NCI Article Library

High-Performance HVAC Resources

Effective Air – Glenview Illinois

Jonathan Smith, owner of Effective Air, member of the month.

Economizer Repair Opportunities Are Everywhere

Economizer Repair Opportunities Are Everywhere by Rob "Doc" Falke Economizers have stepped into the spotlight recently as one of the prime opportunities for energy savings in the commercial HVAC marketplace. It's said, with little argument from those in the field,...

Dynamic Air – Las Vegas, NV

Contractor of the month, Tom Johnson of Dynamic Air in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Duct System Installation Don’ts

"Air doesn't do that!" is a common phrase uttered at NCI during seminars and tech support calls. When it comes to delivering the required airflow there are several field conditions that will cut the airflow short every time. Lonnie Robnett of Nevada Heating has...

Duct Sizing Made Easy

ACCA manual D and other similar programs are the industry standards for duct sizing. But from hundreds of unofficial polls conducted in our seminars, we have learned that in the "real world" these programs are used for designing less than 1% of the residential and...

Duct Loss Test Methods – Which to Use When?

Duct Loss Test Methods - Which to Use When? By: Rob "Doc" Falke, NCI President NCI has a number of duct loss test methods that can help identify defects in duct systems. But when it's time to test in the field, you have to quickly determine what test will be most...

Duct Leakage in Mechanical Rooms and CO

Mechanical rooms housing heating equipment are required to maintain a neutral or slightly positive pressure to prevent combustion gasses from being pulled back down the flue into the room. The only appliances that this would not affect would be sealed combustion or...

Duct Access Solutions

Many performance-based contractors have learned a few tricks that help enable effective duct system renovations when access to the existing duct system is limited or challenging. Let’s take a look at a few of these solutions to improve duct performance when ducts are...

Dress Up Your Duct Sealing

Most of us who seal metal ducts using mastic know how hard it is to neatly brush the mastic on joints. This is no big deal on ducts in attics or crawl spaces, where they'll never be seen, but can look kind of sloppy on exposed ducts in basements and equipment rooms....

Draft Testing Done Right!

Many of us have been taught that if draft in the flue is .02" W.C. or higher, everything is working fine. This is a very dangerous assumption because you don't have enough information to make an educated diagnosis. Remember, none of the above methods can differentiate...