Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine January 2023

HVACR NewsMagazine January 2023

Tech News

distributors. Please don’t consult counter sales on what you should do. They may be knowledgeable on their product, but they haven’t seen your job.

It’s Not Hard… The New Year is Upon Us!

Complete with brand new equipment, and performance standards.

Poor duct and distribution installations still exist, and you or your company staff must recognize, correct, and improve them before equipment will perform. I used to complain about Carrier Corporation’s use of large -framed furnaces. They knew way back; larger furnace cabinets were necessary to flow the proper volume of air. Today you will find 24” furnaces at minimum tonnages. For years manufacturers told the contracting community, “Take responsibility for individual jobs and resulting performance” and today, some high-end equipment with diagnostics on board, can shut the system down if performance parameters are not in alignment with air handler or furnace programing. I am sure these features will become more common place looking to the future. The question is; Are you going to install the equipment that calls out deficiencies, then adjust the job to correct the performance? If so, you will not be in business long. Carrier and Trane are some of the companies that push relatively inexpensive training out ahead of product delivery. Bryan Orr, of HVAC Schools and KALOS Services regularly contributes to this magazine and does a fine job here and on the internet explaining every aspect of the HVAC trade. In fact, if you were to catalog the information readily available on the internet by reputable folks, you would have a substantial training library. I will add

Have you done any research to keep up? Most contractors have done little, other than unloading equipment at discounted prices so not to get stuck with obsolete product in the warehouse. For contractors who measure performance by way of monitoring static pressure, utilizing flow hoods and weighing in the charge, you have already discovered the knack for doing the install right. Now that the manufacturers are telling you how the system performs in a more realistic sense, it should put you on notice. Also, your installs are not magically going to improve just by installing SEER 2 equipment. SEER 2 EER 2 SEER 2 EER 2 has just shown the industry the handicap general installations have put on equipment. Lower efficiency equipment took a 7/10 th of a SEER point reduction. Higher efficiency equipment took a full SEER point reduction. Most of the reduction is reflected directly on fan power consumed. As a matter of fact, manufacturers are admitting they have failed at moving the needle on performance. Failed at leaving it up to us, the contracting community, to install equipment correctly. Manufacturers have understood they can’t anticipate the challenges contractors will face with each individual installation. Neither do the