NCI Article Library

High-Performance HVAC Resources

Current Article Library Category: Air Conditioning

Capture Fall IAQ Opportunities

Fall and spring seasons lack the extreme temperatures that usually keep our services in high demand. You're required to dig down deep and focus on new ways to generate business. Let's take a look at several approaches you can use in your marketing and daily...

Can Your Fan Really Afford That Filter?

The air filters we use in our heating and cooling systems are becoming more and more efficient every year. Filter marketing brochures compete to raise our awareness of the legions of dreaded unseen airborne enemies that threaten the peace and security of our homes....

Balancing a Zoned System

Balancing a zoned system requires a few more steps than balancing a typical constant volume system. Let's take a look at the zoned system balancing procedure and investigate the differences. The added work increases the labor about 25% on a project. The first step is...

Balancing a System with Zoning

Balancing a zoned system requires a few more steps than balancing a typical constant volume system. Let's take a look at a zoned system balancing procedure and investigate the differences. The first step is to inspect the system and compare the plan to what actually...

Balance More Than Just the Air

Remember your first day in NCI's air balancing seminar? Most of us registered for the class thinking we were going to learn how to use a balancing hood and adjust dampers and that would be about it. By the end of the seminar your head was swimming with all the...

Are You Using the NCI System?

If you flip through your NCI Inc. Air Balancing Workbook you'll see techniques to implement testing into your service, sales, installation, and marketing. These testing and sales methods constitute the NCI Inc. system to put into practice air diagnostic testing and...

Are You Sizing Ducts and Fans Correctly?

When it comes to sizing HVAC ducts, we all have some interesting stories to share. One saying that many of us often repeat is "every duct system we ever designed worked perfectly, until the day we got our first air balancing hood." We all learned a few things that...

Are Variable Speed Motors Becoming a Necessity?

Last month we took a look at static pressure and variable speed motors. This month we'll continue the discussion on variable speed. The more HVAC performance test reports I review the more convinced I am that variable speed motors are becoming a necessity, not an...

An Update on Quality Installation Standards

Across the industry there is increasing interest in the ACCA Quality Installation Standard and the practices it encourages to improve HVAC system design, installation and testing. Considering the low performance scores revealed by NCI testing throughout the US, it's...

An Air Balance Submittal Package Can Make All The Difference

There's a carefully guarded secret in commercial air balancing. No it's not a secret handshake, it's a passport that gets you recognized and accepted by the architects and engineers who determine the qualifications of their project's air balancing contractor. It's...