Derek Aarstad
Owner, DNA Heating and Cooling · Richmond, VA · 16+ years in the trade · Building science & all-electric boutique
Derek Aarstad owns DNA Heating and Cooling in Richmond, Virginia - a deliberately small, all-electric, building-science-driven HVAC shop. After 16+ years in the trade, Derek made the call to stop chasing volume and build a boutique operation focused on the highest-quality install for every client. He proposes a heat pump for every gas furnace he sees, refuses to install new combustion equipment, and runs combustion analysis on every existing furnace he touches. Derek is active in the National Comfort Institute (NCI), Building Performance Institute (BPI), Rewire America, and the Better HVAC electrification group. He gets 3-4 clients a month from Reddit organically and has started landing jobs from Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity - all without paid ads.