2019

My buddy Eric Kaiser from the ETS Group comes on to discuss a common problem we both see in how students and techs think about the trade and how to progress in it.

Suction pressure, head pressure, subcooling, superheat, delta T. Taking all five of these calculations into account on every service call is critical. Even if you must do further diagnostic tests to pinpoint the problem, these five factors are the groundwork before more effective diagnostics can be done. I would also add static pressure as an […]

For a technician who comes across a customer balancing complaint, How do you think about and help to solve the problem?

This website is for professional HVAC techs and those actively learning to become professional HVAC techs, not DIY homeowners. I feel like that needed to be said before I state these seemingly obvious facts, but these very obvious facts are so commonly mistaken that it needs to be covered. Take a look at the two […]

Eric really likes ceiling cassette air handlers. So much so that he put them in his own home. We discuss cassettes vs. highwall and other ductless related topics

The most common defense for bad practices and how to STOP IT

Travel back in time with me to 2001. I was a young tech, proving my salt out there in the big world of commercial RTU maintenance. One of the steps in the Fall PM list was “test aux heat,” and by golly, that's what I was going to do! I was on the roof of […]

If you work in large commercial offices or mixed-use buildings, you almost certainly work with VAV systems regularly. If you aren't familiar with VAV, this is a quick intro to the basics so that they won't seem so overwhelming. VAV stands for variable air volume; this means that the AHU (air handling unit) can vary […]

We pull out all of the initials in this episode MAU, MUA, DOAS and MHGRV to give you an introduction to outdoor air systems and their purpose