOOTH is one of our most valuable tools,” said Rowe. “It’s the most accurate and efficient way to get a reading.”
The MANTOOTH Single Pressure Wireless Digital P/T gauge, featuring a wireless, Bluetooth connection, allows Rowe and his team to test a customer’s system without losing refrigerant. Plus they don’t have to stand around by the unit to watch the gauge, because it takes an automatic reading.
“We like it because we can store information from job to job and share it between our team members,” Rowe continued, who has been relying on YELLOW JACKET products for over 20 years. “This means that we don’t have to send the same technician to the same job site every time. That helps to increase our flexibility and efficiency.”
Rowe credits the MANTOOTH in helping his team continue to enhance its customer service.
“At the end of the day that’s what really matters,” Rowe says. “We want the customer to be happy with our work. That’s why I go to work everyday, to see the smile on my customer’s face after we’ve finished the job.”
“We’ve had customers thank us again and again for quickly identifying their HVAC problems and fixing them. And we have the MANTOOTH to thank for helping us!” Rowe adds.
ManTooth™ Wireless Digital Gauges earn high marks from HVAC techs throughout the world
As the YELLOW JACKET ManTooth Wireless Digital Gauge by Ritchie Engineering nears its third anniversary, more and more HVAC techs are singing its praises.
“My ManTooth is hands down the best set of pressure-temperature gauges on the market. They are compact and fit in my tool bag no problem,” said David Jimenez, who works with Star City Air in Lincoln, Nebraska. “There couldn’t be a more convenient PT gauge, temp clamps, and micron gauge that fits with all your tools in the same bag with out using up a hand or carrying them around your neck and hooking up a temp clamp to a multimeter or long wires off the manifold!”
Introduced in October 2014, Ritchie Engineering, based in Bloomington, Minnesota, anticipated the demand for smart data and developed the ManTooth™ Wireless Digital P/T Gauge. In fact, less than a year after its introduction, the ManTooth earned a Gold award for excellence in the electronics category for its The YELLOW JACKET Mantooth™ wireless P/T gauges in the 12th annual Dealer Design Awards Program sponsored by Air Conditioning Heating Refrigeration (ACHR) News.
Today, the ManTooth line includes six separate wireless products:
• 67001 ManTooth Single Wireless Pressure/Temperature Gauge
• 67002 ManTooth Dual Tethered Wireless Pressure/Temperature Gauge
• 67003 ManTooth Dual Pressure Wireless Pressure/Temperature Gauge Set
• 67020 Single ManTooth-V Wireless Vacuum Gauge
• 67021 Single ManTooth-PTV Wireless Pressure, Temperature, Vacuum Gauge
• 67023 Dual ManTooth-PTV Wireless Pressure, Temperature, Vacuum Gauge
These innovative wireless gauges utilize a technician’s smartphone to obtain accurate and fast temperature and pressure readings. “Developing wireless HVAC gauges is not a new endeavor for the Yellow Jacket brand. We’ve have more than three years of experience with the ManTooth line and we continue to redefine their reliability and expand the usefulness of these wireless HVAC tools,” said Gary Lampasona, Vice President of Domestic Sales and Marketing for Ritchie Engineering, the manufacturer of YELLOW JACKET brand HVACR tools and equipment. “The ManTooth product line is a reflection of the deep listening that we do – to understand exactly what will help technicians and contractors operate more efficiently and accurately.”
“ManTooth wireless gauges are my favorite YELLOW JACKET tool,” added Raymond Denneny with One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning located in Wilmington, Delaware. “Wireless connectivity, automatically calculated superheat and subcool. I can move into homes and change air flow, etc. and see the affects. Love them.”
“I have a lot of YELLOW JACKET tools, but the ManTooth is the one I like the best,” added Michael Fasone, Sr., who works with Franklin Heating and Refrigeration in Columbus, Ohio. “I like the convenience it offers. I can have it hooked up to the RTU and be downstairs adjusting valves or whatnot and being able to watch the pressures.”