Airflow, Ducts & Static Pressure

  This article was written by my good friend, Neil Comparetto. He is one of the all-around best dudes in the industry and a guy who practices what he preaches on duct design. Thanks, Neil! These are some fundamentals for designing and installing duct systems that I’ve learned over the years. Included are links to […]

Probably the most popular measurement method for indirect airflow readings is total external static pressure (TESP). A dual-port manometer or two Bluetooth single-port manometers are essential to the HVAC technician toolbag. Here’s a quick review of TESP, why it’s important, and how to make the measurements. TESP is a pressure reading of the “balloon” pressure […]

Recommended Duct Velocities (FPM) Duct Type Residential Commercial / Institutional Industrial Main Ducts 700 – 900 1000 – 1300 1200 – 1800 Branch Ducts 500 – 700 600 – 900 800 – 1000   As service technicians, we are often expected to understand a bit about design to diagnose a problem fully. Duct velocity has many […]

When I started in the trade in 1999, there were still many oilable blower motors in service. As part of the maintenance, we would remove the housing and oil the motor. We would also vacuum the motor and wipe it down. As oilable motors have become extinct, I see fewer and fewer techs pulling the […]

Many installers and service technicians know how to read and use a manufacturer fan table, but this is a quick review with a few extra tips for newer techs. It’s also a good reminder to senior technicians about how this easy-to-use practice can also be easily abused. At installation, properly setting up airflow is imperative to the […]

Fan laws and fan curves are a deep subject with a lot of nuance and variation. Just to get our heads around the subject, let's focus on two different types of fans that we see all the time in HVAC: the prop/axial type and the radial/centrifugal type. Centrifugal/Radial As we increase the pressure differential across […]

For those of you who use the MeasureQuick app for system diagnosis and performance testing, you may have noticed the “fan efficacy” results and wondered what it is. It is simply the CFM output of the system divided by the wattage used by the blower. It is only for the blower motor and has nothing […]

This article is written by one of the smartest guys I know online, Neil Comparetto. Thanks, Neil! Recently, I posted a question in the HVAC School Group on Facebook that went like this: “When designing a residential duct system, what friction rate do you use?” As of writing this, only one answer was correct according […]

This tech tip was written by one of the best all-around HVAC minds out there: Neil Comparetto. I think that we all can agree that duct leakage is not ideal. Our job is to condition the space. If we can’t control the air, that becomes difficult. On top of that, anytime the ducts leak, you […]