Responses from an article on benchmarking that ran in Contracting Business.com magazine’s Hotmail email newsletter nearly a year ago continue to appear in my inbox. This new field evaluation and test method is being included in progressive service and maintenance agreements throughout the industry. It is proving as beneficial to customers as it is for …
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Flex duct versus metallic duct: for decades many considered duct material the key to how well an HVAC system delivers airflow to the conditioned space. You should start paying closer attention to this discussion. Events unfolding over the next few months could ultimately determine how much flexible duct you will be allowed to use when …
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When it comes to duct work, there’s lots of discussion kicking around about them being substantially undersized. Here’s a two-minute test that can check the size and performance of your duct system. The instruments are inexpensive and it takes less than 10 minutes to learn to do. Tons of Air Static pressure is a measurement …
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Airflow. It’s in our ventilation sytems. It’s the media through which our weather works. Off the South-Eastern coast of the United States, bounded by Miami (in Florida), San Juan (in Puerto Rico), and the north-Atlantic island of Bermuda, is an area known as the Bermuda Triangle. For years many ships and planes inexplicably disappeared when …
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or So what exactly is combustion energy and heat transfer anyway? This article is based on more than 30 years of field testing, measuring, and auditing equipment performance. Although some of the information requires interpretation, it’s still based on proven field performance. What is Combustion Energy? Combustion is the burning of some kind of fuel …
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Like blood pressure in humans, static pressure impacts HVAC systems, positively or negatively, depending on what that pressure is. We all know that high or low pressure is bad for human health. The same is true when it comes to building static pressure as well. Taking a building’s static pressure lets you “see” the HVAC …
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When you want to achieve the highest energy efficiency possible, HVAC equipment must be tuned properly, gas pressure and input most likely need to be increased. It’s also important to make sure the necessary airflow is available before any adjustments are made. But the question is, how can you easily calculate or estimate the potential …
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What if you could offer your customers a system efficiency option of 57%, 78%, or 93%? No, this is NOT equipment-rated efficiency. It’s the operating system’s field-measured efficiency after installation and verification in a home. Here’s a sample proposal of the future. Field Measured System Efficiency Constant advancements in our ability to field measure the …
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When I was a kid, I didn’t know what my beliefs were, so I had a habit of constantly asking why. I questioned my mom and dad repeatedly on the things I didn’t understand. They patiently answered my questions and encouraged me to keep asking. If you’re a parent, you’ve no doubt experienced this with …
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Picture yourself troubleshooting the following CO call and think about the pattern that’s followed. Remember, you’re going to be the hero on this call! The Call Long-time customers of yours, the Smith family, have recently moved into a new home. The previous homeowners replaced their old furnace with a direct-vent 90% efficient condensing furnace before …
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