Thermodynamics Meets Audio Entertainment: Inside the Cool Air, Hot Takes Podcast

From middle school to microphones, Trane Technologies’ Charlie and Dan share the roots of their show and why the HVAC conversation deserves a human touch…

Cool Air, Hot Takes isn’t your average HVAC industry podcast, and that’s exactly the point. It’s a passion project built on decades of experience and a friendship that goes back just as long.

In a space often dominated by dry delivery and jargon-heavy dialogue, this HVAC-focused show (that’s Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, for those of us unfamiliar with the term) stands out by doing something deceptively simple: making expert insights genuinely enjoyable to listen to.

Hosted by Trane Technologies veterans Charlie Jelen and Dan Gentry, the show brings over 30 years of combined experience to audiences with a laid-back, often witty (and laugh-out-loud funny) tone that makes even the most technical topics feel relatable.

The result? A show that informs without lecturing, entertains without losing substance, and manages to strike the rare balance between being deeply niche and widely appealing.

In this interview, the duo opens up about their decades-long friendship, the spark behind Cool Air, Hot Takes, and what keeps them inspired. So, whether you’re in the field or just HVAC-curious, Cool Air, Hot Takes keeps things cool, literally and figuratively.

Listen to Cool Air, Hot Takes >>

You both have incredible chemistry on the mic. Can you share the story behind your friendship and how it enhances your podcasting dynamic?

Dan Gentry: It’s kind of a long story, but we go back a long way, to like middle school times. We played football together. We’ve snowboarded together, we’ve run in the same and crossed friend groups for all that long time.”

We’ve got kids, they’re the same ages, they’re all friends, we do family trips and hang out a bunch.

Charlie Jelen: I think what comes through on the show is just that we’re friends and it’s easy. This is what we talk about when we’re not in front of a microphone.

Dan and Charlie as kids

With over 30 years of combined experience in the HVAC industry, what inspired you both to start a podcast? What were you hoping to bring to the industry through Cool Air, Hot Takes?

Charlie Jelen: It started at a bar, and our wives not being impressed with our conversations on dates. We were hanging out and I don’t know who said we should start a podcast, [but] we took it very seriously.

Dan Gentry: We would do road trips, we would just have hours behind the wheel and we’d talk about this kind of stuff. It’s like, “we should record these conversations!”

I think the interesting and the fun thing is showing the audience how huge, vast, wide, and diverse the whole HVAC built environment is. I mean with the few interviews we’ve done so far, there’s such different topics and we get people saying that the interviews are interesting.

Charlie Jelen: I think trying to keep our community up to speed on what’s going on, it gets really easy to get siloed into the work that you’re doing, especially in technical fields. So having a 30 minute podcast that covers the headlines from recent updates and then interviews with people that are outside your specific occupation, and seeing how these different sectors interact, but doing it in a way that’s enjoyable that people can actually listen to, without it feeling like it’s a deep education.

You often mix in stories from your own experiences in the industry. What’s been one of the most memorable (or funny) moments you’ve encountered on the job that you’re willing to share with our readers?

Charlie Jelen: I was presenting to a group of 200-plus people and shortly after I started presenting, a dude in the front row was giving me some hand signals and I had no idea what he was trying to gesture towards. So I continued the presentation.

Afterwards he came up to me and he said, “ah, dude, your fly’s been down the entire presentation.” That’s what he was trying to gesture towards me. So now I absolutely have a pre-presentation ritual of checking.

Dan Gentry: … the barn door.

Charlie Jelen: Check the barn door.

… and what about the show? What has been most memorable so far?

Charlie Jelen: The first guest that we had on, his name was Jon Horne. He’s Managing Director at the Idea Fund. He came on and his hot take was that the HVAC industry has largely been undisrupted for hundreds of years. The hot take was the HVAC industry will change more in the next five to 10 years than it has in the past 100.

Four interviews later, we had Jean-Simon on; founder of BrainBox AI. His hot take was that in the next five to 10 years the HVAC industry will become a data business instead of a product business.

Jon didn’t have the answers. He’s looking at it from a macro perspective, seeing that this industry is ripe for disruption and then one of the potential things that could disrupt it. Then, somebody that founded a company around it was saying that same timeframe – the industry is going to change into a data business. So I thought that was just like this crossroads of industries, that was very memorable for me.

What has been one of the most surprising things you’ve learned from your guests or from each other while recording the podcast?

Charlie Jelen: Tanks. Dan loves tanks.

Dan Gentry: You know, my biggest surprise is that your wife doesn’t like pop-in culture.

Charlie Jelen: Oh, that surprises you?

Dan Gentry: I didn’t know that. I figured she’d be a pop-in gal. I was like, “wow”. I was very surprised.

Charlie Jelen: After that episode aired, I came home and she was like, “it’s not that I don’t like people coming over – it’s the popping in unannounced.”

Dan Gentry: I mean, that was the biggest thing I learned.

[Editor’s note – you can listen to RefrigeRANTS: The Good, The Bad, and the Banned to hear the full story]

… Lol. Okay, so what about your guests?

Dan Gentry: I’m really fascinated generally by most of our interviews. ‘Cause it’s interesting. I’m not involved in those fields, those specialties, those things that our guests have been in. I’ve heard of some of this stuff, but I think those interviews are, for me, they’re generally interesting ’cause it’s very adjacent and relevant to what we do.

I’m learning with the guest or with the audience as well.

What’s next for Cool Air, Hot Takes? Are there any future episodes or exciting topics on the horizon that listeners should look out for?

Dan Gentry: My short answer is yes, stay subscribed and find out.

Charlie Jelen: More cool air, more hot takes!

I would say, we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on the format and the types of guests we’re having. So we’re going to continue that into season two. We’re going to do some deep technical areas. We’re going to go macro trend and then we’re going to dig down into some details as well.

Dan Gentry: and get a service tech in too.

Charlie Jelen: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dan Gentry: What do service techs do? What do they struggle with? What do you know? What do they see?

Charlie Jelen: Yeah!

Dan Gentry: I think that I’m excited about that.

Charlie Jelen: Yeah, that’s going to be good.

Dan Gentry: But still subscribe.

Season Two of Cool Air, Hot Takes is out 26th June 2025.

…You heard Dan, As Cool Air, Hot Takes gears up for its second season this June, there’s never been a better time to tune in. Whether you’re an HVAC veteran or simply curious about the industry’s next big shifts, Charlie and Dan deliver expert insights with the ease of old friends chatting over a cold beer.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite platform.

Cool Air, Hot Takes explores the big questions and emerging trends in HVAC, from AI and energy efficiency to refrigerants, compressor tech, and nuclear-powered data centers, blending real-world stories with expert insights for engineers, contractors, and industry pros.

Trane Commercial, part of Trane Technologies, is a leading provider of innovative climate control solutions and energy services tailored for commercial environments.

Listen to Cool Air, Hot Takes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast apps >>

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