How Ray O. Cook Recovers 30% of Lost Performance and Wins 75% of Customers to Commissioning

A family-owned contractor serving the Sacramento Valley since 1947 in Roseville, California built commissioning into their sales process, their culture, and their competitive identity. The result: 70% of customers choose the commissioned option, and the company downsized 70 tons of cooling in one year with zero complaints.

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The Challenge

Ray O. Cook Heating & Cooling has served the Sacramento Valley since 1947. As the industry shifted toward inverter-driven, variable-speed equipment with electronic expansion valves, the company recognized that the old startup approach of “turn it on and hope for the best” was no longer viable. This equipment has no built-in contingency for poor installation practices.

Paul McHugh, the company’s Sales Manager, had also seen what happens when install crews are asked to commission at the end of a nine-hour attic shift in 104-degree Sacramento heat. They trained their installers aggressively, and the crew embraced the concept. But after a full day of physical labor, the quality of commissioning work suffered. The will was there; the body was not.

About 30 percent of efficiency and capacity is left on the table when you do not commission. If we’re not measuring static pressure and adjusting to it, we are going to murder the equipment we’re installing before year 10.

Paul McHugh, Sales Manager, Ray O. Cook Heating & Cooling

The Solution

Ray O. Cook separated installation from commissioning entirely. Install crews get the equipment running and close to spec during peak season. Then, during shoulder months when demand drops, dedicated service technicians return to commission every system using measureQuick. September handles cooling commissioning while the weather is still warm enough for load testing. February handles heating. This keeps experienced technicians productive during slow periods and ensures commissioning gets the focused attention it requires.

The commissioning process is built into a four-tier pricing model presented at the kitchen table. The base tier installs to building code. The upper three tiers include load calculations, proper sizing, and full measureQuick commissioning with ACCA Verified Equipment Operation (VEO) certificates. Sales engineers walk customers through what building code delivers (roughly 70% of rated performance in Sacramento’s dry climate) versus what commissioning delivers (95%+ performance with independent third-party verification).

When warranty issues arise, measureQuick reports short-circuit the manufacturer support process. Paul described a TXV failure where he was 40 miles away from the job site, watching live streaming data from the technician’s tools. With all the readings already captured, the warranty call took five minutes instead of the usual multi-trip investigation. The manufacturer’s response: “It looks like you guys got it.”

The Results

Ray O. Cook’s commissioning-first approach has produced measurable business outcomes across sales, operations, and customer retention.

The four-tier pricing model has proven itself at the kitchen table. About 70% of customers choose a package that includes commissioning once the sales engineer explains the difference between building code performance and commissioned performance. Of those, 75% choose one of the upper tiers over the base value package. The VEO certificate from ACCA, issued through measureQuick, gives customers something tangible. Paul’s team has considered laminating and mailing them with thank-you cards. Customers ask their commissioning technician, “We’re going to get an A, right?” – they hold the company accountable to the standard it promised.

The average price in our market is $16,000 to $20,000. If we can’t include $400 worth of commissioning in the name of doing something right for the customer, that’s not a lot of that price for the benefit the customer’s getting.

Paul McHugh, Sales Manager, Ray O. Cook Heating & Cooling

Load calculations became standard on every job. A secretary with 30 minutes of training traces house footprints in CoolCalc and produces five load calcs per day. Across 400 to 425 installations in a single year, Ray O. Cook removed 70 tons of oversizing from the systems they installed. Not one customer called to complain. The commissioning process also caught two failing TXVs and a defective EEV stepper motor on relatively new equipment, all of which would have gone undetected without post-installation verification.