NEW OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF 2011 TAX CREDITS!
For Energy Efficiency
Enjoy pristine air like you've never experienced before. Purchase a mini-split system and take advantage of the benefits... dramatic energy savings... and a federal tax credit of up to $300 (on select systems).
Recently, the U.S. Congress passed a tax bill that extends the new tax benefits for homeowners who upgrade HVAC components in their homes. The new tax credit extension is in effect for all qualifying systems and products installed in the 2011 calendar year.
In addition, the 2011 tax credits ha... [Read full article]
This type of unit is very popular overseas where many buildings do not have ductwork. They are becoming popular in the US where homes need to be cooled but no ductwork exists, such as in the case of homes heated with boilers (see Gas Boilers).
The system has an outside condensing unit, very similar to a regular split system air conditioner. It also has copper tubing running to an indoor unit. However, the indoor unit(s) (It can have multiple indoor units with one outdoor unit) are not ducted, they simply hang on a wall or mount in the ceiling. These are not put in a window – like the... [Read full article]
There are many heating and air conditioning systems to choose from today. The size and age of your home, as well as the number of rooms, climate, local and regional utility costs, and utility incentive/rebate programs are all factors that will affect the functionality and, therefore, selection of your system.
Consumers seeking to replace an existing system often choose a new unit with equal or higher efficiency ratings compared to their previous system. Replacing a unit that is 10- to 15-years-old may reduce natural gas or electricity costs by 30 to 50%.
Air Conditioning Facts:
The t... [Read full article]
Tankless Water Heaters, also called instantaneous, continuous flow, inline, flash, on-demand or instant-on water heaters, are also available and gaining in popularity. These water heaters instantly heat water as it flows through the device, and do not retain any water internally except for what is in the heat exchanger coil.
Tankless heaters are often installed throughout a household at more than one point-of-use (POU), far from the central water heater, or larger models may still be used to provide all the hot water requirements for an entire house. The main advantages of tankless water h... [Read full article]
The Inverter Technology tag found on some air conditioners signifies the ability of the unit to continuously regulate its thermal power flow by altering the speed of the compressor in response to cooling demand.
Traditional reverse-cycle air-conditioners use a heat pump that is either working at maximum capability or switched off, as the compressor's speed cannot be varied. In order to regulate temperature a thermistor is used to measure the ambient air temperature and switch the compressor on when the ambient air temperature is too far from the desired temperature.
Eliminating stop-st... [Read full article]
A Thermostat is a device for regulating the temperature of a system so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint temperature. The thermostat does this by switching heating or cooling devices on or off or regulating the flow of a heat transfer fluid as needed to maintain the correct temperature.
A thermostat may be a control unit for a heating or cooling system or a component part of a heater or air conditioner. Thermostats can be constructed in many ways and may use a variety of sensors to measure the temperature. The output of the sensor then controls the heating... [Read full article]
Central Air Conditioning, commonly referred to as central air (U.S.) or air-con (UK), is an air conditioning system which uses ducts to distribute cooled and/or dehumidified air to more than one room, or uses pipes to distribute chilled water to heat exchangers in more than one room, and which is not plugged into a standard electrical outlet.
With a typical split system, the condenser and compressor are located in an outdoor unit; the evaporator is mounted in the air handler unit. With a package system, all components are located in a single outdoor unit that may be located on the ground o... [Read full article]
Equipment that performs heat transfer when mounted inside an Air Handling unit or ductwork. It is heated or cooled by electrical means or by circulating liquid or steam within it. Air flowing across it is heated or cooled. [Read full article]
An Air Handler, or Air Handling Unit (often abbreviated to AHU), is a device used to condition and circulate air as part of a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Usually, an air handler is a large metal box containing a blower, heating and/or cooling elements, filter racks or chambers, sound attenuators, and dampers. Air handlers usually connect to ductwork that distributes the conditioned air through the building, and returns it to the AHU. Sometimes AHUs discharge (supply) and admit (return) air directly to and from the space served, without ductwork.
Small air hand... [Read full article]
HVAC is an initialism or acronym that stands for "Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning".
Heating
There are different types of standard heating systems. Central heating is often used in cold climates to heat private houses and public buildings. Such a system contains a boiler, furnace, or heat pump to heat water, steam, or air, all in a central location such as a furnace room in a home or a mechanical room in a large building. The system also contains either ductwork, for forced air systems, or piping to distribute a heated fluid and radiators to transfer this heat to the air. The te... [Read full article]
Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) is the process of exchanging the energy contained in normally exhausted building or space air and using it to treat the incoming outdoor ventilation air in residential and commercial HVAC systems. The benefit of using energy recovery is the ability to meet the ASHRAE ventilation & energy standards, while improving indoor air quality, and reducing total HVAC equipment capacity.
Methods of transfer
An Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) is a type of air-to-air heat exchanger that not only can transfer sensible heat but also latent heat. Since both temperature... [Read full article]
Heat Recovery Ventilation (also known as a heat exchanger, air exchanger or air-to-air exchanger) is a ventilation system that employs a counter-flow heat exchanger between the inbound and outbound air flow. HRV provide fresh air and improved climate control, while also saving energy by reducing the heating (or cooling) requirements.
Benefits
As building efficiency is improved with insulation and weatherstripping, buildings are intentionally made more air-tight, and consequently less well ventilated. Since all buildings require a source of fresh air, the need for HRVs has become obvious. W... [Read full article]
A heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another, whether the media are separated by a solid wall so that they never mix, or the media are in direct contact. One common example of a heat exchanger is the radiator in a car, in which the heat source, being a hot engine-cooling fluid, water, transfers heat to air flowing through the radiator [Read full article]
A device that warms or cools a building by transferring heat from a relatively low-temperature reservoir to one at a higher temperature.
In heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications, a heat pump normally refers to a vapor-compression refrigeration device that includes a reversing valve and optimized heat exchangers so that the direction of heat flow may be reversed. Most commonly, heat pumps draw heat from the air or from the ground. Some air-source heat pumps do not work as well when temperatures fall below around −5°C(23°F). [Read full article]
The Condensing Unit is the component of a central air conditioner that is designed to remove heat absorbed by the refrigerant and transfer it outside the conditioned space.
A condenser unit used in central air conditioning systems typically has a heat exchanger section to cool down and condense incoming refrigerant vapor into liquid, a compressor to raise the pressure of the refrigerant and move it along, and a fan for blowing outside air through the heat exchanger section to cool the refrigerant inside. A typical configuration of such a condenser unit is as follows: The heat exchanger sec... [Read full article]
