Home Humidity Control | Why Its Important for Comfort & Health - Humidity is important to our home and health and it is important to maintain the correct humidity in our homes and workplaces for our health. What is humidity? Humidity is simply little water droplets in the air. Cold air is nearly saturated with these little water droplets because the contents of cold air allow the air to hold more water droplets or humidity. As air is heated it expands and holds less humidity. (more…)
Venstar ColorTouch Programmable Thermostat - A first impression when taking the Venstar ColorTouch thermostat from the box was that the thermostat was smaller than I had imagined however it is no smaller than the typical digital programmable thermostat. The more I got into the thermostat the better I liked it even though I found what I think is a minor flaw in the thermostat. Despite the flaw, we are recommending the Venstar ColorTouch thermostat for residential and light commercial users who will find the benefits and features rich and colorful. (more…)
Ohms Law and HVAC - Ohms Law is used by HVAC Technicians, electricians, electronics technicians, engineers, and others who deal with electrical circuits every day. It is a necessary fundamental that anyone dealing with electricity or electronics should learn. Ohms law is used in many different applications to solve problems (troubleshooting electrical problems), for sizing wire and designing circuits, and for designing printed circuit boards (PCBs). Ohms law is a basic fundamental formula that helps electrical specialist solves problems. Ohms Law is necessary to learn if you are going to be an above-average technician in HVAC. (more…)
How DDC Status Works – DDC and Status – Is the Device On or Off
This is a current switch sometimes referred to as a CT switch.
The basics of DDC include learning about the status of a fan or a compressor or pump. How does a DDC controller read the status of the device it is monitoring? There are several ways to prove a device is running and some pros and cons of each type of device used to monitor on or off status.
This is a basic DDC guide or reference to help a person understand the basics of DDC status and how it works. When one learns how DDC status works they can improve their troubleshooting skills.
Too many maintenance technicians and others including HVAC technicians don’t understand DDC systems or building automation systems and are therefore crippled when it comes to troubleshooting DDC systems.
High Performance HVAC hopes to change that and help HVAC techs and HVAC maintenance staff learn the basics of DDC systems including how DDC status works. Once someone understands the basics about DDC a light will turn on and they will see that DDC is not really rocket science.
BAS DDC Learning | HVAC - HVAC Building Automation Systems (BAS) or Direct Digital Controls (DDC) is pretty much one and the same. Basically described BAS and DDC are combining air conditioning, heating, ventilation, lighting, electrical loads, security systems, and life and safety systems to a computer and complex algorithms for better control over the systems. (more…)
Heat Pump Frost Ice Buildup. Hi. I noticed that one of my outside heat pump condensing units was laboring throughout the night. This morning I found ice frost buildup on the heat pump condenser fins. I live in Tucson, Az. It has been colder than normal (below freezing) with a bit more moisture in the air than usual as of late.
Can you please tell me what causes this frost ice buildup, and how I go about rectifying it? Does this mean that the condenser pump is shot? I’m originally from the Midwest and have never experienced this before. What should I be doing? Thank you for your help. (more…)
Start Capacitors for HVAC Compressors - HVAC single-phase compressors always come hooked up to a run capacitor. This helps the compressor when it is running, however, very few HVAC compressors come with a start capacitor. Most HVAC technicians know HVAC compressors pull a lot of amps on startup. This large amperage draws on startup is referred to technically as locked rotor amps or inrush current. It can be as much as 40,000 watts or more of pure power to get an HVAC compressor started. (more…)
HVAC Fire Safety - I’m not sure how many HVAC technicians have heard of on-the-job horror stories. Whether the job was commercial or residential. However, I am certain they have happened as I have heard of these horror stories happening to others.
Whether you have ever heard of it happening to others or even if it has happened to you it is important that we remain forever vigilant. This is absolutely true when it comes to fire safety on the job. Especially when we are constantly using fire as a part of our job.
And especially for silver soldering (brazing), soft soldering, or even when we are working on gas or oil boilers or furnaces. Here is an account of a few things that I’ve personally experienced and the lessons learned from these occurrences.
HVAC Careers - So you want to become an HVAC Technician and want to know how to find a successful career? It’s not easy but here’s some help for you. First of all, you need a good foundation of the basics and it would help if you understood the different types of jobs you can find by pursuing a career in HVAC. (more…)
Chapter Three NEC and HVAC - Chapter Three in the NEC covers Wiring Methods which includes how the wiring is supposed to run, the conduit for wiring, outlets, junctions, and switch points, and a host of other topics about the proper way to run wiring.
HVAC Technicians will be familiar with piping support as is required in the Mechanical Code and electricians must follow some of the same rules when running conduit and add support for the conduit. (more…)
HVAC Tip - Did you know the human body produces approximately 250 BTU/h when sleeping? Here is a basic list of the approximate BTU/h produced by the human body for various activities:
Watching Television - 400 BTU/h (any sedentary activity)
Cleaning the house - 700 BTU/h (moderate activity)
Mowing the Grass w/push mower - 1800 BTU/h (heavy activity)
Running a marathon - 2400 BTU/h (extreme activity)
The number of people occupying a dwelling or space is a consideration in the load calculation for sizing air conditioning systems simply because humans do give off heat. BTW, the Matrix over blew the numbers. In the movie Morpheus states humans give off over 25,000 BTU's. Only the author of this website is that hot..............))))))
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HVAC Careers - So you want to become an HVAC Technician and want to know how to find a successful career? It’s not easy but here’s some help for you. First of all, you need a good foundation of the basics and it would help if you understood the different types of jobs you can find by pursuing a career in HVAC. 
