Air Handler Water Coil Freeze Stat – Freezing Protection Control

Air Handler Water Coil Freeze Stat - Freezing Protection ControlThe HVAC Air Handler Freeze Stat is a low temperature limit control and it is used mainly in commercial systems in the duct work on economizers or in air handlers just before any coil especially water coils. It is a safety and protection control to prevent extremely cold air from reaching the hot water or chilled water coils inside the air handler where the air enters from the economizer. Under ideal control set up if the freeze stat trips the economizer dampers close and the blower fan stops. This prevents coils from freezing. A frozen coil can bust open and will need to be replaced if it freezes thus the purpose of the freeze stat in HVAC air handler applications which utilize economizers for free cooling. Air Handler Freeze Stat

Air Management in Hot and Chilled Water Piping Loops

Air Management in Hot and Chilled Water Piping LoopsThis is a secondary chilled water pump in a large pump room designated for pumps and piping in a data center. After a few minor tweaks and corrections these pumps all operated flawlessly. There was very little issues with the secondary pump start-ups unlike the primary pumps where cavitation was encountered on the primary chilled water pumps and the condenser water pumps for the chiller. The diagnosis for the cavitation of the primary pumps and the condenser water pumps was that the loops were not properly purged of air and this caused those pumps to cavitate. The secondary pumps, pictured here, did not have that problem giving kudos to the team that purged the loops on this side of the chilled water system. Continue reading “Air Management in Hot and Chilled Water Piping Loops” »

All About Hot Water Heaters

Water Heaters with Tanks and Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless Water Heater

I have been transformed into a believer of tankless water heater systems. Anyone who has read the About Us page at High Performance HVAC along with my friends and family and some fans of the site know that I moved to Ukraine about a year ago for professional reasons. When I first arrived in Ukraine it took a while for me to adapt to the culture, language, services, and way they do things here. Power failures, water outages, and occasionally the natural gas outages are quite frequent here although it is tolerable and a minor inconvenience. Many of the outages occur at night when many people are sleeping but occasionally during the day when you need it. I must include that this has been a big adventure and I have learned much and to tell you if you are living in the States or Western Europe you have it good but that doesn’t mean Ukraine is bad it just means they are little behind and hopefully will quickly catch up. I have not seen a standard water heater here like the common water heaters with tanks in the States. All the systems I have seen here are tankless including the water heaters in the apartment I rented and now in the house where I live. I am sure there are tank-type water heaters here like in the States but I have not seen them yet.

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Water Tower Pumps and Controls

Water Tower Pumps and ControlsWater towers maintain a ready limited supply of water for communities in the event the water main goes down. Many water towers are used for emergency situations for the fire department to have water for fighting fires and for water fire suppression systems to have a supply of water for the emergency if it should arise. Continue reading “Water Tower Pumps and Controls” »

Domestic Hot Water Mixing Valve and Domestic Storage Tank

Domestic Hot Water Mixing Valve and Domestic Storage TankThis domestic hot water mixing valve offers a way to temper the hot water coming from a hot water loop and boiler. It is very important to maintain the appropriate and desirable temperatures of water used for domestic water use. First you want to maintain a safe temperature so people are scolded by extremely hot water temperatures. Hot water boiler loops generally work on a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit and this temperature is too hot for human contact without scolding or seriously burning the skin. A mixing valve is used in the loop to maintain a safe temperature for human comfort. The hot water is mixed with cold water at the mixing valve and the result is the temperature dialed into the mixing control valve which has a range of 120 degrees to 140 degrees if used for domestic hot water applications. Other mixing valves can be purchased that will give a whole range of temperatures including mixing valves that can be controlled by PLCs or DDC to maintain specific temperature ranges for whatever the desired temperature is for the application. Continue reading “Domestic Hot Water Mixing Valve and Domestic Storage Tank” »

Hot Water Boiler Economizer PreHeater

Hot Water Boiler Economizer PreHeaterThis is a hot water economizer and is a big preheater for domestic hot water use. This boiler plant serves a large community for heating and domestic hot water use. Domestic hot water is used for showers, washing dishes, laundry, ect, ect, ect…. The cold water supply from the city is routed through the economizer to be pre-heated before it goes through a heat exchangerand then the hot water storage tank. This system saves money because it uses the exhaust gases from the boiler to pre-heat the city water supply which is normally 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The exhaust gases from the boiler would otherwise be vented to the atmosphere and would be considered wasted heat. Continue reading “Hot Water Boiler Economizer PreHeater” »

Furnace Water Leak Possible Condensate Problem

Richard,

My furnace is leaking water and it is summer time so I am not using it for heat except for the blower fan which is hooked up for the air conditioner and the heat. I know the pipes from the outside units run into a box on top of the furnace so I think that is a part of the air conditioner. What can I do to fix the problem if you know what the problem is by my explanation here?

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Air Conditioning Heating Terms Definitions & Acronyms

This is a comprehensive list of HVAC Acronyms and HVAC Terms. High Performance HVAC is certain there are more terms and acronyms. If you know of something we missed please email us. Thanks!

AC – Air Conditioning or Alternating Current

ACCA – Air Conditioning Contractors Associations

AFUE – Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency

AHU – Air Handling Unit

AI – Analog Input

AMCA – Air Movement and Control Association

AO – Analog Output

AQS – Air Quality Systems

ASHRAE – American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers

AV – Automatic Air Vent

AWG – American Wire Gage

B – Boiler

BACnet – Computer communication protocol for building automation systems and control networks

BAS – Building Automation System

BI – Binary Input

BMS – Building Management System

BO – Binary Output

BP – Backflow Preventer

BTU – British Thermal Unit

BTUh – Brtish Thermal Units per Hour Continue reading “Air Conditioning Heating Terms Definitions & Acronyms” »

Cooling Tower Evaporation Cools Water

Cooling Tower Evaporation Cools WaterCooling towers use the process of evaporation to cool or removes heat from the condenser water that was transferred to the water in the chiller condenser barrel. The heat is absorbed at the load in this case in a data center on a data center floor. The servers and electrical equipment produce a massive amount of sensible heat. The heat is absorbed by computer room air conditioners or computer room air handlers. These systems, computer room air handlers and air conditioners, have chilled water coils. The chilled water originates at the chiller into the primary loop. The water circulates through the primary loop and makes its way into the secondary loops of the chilled water loop. Continue reading “Cooling Tower Evaporation Cools Water” »

Commercial Boiler Stack with Economizer

Commercial Boiler Stack with EconomizerThis is not a normal commercial boiler stack in this boiler room. It has a bypass stack for an commercial hot water economizer. All boilers have make-up water to make up for water lost in the systems especially for domestic hot water use. This hot water boiler system also served the domestic water needs for the local community where these boilers provided heat. Notice the dampers on the stacks (both the vertical and the horizontal stacks). These are controlled by a direct digital controller, located in the boiler room, and cause the hot gas to be diverted to an commercial hot water economizer instead of outside. Inside the boiler economizer were coils where the cold water supply water from the city was routed. This cold water supply was for domestic hot water use. Domestic hot water use is hot water for showers or the sinks for washing dishes or your hands. The water supplied from the city was typically fifty degrees Fahrenheit. After running through this cold supply water from the city through the boiler economizer the water was almost ninety degrees Fahrenheit. This system saved the organization money by using the heat from the gas stack gases. Instead of dumping it outside where it would be dissipated into the outside air it was routed through the commercial hot water economizer where it pre-heated the cold water supply for domestic hot water use. The commercial hot water economizer will help pay for itself and many other things by making the boiler room more efficient. Continue reading “Commercial Boiler Stack with Economizer” »