Chances are high that you’ve encountered disastrous equipment replacement jobs you’d love to forget. Whether it’s the customer who now has high humidity issues, or the system that can’t maintain temperature anymore — we’ve all experienced them. Indeed, in many of these occurrences, attention to detail and avoiding bad industry habits helps prevent the occasional …
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Measuring static pressure on air handling equipment that has variable-speed fans can be a challenge to both new and experienced technicians. By addressing a few details, your readings will be consistent when you encounter this blower type. Let’s look at three tips you can use the next time you measure static pressure on a variable-speed …
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When replacing HVAC equipment, better service companies offer duct upsize and system performance upgrades as an option to their customers. These upgrades allow the duct system to perform closer to the level of efficiency claimed by the equipment manufacturer. Let’s take a look at the steps necessary to effectively upsize a residential duct system. Why …
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With the end of the heating season there’s a tendency to forget the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO). As you transition to the cooling season, be sure to keep your awareness for CO high even though it’s likely to be the last thing on your mind. Let’s look at five summer CO issues you should …
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If you’ve been in the HVAC industry for any length of time, you’re familiar with complaints involving dust and dirty equipment. As a result, most technicians target the air filter first when they receive such calls. As you investigate these problems, keep in mind how the following ways reduce filtration effectiveness so you can more …
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Many HVAC professionals assume the leading cause of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a cracked heat exchanger. This assumption leads to inaccurate test methods that pass on from technician to technician. They try to assure customer safety, but unknowingly rely on misinformation. No one wins in this scenario — both the contractor and customer have …
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Flex ducts could be in imminent danger. A few months ago, I wrote about a recent proposal to severely limit the use of flexible (flex) ducts. Due to poor installation methods, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) is proposing to limit use of flexible duct to only five feet in length. How …
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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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Twenty-two years ago NCI set out on a mission to help the HVAC industry move towards measured performance. At the time, we envisioned a future where most systems would perform at over 90% delivered efficiency. We believed the industry would fix most of the HVAC systems in homes and buildings once the issue was recognized. …
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Beating the Comfort Commodity Challenge When it comes to comfort differentiation, HVAC manufacturers have it tough these days. The rapid pace of technological development means that no single manufacturer can maintain a competitive edge for very long. Each one invests millions of dollars developing new products and, before they can cash their first check, one …
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