Building HVAC Science EP243 Three Sensors, One Strategy: Making Maintenance Truly Smart With Kevin Weaver from SmartAC (October 2025)
Episode Quotes from Kevin Weaver:
"If we can quantify delivered capacity on the air side, we can work our way back to what's happening on the refrigerant side."
"We don't have to diagnose everything remotely — we have to be great at saying, 'there's a problem,' and prioritizing action."
"Even the best design can be wrecked at installation. Execution matters."
Chief Engineering Officer Kevin Weaver joins Eric and Bill to go beyond "remote monitoring" and explain how SmartAC is really a loyalty and trade-intelligence platform for residential HVAC. With three simple wireless sensors — a supply-air "comfort" sensor (temp/RH), a filter sensor (temp/static pressure), and a water sensor — plus a cloud-connected hub, SmartAC tracks delivered capacity and trends changes over time. That minimum viable data set lets contractors catch problems early, prioritize the right calls, and give homeowners peace of mind without needing full remote gauges.
Kevin walks through the contractor toolset, which includes a white-labeled homeowner app, a Pro app for technicians, and a partner dashboard that also integrates with Field Service Management. (FSM) systems like ServiceTitan. The result is fewer emergency visits, healthier memberships, and durable customer relationships (i.e., less ad spend, more lifetime value). He previews Gen-2 hardware (more sensing in more places, stronger radios), battery options (18 months on AA lithiums or 5–8 years with a long-life pack), and notes that SmartAC is approaching 100k homes sold — building one of the most extensive residential HVAC data sets for richer insights across brands, geographies, and system types.
We conclude with wisdom from Kevin's Texas A&M research: even great designs can fail due to poor execution. Right-size returns, stretch flex, use collars and mastic, and keep static in check. SmartAC's data helps expose oversizing, blower mis-settings, and undersized returns in days, transforming maintenance plans into smart maintenance and turning "transactional" customers into lifelong customers.
Kevin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-weaver/
SmartAC: www.smartac.com
Earlier episode with founder Josh Teekell (Ep. 136):
This episode was recorded in October 2025.