The People Behind Your Comfort
A small BC heating, cooling and refrigeration company, and the six people who make up all of it.
Serving BC since 2009. Across that time the company has stayed proud of the same things: understanding what each customer actually needs, planning the work carefully, and leaving behind work the team is glad to put its name on.
Where the Name Came From
The Name People Remember
Before The Cool Guys became the company name, the team worked under a different one. Over time customers started referring to the crew as the cool guys, on site and to each other. The name stuck, and eventually the business adopted it.
How the Work Runs
A Standard You Can See in the Finished Work
Precision shows up in the details: how the system is assessed, how the recommendation is explained, and how the finished mechanical work looks when the team leaves. Ask about the standard here and you get an answer about pipework, level, straight and square, because a standard you can check by opening the mechanical room is worth more than one written on a website.
- Assess the building before recommending the equipment
- Explain the reasoning, so the decision is yours and not ours
- Leave the mechanical work tidy enough that it can be inspected
- Commission and test the system before handover, so it does what it was chosen to do
The Team
About the Team
Six people, and the reason the company is built the way it is. The hiring standard is worth repeating: technical skill on its own is not enough, because the person also has to be somebody you are glad to find in your home.
Ricardo
Owner
Ricardo started in refrigeration and HVAC as a teenager, learning the trade from his father, and founded The Cool Guys to build a company of people who are good at the work and good to have in your house. He trains and supervises the technicians, apprentices and helpers, which is where his master's degree in education turns out to be less of a curiosity than it sounds.
- Red Seal Refrigeration MechanicInterprovincial Standards Red Seal Program
- Class B Gas FitterTechnical Safety BC
- Refrigerant handling and environmental awarenessHRAI
- Municipal Heat Pump CertificationCity of Vancouver
- Master's degree in EducationThompson Rivers University
Roxana
Installation and Service Technician
Roxana has been with The Cool Guys longer than almost anyone and handles both ends of the work: full installations, and the diagnostic jobs that other people have already had a look at. She is preparing to challenge the Red Seal refrigeration exam.
- Class C Gas Appliance TechnicianBCIT
- Residential Air-to-Air Heat Pump SpecialistBCIT
- Municipal Heat Pump CertificationCity of Vancouver
- Refrigerant handlingHRAI
- Red Seal Refrigeration MechanicInterprovincial Standards Red Seal Programin progress
Holly
HVAC Technician
Holly works across installation and service, and came into HVAC with a welding ticket that still comes in useful more often than people expect. Away from the work she can be found in a pink Charger, in the middle of a craft project or looking after somebody's animals.
- Welding Level CKwantlen Polytechnic University
- Residential Air-to-Air Heat Pump SpecialistBCIT
- Municipal Heat Pump CertificationCity of Vancouver
- Refrigerant handlingHRAI
Samuel
HVAC and Refrigeration Technician
Samuel spent more than a decade in HVAC and refrigeration in El Salvador before joining the team here, and trained as an air conditioning and refrigeration mechanic at Don Bosco University. He is preparing to challenge the Red Seal refrigeration exam.
- Air Conditioning and Refrigeration MechanicDon Bosco University, El Salvador
- Red Seal Refrigeration MechanicInterprovincial Standards Red Seal Programin progress
Aron
Apprentice Technician
Aron is working through the refrigeration and HVAC apprenticeship at BCIT while doing the job alongside it, which is how the trade is actually learned. Outside work he is usually deep in a video game or writing code.
- Refrigeration and HVAC apprenticeshipBCITin training
Jun
Apprentice
Jun is the youngest on the team, holds a science diploma from UBC and is waiting on a place in the BCIT first-year apprenticeship. In the meantime he is on installs and service calls, learning the work from the people doing it.
- Science Program DiplomaUniversity of British Columbia
- BCIT first-year apprenticeship - on the waiting list, not yet enrolledBCITin training
Supporting Our Neighbours
Community Support Program
When financial hardship makes an essential heating or cooling repair difficult, contact our team and tell us what is happening. We consider each request individually and, when we can help, provide the repair at no charge.
If you or someone you know needs help, call us or send us a message.