Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine March 2020

to 30%. The construction industry and the HVAC industry has been unknowingly putting a siphon into the pockets of unsuspecting homeowners-draining their budgets for unnecessarily high utility bills. The construction industry and the HVAC industry has been unknowingly putting a siphon into the pockets of unsuspecting homeowners-draining their budgets for unnecessarily high utility bills. All this push for ever increasing Energy Code standards for ductwork is our fault. We created the situation. My concern is, “Has the correction gone too far?” First, Duct Testing. With the Energy Code implemented in 2015, the HVAC All this push for ever increasing Energy Code standards for duct- work is our fault. We created the situation. industry was required to use mastic or mastic tape on the joints. My question is, “ If you screw the joints together and use mastic or mastic tape, how’s it gonna’ leak?” Yes, it leaks terribly at the furnace and air handler and there are some ways we can help alleviate that. So why does it still leak so badly that we now need

Codes Changes Are You on Board I have to be totally transparent about my history and feelings regarding some of the proposed Energy Code changes. R8 on all supply duct is a non-issue to me. R8 on supply duct in the attic is already code. We were scheduled to implement that in January of 2016 but the Home Builder’s Association was adamantly against it. At that time my position was “Do what you want--j ust make up your mind.” We had distributors that were getting stuck handling R6 and R8 with the potential of getting hung with the R8. I just wanted our government folks to quit playing politics, make up their mind, and let our industry get back to business. The result was that the Governor intervened and R8 went away. With so much condensation due to really low air temps and most of the duct wrap being compressed, the industry and consumers have a serious problem. Maybe R8 will help take care of it. Duct blasting and blower door testing is where I am conflicted. I was introduced to those in the mid- 90s. Wow! What an eye opener. “Who would have thunk it?” Houses leaked like sieves and duct was leaking at an average rate of 20%