Technology doesn’t matter, it’s all about relationships between dealers and manufacturers (or dealer/distributor/manufacturer, I am unfamiliar with this particular industry.) That holds true both for HVAC and pool equipment (and fire alarm systems, irrigation, etc etc)
If you can’t sell your product to the dealers because there in bed with the incumbents and the incumbent products generate service call work for the dealer, it doesn’t matter how good the tech is.
This is a people problem, not a technology problem. It can’t be solved by a couple programmers.
Pool equipment isn’t usable out of the box like a car or a thermostat, someone has to install it and service/maintain it.
Unless you want to build your own nationwide network of installers, you’re relying on third parties who already have existing relationships with pool equipment suppliers, which is why I said it’s a people problem and not a tech problem.
I figure a couple of SWEs could make a startup that completely disrupts these industries with objectively superior technology.