At the 2012 Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) annual conference, attendees had the opportunity to hear top executives from five major industry manufacturers discuss some of the hottest topics in HVAC. Some of the topics included regional standards, dry-charged unit sales, the R-22 price spike, and more.
After facing a slow winter where much of the nation saw above-average temperatures and mild weather, contractors are gearing up for a busy summer season. To help them prepare, The NEWS introduces the latest cooling equipment available for the upcoming summer season.
Source: Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Industry figures are estimates that are derived from the best available figures supplied by a sample of AHRI member companies.
If and when contractors step up their commitment to reclamation, they will find plenty of places ready to perform the process that brings questionable refrigerant back to ARI-700 purity standards. And contractors will also find plenty of incentives to do so.
Many contractors (and big-box stores) try to grab customers’ attention by advertising the ubiquitous $29 tune-up. So is the $29 tune-up an effective marketing tool that can be used to beef up the customer base? Or is it a pernicious practice that lowers the bar for the HVAC industry? It all depends on your outlook.
What will it take to jump-start more use of reclaimed HCFC-22 to service the huge inventory of equipment running on that refrigerant? The EPA and the dozens of companies offering reclamation services are hoping the most recent announcement of a potential 45 percent reduction in virgin R-22 coming to market.
How ready are contractors to embrace refrigerant reclamation? The answer depends on who you talk to. But some contractors are already plugged into the reclamation option — and hoping their colleagues, who might not be doing so, will soon join them.
From a global perspective, there is a lot of interest in the wider use of R-744 (CO2), especially in supermarket refrigeration. Recently, a number of international studies and seminars have reported some of the latest developments regarding R-744.
One of the basic components selected when installing a walk-in cooler/freezer or any field-assembled refrigeration system is the metering device, typically the thermostatic expansion valve (TXV). The TXV needs to be selected to match the Btu capacity of the system’s evaporator and compressor.
The amount of condenser subcooling needed is system dependent. The more pressure drops — friction and static — associated with the lines and accessories that carry the liquid in the system, the more need there will be for liquid subcooling to prevent liquid line flash gas.
RSS
