HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

Colleen Keyworth from Women in HVAC/R comes on the podcast to talk about the importance of getting women excited about our trade. While many women take up administrative roles in HVAC/R companies, very few women work in the field. Schools don't tend to market trade schools to women (or in general), so we can attribute part of the gender gap to how high schools present career options to people. Wom...

In this short podcast episode, Bryan explains the ins and outs of vacuum pump maintenance, a critical component of evacuation. The most basic part of vacuum pump maintenance is changing out your vacuum pump oil. This practice should happen very often. At a minimum, you should replace your vacuum pump oil weekly; in very wet or contaminated systems, you may need to replace it multiple times during...

David Holt from NCI comes on the podcast to talk about airflow testing and its importance as a customer service tool for the HVAC trade. Charging and airflow are closely linked. Even though the charge may be correct, the system can't operate correctly if the airflow is off. For example, we can only get the most latent heat removal in humid climates if we run lower fan speeds. To get the right bala...

In this short podcast episode, Bryan covers the basics of sunk costs. He explains what they are and what they mean for you and HVAC businesses. Sunk costs are costs to decisions that have been made in the past. You've "sunken" money, time, or effort into a decision. Let's say you invest in tools; after you make that purchase, the cost of the tools will become a sunk cost. The cost merely occurred...

Steve Rogers from the Energy Conservatory comes on the podcast to talk about residential air balancing and flow hood accuracy. Residential air balancing is important because it contributes to comfort in the home. To achieve the most comfort possible, we need to know where the air is going inside the home. For example, some rooms may be more conditioned than others, even if they may need less condi...

In this short podcast episode, Bryan covers the unique practices of brazing steel. He also explains how it differs from brazing copper. Brazing steel appears to be a rather uncommon practice in the HVAC industry. However, we actually do braze steel when we braze in compressors. Many compressors have copper-plated steel stubs; only the outer coating is copper, and if you burn through it, you'll rea...

John Pastorello from Refrigeration Technologies is back on the podcast to talk about leak detection procedures from start to finish. Big Blu was what started the Refrigeration Technologies empire. John developed Big Blu to create a bubble leak detector with a higher sensitivity to leaks than any other bubble test solution on the market. Big Blu differs from other leak detection solutions because i...

In this short podcast, Bryan dives into enthalpy. He explains what it is and how we see it at work in the HVAC/R systems we service daily. Enthalpy is a fancy word for the total heat energy within a substance. Don't confuse it with entropy, which is the disorganization of energy in a system. We measure enthalpy in energy per mass unit, such as BTUs per pound. Enthalpy combines both the sensible an...

Jim Devlin from Weil-McLain joins us to talk about high-efficiency and cast-iron boilers. He also explains how to use them together in a "hybrid" configuration to serve your customers. Cast-iron boilers are standard-efficiency boilers. These boilers are "standard-efficiency" because they have higher return water temperatures; you typically measure about 330 degrees in the flue. Conversely, high-ef...

Do you need different gauges for each refrigerant? In today's short podcast, we discuss the answer to this common HVAC question. When we first started using R-410A, many people warned us that we'd have to use a separate set of gauges when working on R-410A systems. That's because R-410A systems use POE oils, not mineral oil, and they are not compatible. While it is true that R-22 and R-410A system...

In this two-part interview, Moe Hirsch goes deep and wide on buffer tanks and strategies for "parking" BTUs in hydronic systems. Systems with a high domestic hot water load can also benefit from a buffer tank. You can pipe the domestic hot water tank as its own zone and step down the rest of the structure. However, there will be some standby losses for a tradeoff greater capacity. You also cannot...

In this two-part interview, Moe Hirsch goes deep and wide on buffer tanks and strategies for "parking" BTUs in hydronic systems. When we use boilers, we want to use a heat sink to "park" BTUs in a buffer tank so that we can temporarily store extra heat and avoid short cycling through load matching. However, few boilers have an actual buffer tank; many systems have a means of creating a buffer, tho...

In today's short podcast episode, Bryan covers the basics of refrigerant oil in HVAC/R systems. He also discusses what technicians can do to maintain oil systems. Oil lubricates the moving parts of the compressor. So, oil moves with the refrigerant and lubricates the parts as the refrigerant moves through the compressor. Unfortunately, oil can migrate to other parts of the circuit when it's not su...

In today's podcast, Kevan Mayer from NAVAC comes talks about recovery and ways to make it work better and more safely for you. Recovering refrigerant is better for the environment and safer for us. When designing recovery equipment, NAVAC's goal is to limit the gases we put into the atmosphere and leave the planet in better shape than we gound it. Recovery also ensures that refrigerants for phased...

In this short podcast episode, Bryan covers the difference between volt-amps (VA) and watts when we take electrical measurements. We usually use VA to rate transformers, but we use watts for other electrical ratings. Even though you can multiply volts by amps to get wattage, the difference between VA and watts has to do with the power factor. Power factor is the ratio of apparent to active power....

In this episode, I talk with tech, contractor, and consultant Genry Garcia. He tells us about his experiences with independent consulting and helping other contractors in South Florida. A chunk of Genry's work deals with independent consulting, which primarily focuses on helping other HVAC businesses and contractors instead of customers. South Florida has unique climate considerations, and Genry f...

In this short podcast episode, we talk about condensate drains. We get into the basics of cleaning, pitch, drain pans, and more. Cleaning drains sounds like an easy task, but it can be a bit time-consuming and difficult to get right. Instead of just "blowing out the drain," you must check the entire drain and be aware of buildup in traps and other hard deposits that form inside the piping. Sometim...

Bert and Bryan discuss the commonly repeated phrase, "refer to manufacturer's specs," in HVAC work. They discuss when referring to the manufacturer's specs works and when it feels like a crutch. Sometimes, you need to read the manufacturer's specs so that you can use the correct kits and components if specific parts or tools are necessary. Without knowing the specific product numbers given in the...

By viewer request, Bryan talks about some solar system basics in this short podcast episode. Solar energy is an up-and-coming power source that will continue to emerge. However, oil is still very inexpensive, so the USA still depends on it quite cheaply. Many consumers also don't like the high up-front costs associated with solar energy. Photovoltaic energy creates a differential that moves electr...

Bryan and Bert talk through a real-life issue we all face as techs: work-life balance. Bert's recent video "triggered" Bryan a bit, so they talk through it. Bryan believes that the work-life balance doesn't necessarily exist; instead of creating balance, he believes in a focus on discipline in work and home life as you're present to each of them. Instead of setting rules for dedicating his time, B...

Today's short podcast episode is all about surge protection on HVAC/R equipment. Lightning poses a severe threat to equipment, and surge suppression may or may not help. Unfortunately, surge protection cannot protect HVAC equipment from direct lightning strikes. Surge suppression strategies connect to the high-voltage line and will protect your equipment from surges from the utility. Large, instan...

In this episode, we talk with Moe about the world of hydronics. We discuss some fundamentals and talk about various boiler and radiator types. Hydronic systems use water flow to move heat. We can compare these systems to railroads; the water is like a train carrying BTUs, and the BTUs get off the "train" at radiators. The pump moves water in a circle, though it moves that water pretty far. Boilers...

In today's short podcast, we answer the following question: Should you ONLY use OEM parts? We also explain why the answer is what it is. It can be tricky to determine the value of OEM parts in general. For example, many OEM capacitors are very prone to failure. Some non-OEM capacitors have much lower failure rates. Operating conditions may also exceed manufacturer specs, so aftermarket components...

In this rather unorthodox short podcast episode, Andy gives his timeless soft skills tips. We also tell you a bit more about a special training event in Orlando in just a few weeks. Soft skills and communication are critical parts of the HVAC industry, especially residential HVAC. Customers don't compliment you on your tools; they compliment your service and attitude. We must acknowledge that we a...

In today's podcast, Bryan covers some of the facts about humidity. He also explains how to keep humidity under control in all climates. Humidity refers to water vapor in the air and is a component of the air. Changes in temperature and pressure affect the density of the air. The air density determines how much moisture air can hold. Relative humidity refers to the ratio of water vapor in the air....