After an air balancing seminar in Sacramento, California last month, a contractor asked "So now that we're trained, what do we do next?" I must admit, I thought that's what we'd been talking about for the previous three days, but the question was honest and required a...
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Current Category: Heating
New Workbooks Enhanced Diagnostic Selling Process
One of the downloads in last month's newsletter was the Heating System Workbook. The response to this new sales and diagnostic tool has been encouraging. We had a significant number of calls offering adjustments, improvements and ideas for how the workbook could be...
Mike Graham Heating & Air Conditioning, Burkburnett, TX
by National Comfort Institute, Inc.
Mike Graham is the owner of his namesake company, Mike Graham Heating and Air Conditioning located in Burkburnett, Texas. Mike graduated from service tech to business owner 11 years ago, and now shares his days with a dozen other HVAC professionals in his company....
How to Select a Spill Switch
by Jim Davis
Spill switches provide additional safety whenever barometric dampers have been installed on equipment by sensing heat that may spill from the flue. If the flue becomes blocked, or if the negative pressure in the room causes the chimney to back draft and begin...
How to Measure Commercial System Efficiency
How to Measure Commercial System Efficiency by Rob "Doc" Falke, President, National Comfort Institute It’s just not fair. Some contractors have a distinct advantage in the marketplace over their competitors; they ruthlessly and knowingly measure the live operating...
How Airflow Affects Heating Efficiency
by National Comfort Institute, Inc.
Airflow is critical to proper heat transfer in heating and air conditioning systems. Most of us know the rule that temperature drop over a cooling coil should be 18 to 22 degrees. If the temperature drop increases, it is evidence that airflow is low. If the...
What is the Relationship between the Internet-of-Things and Performance-Based Contracting?
by Mike Weil
What is the Relationship between the Internet-of-Things and Performance-Based Contracting? by Mike Weil The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not fighting the old, but on building the new – Socrates One of the things I love about the HVAC Industry is its...
Hydronic Balancing: A New Frontier for NCI Contractors
As we are in the process of developing a commercial air and water balancing training and certification program for larger systems, we have been creating hydronic balancing forms and procedures. Water systems have been an integral part of commercial air conditioning...
HSER™ Season is Upon Us
HSER™ Season is Upon Us by Rob "Doc" Falke In May of 2004 we released the CSER ™ and HSER ™ procedures to NCI Members. With the success many members have enjoyed with CSER this summer, several members requested that we address HSER again this fall with additional...
How to Use Air Density Correction Factors
Air density correction factors have been a part of our air balancing curriculum since the early 1990's. NCI published a small table years ago and encouraged you to make corrections for air density when measuring airflow at higher altitudes. But the accuracy you are...