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PERSONALITY PROFILE
Victoria Mall in Entebbe, Uganda.
“I believe that in the plumbing industry heat pump
installations and repairs are not ‘just a job’ – they
are an understanding. The people in the industry will
understand when I say that. It is not a machine that you
can simply go and fix – you need to have an in-depth
understanding of how it works, what it’s doing and how
it’s doing it.”
He describes the major challenge of the industry
as being the need to understand and analyse what
is wrong with a heat pump. A major learning in his
career, and the most common mistake he has made,
says Pitzner, have both down to being impatient. “As
an example, I have gone to site and been told ‘there
is a problem’ with a machine. Without actually testing
the machine, I launched into stripping it down when I
could have simply switched it on to observe what it did.
Had I done this, I later learned, I could have resolved
the problem without stripping it down and saved a lot
of time.
“Taking time and analysing the machine – that would be
my biggest tip to youngsters coming into this industry.
Be patient, watch what the machine is doing. I know it’s
not always easy because of the pressure on plumbing
contractors, but a minute or two of inspection can save
you an hour or two of labour on the job.
“If you get frustrated with a job, step back for a moment
or two to re-analyse everything and re-approach the job
refreshed. Never give up – when you think you’ll never
get it right, that’s usually when you’re about to get it
right if you persist.”
February 2020 Volume 25 I Number 12
Highlights
Pitzner lists his career technical highlight as working on the
Victoria Mall in Entebbe, near capital Kampala in Uganda,
since mall culture arrived in Uganda in 2013. “We did the
hot water design and installation on that.
“In addition, we try have a focus on doing hot water
installations for old age homes, as our means of doing
a bit to help the world. If everybody steps up and does
something for their community, the world will be a cleaner
and better place. People need to be more conscious of
their surroundings and what we’re doing to it.” This is not
only altruistic, he says, adding, “I’ve found in life that by
taking the opportunity whenever possible to help the less
fortunate, it has in turn created opportunities for me –
absolutely! Where people see a willingness to work hard,
they’re a lot more willing to give you work in return.”
“I believe that
heat pumps
are not ‘just
a job’ – heat
pumps are an
understanding.”
Pitzner believes the future lies with technologies such as
heat pumps and anticipates there are new technologies
on the horizon set to revolutionise the market with far
more affordable heat pumps – especially in the affordable
housing space. He himself is currently designing the
blueprint for one such innovative product.
“We’re talking about all-in-one units (as opposed to split
units) which will be cost-effective to the point of being
relatively competitive to a normal geyser, by stripping it
down to its simplest form with no digital controls.” A more
sophisticated option for the more affluent market will be
fully WiFi activated to be controlled off site, so homeowners
can check the water’s hot while driving home. PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za