Tech Tips

It’s easy to see yourself as a hero during the summer months. Desperate families in sweltering houses sing your praises after you quickly swap out that capacitor or install that new unit and the first blast of cold air comes out of the vents. Most companies make or break in the summer months, using the […]

This is a quick tip from the “Expansion Valves – What Does and Doesn't Matter?” livestream on our YouTube channel featuring Joe Shearer, Matthew Taylor, and Corey Cruz. Thermostatic expansion valves (also known as TXVs or TEVs) don’t have little brains that tell them when to open or close to maintain a specific superheat. They […]

This is a quick tip from the “Expansion Valves – What Does and Doesn't Matter?” livestream on our YouTube channel featuring Joe Shearer, Matthew Taylor, and Corey Cruz. As metering devices, TXVs can adjust the size of their orifice to maintain a constant superheat. Some TXVs are set to maintain a specific superheat from the […]

This is a quick tech tip derived from a short podcast episode in response to a question by one of our viewers, Gunther. You can listen to that episode HERE. If you would like to submit a question for the podcast, you can submit a voice recording on Speakpipe at https://www.speakpipe.com/hvacschool.   Restaurants are commercial facilities […]

I’m installing the HVAC system for a house that is being completely gutted. It has vaulted ceilings throughout, and a small attic area was designated for mechanicals. The duct system can’t go in the attic because there basically isn’t one. The engineer intended the equipment to go in the attic mechanical space, and then the […]

This is a quick tip from the “Expansion Valves – What Does and Doesn't Matter?” livestream on our YouTube channel featuring Joe Shearer, Matthew Taylor, and Corey Cruz. It’s time to talk about brazing again! Even though rehashing “flow nitrogen” and “use a wet rag” gets a little old, bad TXVs and callbacks also get […]

There are several neighborhoods in my area with two—and three-story townhomes with zoning, and I always wonder how long those systems will survive. Zoning can be notoriously hard on HVAC equipment if not set up properly. A single-stage system running full tilt with half the airflow it was designed for because a zone is closed […]

As many of you may know, Kalos does most of its training in-house. We’re lucky to have people like Bert on our team; he can give classes to several people at a time and is also great at one-on-one mentorship. Many of our managers and directors are also top-notch educators. Unfortunately, these people are still […]

“Did you do a Manual J?” “Did you run a Manual S on that?” “What does Manual D say?” If you’ve asked any design-related questions on the internet in the last several years, you’re probably familiar with these questions. But how does one “do” a Manual T? I bought Manual T last year and gave […]