NCI Article Library

High-Performance HVAC Resources

Learning to Test is a Process

Last month we had a contractor attend his first NCI Air Balance training. To protect his honor, we'll call him Brad. Brad was particularly attentive during the training, his questions were sharp and well thought out, and he scored super high on the certification exam....

Know Your Flue Temperatures

Whenever you're servicing or starting up heating equipment, it's important to know what discharge temperatures should be in the outlet or flue. Our industry often teaches that the lower the flue temperature, the more efficient the equipment will be. Most combustion...

Knockelmann Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning Covington, Kentucky

Kris Knockelmann of Knockelmann Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, Covington, Kentucky has earned the NCI contractor of the month for August 2006 due to the company's excellence in Carbon Monoxide testing and diagnostics. One thing we search for when we write...

Is Airflow Measurement Enough?

Is Airflow Measurement Enough? Rob "Doc" Falke, NCI President Recently a long time successful NCI contractor contacted me concerning a light commercial project he was struggling with - a 7 ½ ton and a 5 ton unit servicing an office area with sixty uncomfortable women....

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...

Adjusting a Ball Valve on Intake of 90% Appliances

Adjusting a Ball Valve on Intake of 90% Appliances by Jim Davis, NCI Senior Instructor In our combustion diagnostics class, we discuss short flues on condensing equipment as causing possible venting problems. We recommend adding a plastic ball valve to the intake of...

PK Wadsworth, Solon, OH

Paul Wadsworth calls himself the Business Leader of the PK Wadsworth Heating and Cooling Company of Solon, Ohio. The title Business Leader in place of President or CEO was chosen to typify his planned approach to business, as compared to the reactive approach found in...

How to Plot Fan Airflow

How to Plot Fan Airflow by Rob Falke To be well prepared for this new level of diagnostics, begin collecting copies of the fan data found in most installation instructions for the equipment your company installs and services. The most important diagnostic truth about...

How to Get Diagnostic Work

Nearly all systems are in need of air-side and combustion diagnostic, but getting permission to test the systems, and getting the customer to agree to pay for repairs requires more than technical genius. We asked a number of successful NCI Performance-Based...

How to Generate Leads With HeatMaxx™

Ok, so you've trained your techs on how to test initial system performance with HeatMaxx™. You've got the forms and the right tools. So how do you generate leads form your service calls, and just as important, how do you follow up a lead from a low-scoring HeatMaxx™...