Technical Tips

Nuisance trips on outdoor HVACR equipment connected to GFCIs due to the 2020 NEC have created quite a stir. Many states in the U.S. have excluded this requirement due to the efforts of ACCA and others. Regardless of all this, your installed equipment needs to be properly grounded and bonded per the NEC.

Have you come across high-limit switches tripping? A limit switch is a critical safety device. This article will provide insight into recognizing issues that cause high-limit switches to trip and eventually fail.

Starting January 1, 2023, the Department of Energy will be updating its energy efficiency standards for HVACR equipment. In addition to this, regional standards in the South and Southwest will be based on the date of installation, not the date of manufacture. These regulations could make existing supply shortages worse, and open the doors for distributors to shift responsibility to the customer. It is more important than ever for the industry to be ready for these standards, and to join the fight against them.

In part two of Carbon Monoxide and Your Responsibility, we dive into some of the typical ways to test a furnace for carbon monoxide. Last month, we discussed types of combustion and some high-level items to check while on service calls. Now we’ll review popular test methods for checking combustion in gas furnaces.

Do you like the sun shining on your face on a cold winter morning? ACCA’s Ed Janowiak does, but that’s not the case on a hot summer day. Strategies like opening the blinds to take advantage of the free BTU’s in the winter, and pulling the blinds closed to keep the sun out in the summer are great ways to stay shady. But, do these strategies help to get more run time out of your system?

Don’t you hate it when a good technician (or installer, or sales person, or CSR, etc.) quits? Now you have to start all over with someone new. Is it worth it?

Acknowledging shade is a big part of doing a load calculation. Sometimes it’s done correctly and sometimes it’s done incorrectly. The more accurate we are with our inputs the more predictable our results will be. There are hard and fast rules that should be followed in Manual J. Some of the more important ones are discussed in this article.

Did NOAA get it right? Last October, ACCA’s Wes Davis reported that NOAA said there was a high probability for most of the country to be warmer, while the Pacific Northwest would be colder. Where he lives, it’s been cold. How about you? It’s early in the year but, did NOAA get it right?

The furnace season is upon us, and technicians across the country are busy keeping clients’ heating systems running smoothly and safely. This two-part article will discuss items you should be checking on furnaces to help reduce liability on combustion and venting.