In this issue of The NEWS, we examine the indoor air quality market and discuss how add-on sales can help contractors’ bottom lines. We also take a look at how contractors prepare their employees for winter weather.
We all know winter is on its way. And HVAC contractors — who brave all types of weather conditions — are using this time to prepare their field technicians and installers for cold weather and the ice, sleet, and snow that come with it.
The expected surge in smart thermostat sales will have equipment manufacturers, many of whom have their own proprietary controls, competing with the well-known universal thermostat brands, such as Nest, Honeywell, and ecobee.
From homes and apartments to office buildings, hospitals, and schools, the average American spends 87 percent of their life indoors — and another 6 percent in enclosed vehicles. That means for the overwhelming majority of Americans, the air entering their bodies every day is directly impacted by the buildings that make up the environment.
Cue the HVAC contractor to the rescue. With the right training and the right customer education, IAQ can be a contractor’s golden opportunity to take advantage of potential sales without the added effort of recruiting new clients.
Manufacturers in the realm of IAQ are seeing an uptick in interest due to increased awareness among consumers as well, as the air quality concerns that come as a byproduct of efforts to tighten up buildings to increase energy efficiency. In response, they’ve been updating IAQ products for the age of the smartphone and the “smart” HVAC system.
The baffling element of the Omnibus spending bill passed by Congress in December 2015 was the lawmakers’ decision to extend residential and commercial tax credits for solar photovoltaics and big wind through 2021, while allowing similar incentives for ground source heat pumps and other “orphaned” technologies to die on the vine.
My thinking was something like this: It costs a lot, may not be all it’s claimed to be, and looks to be pretty involved (learning curve), so maybe the thing to do is to sit on the sidelines for a while to see how it does. Soon, there was broad use of technology we weren’t familiar with, and I began to sense that some of our competitors had an advantage.
While exterior pollutants, such as smog and CO, may receive more attention, IAQ within a home can have serious effects on our physical and mental health, as well.
As a leader, you probably spend your work time dealing with problems and your downtime dreading them. But there’s another way to look at problems (and it can actually be a benefit to you).
The EPA is revisiting the aspects of the 2016 Rule that apply to equipment containing substitute refrigerants. If finalized as proposed, the revised Refrigerant Management rule would rescind the leak repair and maintenance requirements for substitute refrigerants.
For almost 40 years, "This Old House" has held its crew to the highest standard as they provide advice, product recommendations, and step-by-step instruction to millions of American homeowners each week.
The building, which also features a lecture hall with seating for 100 people, a training area for hands-on pump education classes, and a training video production studio has been in the works since breaking ground in 2016.
For your information news briefs from a wide variety of categories within the HVAC industry. Price increases, mergers and acquisitions, award winners, and more are highlighted here each week.
They are designed for use in retrofits or new construction in single-family homes, apartments, or condominiums. The units are available in three sizes: 80-, 120-, and 155-MBH input, in both combi or heat only versions.
Users can choose from 25 different IAQ, green building, industrial hygiene, and HVAC parameters, including total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), CO2, CO, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, humidity, temperature, etc.
The device controls one- or two-speed permanent split capacitor (PSC) or electronically commutated motor (ECM) fans as well as variable-speed ECM fans.
The cabinet designs provide several installation and service benefits for zero lot-line homes and condominiums and for rooftop terraces in dense urban settings that would typically require a crane.
The devices are added by binding them to the transceiver, and their values are automatically mapped to EnOcean BACnet® objects and populated in the EnOcean Values worksheet.
Designed for monitoring HVAC systems, the flow hood is attached to the anemometer, and then the whole construction is placed on the air source to be tested.