Price Duct Renovation for What it's Worth
Duct renovation work is increasing at a steady clip across the country. Our industry is embracing the idea that just replacing the equipment isn't that great of a service to our customers without taking the time to get the duct system right at the same time....
Learn from the Raters
By now, most of us have met up with a HERS Rater or two. HERS stands for Home Energy Rating System. These forks are used by government and utility programs to rate the performance of homes so builders and homeowners can receive tax breaks and utility incentives. Quite a number of them are great building and HVAC system performance testers. I've written about these folks several times, because like it or not, they are becoming a very real presence in our industry....
Don't Exceed Your Static Pressure Budgets Part 2
Keeping in mind that the general idea is to keep the system's static pressure at or below 100% of the air handler's rated total external static pressure, we found the following pressure budgets for each of the following system components in well-performing systems across the country....
Don't Exceed Your Static Pressure Budgets Part 1
When it comes to budgets, our household spending is something we all can relate to. Just before the next check arrives there are several feelings we can experience. If you've spent less than what you've made, all is well. If you've spent more than what you've made you may feel the immediate pain of an overdraft charge, or the long term suffering of painful and expensive growing credit card debt....
Let the Student Teach
Put yourself in these shoes: There's this seminar you've wanted to go to for a long time. It comes to town and you're given the chance to attend. The day before you go, you're asked to deliver a 30 minute summary of what you've learned Friday morning in your company's weekly training meeting....
Duct Renovation Opportunites
Duct renovation has become one of the hottest topics in the industry today. Attention is being drawn to the substantial benefits it provides for both the contractor and the homeowner since the duct system often has more of an effect on system performance than the energy efficiency rating of the equipment....
Anyone Can Measure Static Pressure, Part 1
Manometers or pressure gauges have been used to measure air pressures for more than 200 years. The fathers of our industry used these gauges to learn about the mysteries of fans and duct systems. We use these same instruments (Although a little updated) to reveal similar mysteries about the systems we install and service today. Measuring pressure is just as critical in our time....
Anyone Can Measure Static Pressure, Part 2
In the last newsletter, we began a review of how to measure static pressure in an HVAC system. We discussed the required instruments and why measuring static pressure is such a good idea and a critical service we should be offering our customers. Let’s take a look and the steps required to measure total external static pressure....
The Tight Duct Myth
Tight ducts are not necessarily right ducts. Although critical to a well-performing system, the disaster of the duct blower craze across the country has produced the single largest inventory of poorly performing duct systems that we have ever had the opportunity to harvest....
Beginning Air Testing and Duct Renovation
When a contractor learns of air testing and diagnostics, it usually makes perfect sense. If systems don't work as they're supposed to, the inventory of duct renovation is immense. The question is how to get started....
Flush The Tech Talk
Our customers are different creatures that they were a decade ago; and they’re a whole new species than what they were in the 1980s. Some of us old timers remember scribbling a model number and a price on a proposal, pushing it across the table and hearing them mumble, "Well, if you think this is what we need . . .," as they signed the paper....
Consumer IAQ Checklist
When it comes to many indoor air quality (IAQ) issues, we're the specialists of choice and our primary goal is to provide top quality services and products to our customers. One way to call attention to your IAQ services is to offer your customers a checklist of preventative measures that they can take to improve the air quality in their homes....
Check Economizer Performance
Summer is coming and it's time to brush up on servicing rooftop packaged units with economizers. Better companies allow time to verify economizer performance during commercial spring service calls. Let's review the steps required to check economizer airflow and BTU intake....
How To Read Fan Airflow
Fan airflow can be easily interpreted for the manufacturer’s fan performance tables if you master static pressure measurement and record the fan speed. Follow these simple steps to add airflow to any service or diagnostic appointment. Quite often, you’ll be very surprised by what you will find....
Is There Still Room for Pioneers in Our Industry?
In our industry we have heroes like Dave Lennox, Willis Carrier, and others who sacrificed and paved the way to what we enjoy today. Most of us take these pioneers' contributions for granted and we rarely give them much thought. These days, things change so fast and frequently that we rarely slow down to look where we came from....
Learn the Air Changes Method of Calculating CFM
Some rooms present a real challenge when it comes to determining how much air to deliver. The problem is that heating or cooling load...
Training is a Process, Not an Event
I’ve been fortunate enough over the years to be involved in training many companies and have watched them apply new principles and skills to become very successful. I’ve also seen other companies receive the same training and then fail to have the training make any significant difference in the way they do business....
A Tale of Two Temperatures
One upon a time, in the land of heating and cooling there were two Delta-Ts that were often mistaken for one another. Nearly every technician in the land assumed they were exactly the same. But in fact, although they were related, they were very different....
How and Why to Write Testing Proposals
Most of us can whip out an equipment replacement proposal in minutes. The scope of work is often identical from one change out to another. Most of us have a few boiler plate proposals filed away in our computers so we can edit the date, name, and address and hit the print button....
Duct Pressure Testing: An Air Balancer's Perspective
Testing duct leakage by pressurizing ducts can be traced back to SMACNA air duct leakage testing standards published in the 1960s. Commercial duct leakage...
Calculating Heating System Airflow
As winter settles in across the country, weve had an increasing number of tech support calls asking for a quick and simple way to calculate airflow in...
Meet the Raters
We have some new players in our industry. Id like to introduce you to a group called the Home Energy Raters, (known simply as "Raters").There are more...
What Does a Flue Do?
As we approach full swing of heating season in most parts of the country, our attention is turned to making heating systems work as they should. A common...
Can You Solve the Muirbrook Case?
This article is quite different from those Doc usually writes. This is a short story about an air diagnostic test on a home. The story includes a service...
The Mysterious Muirbrook Case is Solved
This article is a continuation of a short story published in the last newsletter (Hotmail 10/3) where Doc described an air diagnostic sales call and challenged...
