Tech Tips

As a small business owner in the 21st century, I have recently been exposed to the overwhelming amount of new technologies and processes that I could use within my business. In the last few years, there has been a surge of software and connected tools that are entering the marketplace. All of them promise to […]

This tech tip is based on a presentation by Joey Henderson, a veteran symposium speaker and excellent HVAC educator. You can learn more about Joey and the work he does at joejoehvac.com and his YouTube channel HERE. We recently published a tech tip about economizers as a means of bringing fresh air into commercial buildings. […]

I hired and trained an apprentice who has worked 2 days a week for me over the last 4–5 months. I've been in business for almost two years, and I had a pretty good sense that I would need some help this summer. Hauling a few air handlers and furnaces into an attic by myself […]

We’re in the business of moving heat, but we have to move air to accomplish that. We use CFM (cubic feet per minute) to quantify the air we move over the indoor coil, and it helps to imagine hundreds of 1’x1’x1’ boxes of air moving over that coil each minute. (After all, 400 CFM is […]

What is your methodology for troubleshooting an HVAC system that “can’t keep up” on the hottest days of the summer? Let me walk you through my process and hone in on one or two ideas that have been overlooked for too long in our industry. In this article, I’m assuming we have ruled out intermittent […]

We recently received a Speakpipe question for the podcast about a common nuisance call on straight-cool A/C units and heat pumps. The systems, often retrofit units, were backing water up into the secondary drain pan and overflowing it. This issue isn’t happening on furnaces, which are positively pressurized, which means we have to take a […]

When we started Conduit, one thing that was incredibly important to us was that we constantly took lessons from the field to make sure we’re building the best product and process. HVAC Contractors around the country graciously let us ride in their trucks with them to visit customers. Our goal was to better understand the […]

This tech tip was written by Dr. Chuck Allgood from Chemours. Thanks, Dr. Chuck! As the ramp-up of new AC units and heat pumps with low-GWP refrigerant R-454B accelerates, it may be useful to look at some of the basic properties of R-454B refrigerant as compared to the legacy gas it’s replacing: R-410A. This tech tip […]

Sandhill cranes are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918. Non-migratory subspecies, like the ones we see in Florida, also have special protections, and hurting a crane can land you in jail or put you thousands of dollars in debt. (Plus, it’s just plain awful.) For that reason, we need to do […]