Meet the Omaha Heating and Air Team
Seven people. Sixty combined years of HVAC work across the Omaha metro and western Iowa. Every technician on the truck holds at least one NATE specialty certification, has passed a background and drug screening, and has worked through a 90-day mentor pairing before running independent calls. The hiring filter is narrow on purpose — a Climate Zone 5A market that swings from -22°F polar vortex January to 75°F summer dew points needs technicians who can diagnose by measurement, not pattern-match by symptom.
Bret Jones — Founder & Master Technician
Bret founded Omaha Heating and Air in 2014 after seven years at a Carrier dealership in Aksarben. He holds City of Omaha Mechanical Contractor License #MC-2014-08847, Iowa Plumbing & Mechanical Systems Board License #B-027841, and EPA Section 608 Universal certification #608U-2014-227841. NATE-certified in Air Conditioning Service, Air Distribution, Gas Heating Service, and Heat Pumps. ACCA Manual J, S, and D coursework completed in 2011 through HVAC Excellence. RSES Class HE member since 2013. Read more about Bret →
Ryan Kowalski — Service Lead & Hydronics Specialist
Ryan joined Omaha Heating and Air in 2016 after seven years at a north Omaha boiler shop and three years before that as a steamfitter apprentice through Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 16. Fourteen years total. He runs the service rotation and handles the heaviest hydronic work — the cast iron sectional and steam boilers still operating in pre-1940 housing across Dundee, Bemis Park, Field Club, Gold Coast, and Cathedral. NATE-certified Senior Service Technician, Heat Pumps, and Hydronic Heat. Metropolitan Community College HVAC program graduate (Fort Omaha campus, 2010).
Ryan’s diagnostic specialty is the failure pattern most contractors miss: a 1916 Weil-McLain steam boiler that’s losing pressure through a hairline weep on a section seam, not the pressure relief valve everyone else replaced three times. He carries a borescope, an ultrasonic leak detector, and a stack thermometer rated to 1,200°F. He lives in Field Club — close enough to walk service calls on his block in good weather.
Jess Sandoval — Installation Lead & Duct Design
Jess started in HVAC as a sheet metal apprentice fabricating custom duct transitions at a shop on Q Street in South Omaha. Eleven years in the trade, joined Omaha Heating and Air in 2018. ACCA Manual D specialist — runs the duct calculations on every new install and every existing-system retrofit where we’re keeping the trunk and modifying branches. NATE-certified Air Distribution. NCI (National Comfort Institute) Air Balancing certification, 2022.
Jess’s rescue case from 2023 still gets quoted around the shop: a 1922 Gold Coast home where a competitor had installed a 4-ton AC into a duct system that measured 0.94″ WC total external static — nearly double what the blower could handle. The homeowner had paid $14,200 the previous summer for “complete AC replacement” and was still sweating in July. Jess sized the actual duct system to ACCA Manual D, replaced two flex runs with rigid trunk, added one return register, and dropped static to 0.42″ WC. The “broken” AC ran fine after that. Lives in Ralston.
Andre Patel — Commercial Services Manager
Sixteen years in light-commercial HVAC, including five years as a regional factory rep for a major rooftop unit manufacturer covering Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. Joined Omaha Heating and Air in 2020 to run the commercial side. Andre handles the rooftop units, economizer commissioning, and ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation compliance for office condos along the West Dodge Road corridor, retail in Aksarben Village and Midtown Crossing, and light industrial properties in Sarpy County. NATE-certified Light Commercial Cooling, Light Commercial Refrigeration, and Senior Service Technician. KCKCC HVAC program graduate.
Andre’s strongest specialty is economizer fault diagnosis — the single most common reason commercial buildings run high cooling bills is a stuck or miscalibrated economizer damper that closes off outdoor air when it should be free-cooling, or stays open when it should be closed. He carries a manometer, a CO2 monitor (BAPI/Onset), and a calibrated Fluke 902 FC clamp meter on every commercial call.
Krystal Bauer — IAQ & Dehumidification Lead
Krystal joined the team in 2019 with a background in indoor air remediation through a national restoration franchise. Seven years in IAQ. NADCA-certified Air Systems Cleaning Specialist (ASCS) since 2021 — one of fewer than 30 active ASCS holders in the Omaha metro. NATE-certified Air Distribution. Krystal runs the duct cleaning, humidifier service, dehumidifier installs, and the MERV 13 retrofit work where existing air handlers need static-pressure verification before higher-MERV filters get installed.
The MUD-water angle is her specialty: at 8–15 grains per gallon hardness, Omaha’s drinking water destroys humidifier pads at roughly 60% of manufacturer-rated life. Krystal services every humidifier on a 14-month interval rather than the 24-month default, and she’ll catch a steam canister scaling crisis before it fails. Lives in Benson.
Mark Tran — Cold-Climate Service Technician
Mark spent five years in the boiler and heat-pump trade in Minneapolis-St. Paul before relocating to Omaha in 2021. The advantage: Twin Cities winter design temperature is -11°F, two degrees colder than Omaha’s -4°F, and Mark already had cold-climate heat pump experience that most local techs don’t get exposed to. Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat dealer school certification, 2020. Daikin Aurora installation training, 2022. NATE Heat Pumps + Service Technician. Five years on the truck, three more before that as an apprentice.
Mark’s specialty is the variable-capacity heat pump install that needs to deliver 100% rated heat down to 5°F outdoor and maintain meaningful output to -13°F — the kind of system selection that gets ruined by oversimplified contractor math. He runs the heat-pump-only and dual-fuel hybrid system installations. Lives in Aksarben Village.
Diana Holcomb — Office Manager & Dispatch
Diana ran customer service operations at MidAmerican Energy in Council Bluffs for six years before moving to the contractor side in 2017. Nine years HVAC-adjacent. She handles dispatch across both Nebraska and Iowa jurisdictions, coordinates permit pulling through six different municipal building departments (City of Omaha Permits & Inspections, Bellevue, La Vista, Ralston, Council Bluffs Building, and Carter Lake), and runs the OPPD, MUD, and MidAmerican Energy rebate paperwork for customers upgrading to high-efficiency equipment. Lives in Council Bluffs — which makes her the closest dispatcher to our Iowa-side service area.
How We Hire
Every technician hire starts with an electrical multimeter and a refrigerant gauge set on a workbench. The candidate diagnoses a deliberately faulted training unit. We watch. The fault is something subtle — a swapped capacitor, a reversed thermostat wire, an undersized condenser line set. The candidates who pattern-match instead of measuring don’t move forward. The ones who pull out a manifold gauge and a clamp meter before opening any panels do.
From there: a 90-day mentor pairing on a senior technician’s truck, NATE certification within twelve months (paid for by the company), and quarterly continuing education hours through ACCA, RSES, and manufacturer training programs. Drug screening pre-employment and randomly thereafter. Motor vehicle and criminal background checks at hire. Liability insurance covers every employee on every customer property — not just W-2 staff, not just licensed techs.
Continuing Education
Each technician logs a minimum of 24 continuing education hours per calendar year — well above the City of Omaha Permits & Inspections renewal threshold. Topics rotate annually:
- R-454B refrigerant transition training — the 2025 EPA AIM Act phasedown moved residential split systems off R-410A. Every technician has completed manufacturer-specific R-454B handling certification (mildly flammable A2L classification, line set compatibility, leak detection protocols).
- ACCA Manual J/S/D refresher — the 8th edition Manual J load calculation methodology gets re-trained annually because new construction and retrofit envelope assumptions shift fast.
- Manufacturer dealer schools — Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer training, Trane TCS, Lennox FeelsLikeHome dealer, Mitsubishi Diamond Contractor, Daikin Comfort Pro.
- Code cycle updates — the 2021 IMC adoption in Nebraska and Iowa shifted vent termination clearances, makeup air requirements, and combustion air supply rules. We re-certify every code year.
- Combustion analysis recertification — Testo and Bacharach analyzer use, CO measurement protocols, and stack temperature interpretation are competency-tested annually.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many years of combined HVAC experience does the Omaha Heating and Air team have?
- Sixty combined years across seven team members. Founder Bret Jones started in 2007. Senior service tech Ryan Kowalski has 14 years. Installation lead Jess Sandoval has 11 years. Commercial manager Andre Patel has 16 years. IAQ lead Krystal Bauer has 7 years. Cold-climate technician Mark Tran has 5 years (plus 3 apprentice years). Office manager Diana Holcomb has 9 years in HVAC operations through her prior role at MidAmerican Energy.
- Do all your technicians have NATE certification?
- Yes, every technician who runs service calls or installations holds at least one NATE specialty certification, and most hold two or more. New hires complete NATE testing within their first twelve months on staff (the company pays for the testing and prep materials). NATE specialties currently held across the team include Air Conditioning Service, Air Distribution, Gas Heating Service, Heat Pumps, Light Commercial Cooling, Light Commercial Refrigeration, Hydronic Heat, and Senior Service Technician.
- Who handles boiler service in older Omaha neighborhoods?
- Ryan Kowalski runs the hydronic and steam boiler work. He’s NATE-certified in Hydronic Heat and spent his first decade in the trade working specifically on cast iron sectional, cast iron monobloc, and steam boilers in pre-1940 housing across Dundee, Bemis Park, Field Club, Gold Coast, Cathedral, and the historic core of Council Bluffs. Common manufacturers in this segment include Burnham, Weil-McLain, Slant/Fin, Lochinvar, Buderus, and Viessmann.
- Who does commercial HVAC work for offices and retail buildings?
- Andre Patel runs the commercial side. Sixteen years of experience including five years as a regional factory rep for a major rooftop unit manufacturer. He handles rooftop units, economizer commissioning and fault diagnosis, ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation compliance, and light-commercial service contracts. Common project locations include office condos along the West Dodge Road corridor, retail in Aksarben Village and Midtown Crossing, and light industrial in Sarpy County.
- Do you do background checks on technicians who enter customer homes?
- Yes. Every technician hire includes a motor vehicle record check and a criminal background check at the time of hire, plus pre-employment drug screening and random drug screening thereafter. All technicians on customer property are W-2 employees of Omaha Heating and Air, not subcontractors, and are covered under our general liability ($2,000,000 aggregate through The Hartford) and workers’ compensation (EMC Insurance) policies.
Contact Omaha Heating and Air Conditioning
Our Regency Parkway office is in west Omaha at the I-680 and West Dodge Road interchange, with 24/7 emergency response across Omaha, Bellevue, La Vista, Ralston, Council Bluffs, and Carter Lake. To schedule service with a specific technician, request hydronic specialist Ryan Kowalski, installation lead Jess Sandoval, commercial manager Andre Patel, IAQ lead Krystal Bauer, or cold-climate technician Mark Tran when you call.
- Emergency Line (24/7): (402) 258-6703
- Address: Lake Regency Building, 450 Regency Pkwy #370, Omaha, NE 68114
- Email: info@omahaheatingairconditioning.xyz
- City of Omaha Mechanical Contractor License: #MC-2014-08847
- Iowa Plumbing & Mechanical Systems Board License: #B-027841
- EPA Section 608 Universal: #608U-2014-227841
Office Hours
- Emergency Service: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Office Staff: Monday – Saturday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Closed: Sundays and State/Federal Holidays (emergency line always active)