Just about every manufacturer recommends homeowners have their air-source heat pumps serviced twice a year — once in the spring and once in the fall. Most believe that semi-annual maintenance helps keep equipment operating at peak performance and ensures the unit is ready for the heat of summer or cold of winter.
When a couple of do-it-yourself (DIY) homeowners cited how easy it was to install their respective equipment themselves and how little skill was needed, it begged the question: With the current skilled labor shortage, are HVAC systems destined to become plug-and-play appliances?
Up until recently, sales of air-source heat pumps were on a tear, growing from 1.6 million units in 2009 to 2.3 million units in 2014, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). But, in 2015, sales of heat pumps slipped 3.6 percent from the previous year.
Not that long ago, if a conversation centered on heat pumps, it was fairly safe to assume that the equipment referred to ducted, split-system, electric, air-source units. That assumption started to change a few years ago with the growing popularity of ductless heat pumps.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), collaborating with Emerson Climate Technologies, developed a prototype for an air-source heat pump for the colder regions of the country — one that heats better and uses significantly less energy.
In 2007-2009, manufacturing job losses exceeded 2 million. And, despite adding more than 600,000 jobs since January 2010, the market has not fully recovered to its prerecession numbers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
More than 200 contractors from three countries descended on the Peach Tree State April 6-8 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta to attend Service Nation Inc.’s Atlanta International Roundtable meeting.
This unit is an efficient solution for single-room heating and cooling. Its 5.1-inch-thick design allows the coil to be used as an unobtrusive zoning solution.
The two day event, which was focused on helping dealers strengthen and grow their businesses, featured presentations on WaterFurnace products, marketing tools, training, financing, and more.