NCI Article Library

High-Performance HVAC Resources

Flush the Tech Talk

Our customers are different creatures than they were a decade ago; and they're a whole new species than what they were in the 80's. Some of us old timers remember scribbling a model number and a price on a proposal, pushing it across the table and hearing them mumble,...

Flue Restrictors-Neutral Pressure Point

Let's say you are working on a furnace, boiler or water heater, and when you take a draft reading the draft goes off scale. This is a good sign you have plenty of combustion air but the excess draft can cause poor fuel-air mixture or increased loss of energy. Using...

Flow Hood Calibration Quick Check

From time to time you may question whether your flow hood is reading accurately. Most of the time, when you're using a quality hood like the TSI 8371, you'll find that even though you might be getting a questionable reading, the problem is not the hood, but the outlet...

Flex Duct Suspension Done Right

There's a time-tested method for suspending flexible ducting that's been gaining popularity around the country recently. It's quick, cheap and extremely effective. To multiply the effectiveness of your flex duct suspension, simply take a moment to slip a 12"x 12"...

Five Minute Duct BTU Loss/Gain Procedure

We've all heard our customers describe how their air conditioning system works O.K. in the morning, but doesn't deliver enough cooling in the afternoon. We send out a service tech, he services the unit and reports it's working pretty well. End of story, except our...

Introducing NCI’s New Service Proposal

How many times in a week is your service technician placed in a situation where he or she finds a problem with a customer's system and when he approaches them with their options they're upset with the unexpected expense? You're stuck explaining options until they...

Installing Dampers in Finished Ceilings

There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to balance a system when it was built without balancing dampers, and the plenum and take-offs are behind a finished ceiling. Here's a little trick we use to install dampers on critical ducts in finished basement...

Insight Air, Phoenix, AZ

Rick Rohrbacher is the owner of Insight Air located in Phoenix Arizona. In addition to having his second daughter two weeks ago and moving into their new home two weeks from now, it's been a very busy spring at for Rick and the rest of his company. As we spoke with...

Increase Temperature Measurement Accuracy

When measuring system or equipment temperatures, take your measurements as soon as the system stabilizes. This will allow your performance calculations to resemble (as close as possible), normal operating conditions. In order to keep the system running during testing,...

Implement the Comfort Survey

In the early days of NCI, one of our first sales tools we created was the NCI Comfort Survey. As our library of tools has grown over the years, this particular piece has continued to be an ongoing favorite. Many techs and salespeople use it when they first implement...