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HIGH PERFORMANCE
HVAC TODAY
TM
Beco
m
Per fo e a
r
Base mance-
d Ma
rkete
r
HIGH PERFORMANCE
HVAC TODAY
TM
MARKETING:
How To Become
a Trusted
Performance-
Based Marketer
What are the realities of
marketing your Performance-
Based business today.
16
Contractor Nancy
McKeraghan explains.
14 CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Why is Residential System
Performance So Important?
How can you deliver the comfort you promise customers
if you do not test, measure, and verify. Contractor Scott
Getzschman shares how his company greatly improved
customer service.
COMMERCIAL:
Refrigerant Charge Adjustments:
Not a One-Size-Fits-All Solution
Engineer Ben Lipscomb, P.E. says proper charge is
critical for system performance. But it is not the key
20
to solving comfort issues.
DEPARTMENTS
Online Content.......................................................................................4 Photo of the Month .......................................................................... 23
Today’s Word.........................................................................................7 Member Update ................................................................................ 24
High Performance News.....................................................................8 Ad Index................................................................................................. 25
High Performace Products.................................................................9 One More Thing................................................................................ 26
Contractor Spotlight: Hydes Air Conditioning..................... 10
N
ot that they were ever really out of Protocol, 2018 is the year the U.S. and oth-
the news, but 2018 is another mile- er developed nations are to stop producing
stone year in the never-ending story HFCs, then decrease their use by 10% in
of refrigerant chemicals and climate 2019 and 85% by 2036.
change. First a little “catch-up” background. With the imminent complete ban on new R-22
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) production and increasing phaseout of R-410A
initially called for the phaseout of R-22 (and oth- and other HFCs, the HVAC Industry will have to
Mike Weil is
editor-in-chief er hydrochlorfluorocarbon-based refrigerants), rely on recycled and reclaimed stockpiles to con-
and director of beginning in 2010. That year, they banned the tinue servicing existing equipment.
Communications
and Publications at import and production of R-22 for use in new But according to the EPA, annual reclamation
National Comfort equipment. Technicians can still use it to service has slowed down, and that may negatively impact
Institute, Inc.
and repair existing systems, though that will the availability of “pure”refrigerants in the not-
also be banned beginning in two years. too-distant future.
After 2020, only recycled and reclaimed R-22 For example, EPA says more than nine million
can be used for those purposes. pounds of R-22 was reported reclaimed in 2016.
Other types of refrigerants were added to Sounds good right? In fact it is. That number
banned/phase-out lists soon after 2010, most shows a gain over reclamation in 2014 and 2015,
notably those meant to replace the CFC-based but EPA says it is still significantly lower than the
ones. These are refrigerants containing hydro- numbers reported in 2008.
fluorocarbons (HFCs).
Fast forward to 2018. In accordance to WILL THERE BE ENOUGH?
the Kigali Amendment of the 1987 Montreal So everyone knows I am no math genius, but
it doesn’t take one to figure out that if reclaimed
R-22 continues a downward spiral, there is a
EPA 608 2018 Requirements good chance we won’t have enough to service all
the HVAC equipment out there when the com-
• Expands recordkeeping requirements for tech-
plete ban goes into effect.
nicians who dispose HVAC appliances between It really is in everyone’s best interest to take
5-50 lbs. of fluorocarbon refrigerant. another look at recovering and reclaiming R-22
• Requires technicians who handle hydrofluoro- and other banned refrigerant chemicals. Many
carbons (HFCs) to be EPA 608 certified. of the refrigerant distributors around the coun-
try have programs to help.
• Extends evacuation level requirements to
Even the EPA has ways to help. There are com-
appliances with HFCs. panies that will pay contractors for recovered
• Restricts the sale of HFC refrigerant to EPA refrigerant. These firms will even help you with
certified technicians. your legal responsibilities. The EPA lists these
companies on their website.
• Requires those who sell or distribute HFCs to
So don’t be part of the problem. Join forces
keep invoices records.
with contractors nationwide and be part of the
• Extends evacuation level requirements to small solution. Stop your technicians from venting and
appliances with HFCs. let’s pull our collective heads out of the sand and
look to the future.
Performance is
their ways and focus on providing the
very best comfort to their customers.
Today Hydes Air Conditioning remains
The Turning Point for Success family owned. Mike and his two broth-
ers are in the business together, as well
Q
as some of their children. The company
uestion: How does pliance and HVAC company there. “I was an avid reader of the trade mag- employs 35 people and operates 20 ser-
one go from aerospace That was in December 1980. azines. When I read about Comfortech, it vice and installation vehicles. Last year
engineering to own- As his sons graduated college, they looked to be different and more inviting its gross sales were over $8 million. They
ing and operating an too eventually joined their parents than many of the other trade events in focus on the residential retrofit and re-
HVAC company? Answer: Very in Palm Desert and began helping in this industry. So I went, and that is where placement marketplace in their area.
Founded in 1972 in Indio, CA, Hydes Air Conditioning employs 35 people (not all shown here)
carefully. At least that is the story the business. I met Rob Falke and Dominick Guarino of and grossed $8 million in 2017.
of Brian Hyde, an immigrant from Mike Hyde is one of three siblings. He the National Comfort Institute. EDUCATION IS VITAL
England to Canada in 1955. says he moved to the desert in 1984. “It was so eye opening for me. I was in As he said earlier, Mike Hyde has never make sure our technicians have good others. He invests in the training and ed-
Four years later, Brian awe. It was like I was in a live version of been afraid to try new things. His intro- tools,” Hyde explains. ucation of his entire team.
Hyde and his wife emigrated the trade magazine. All the writers and duction to the concepts of performance Technicians are given a tool allowance. They also participate in manufacturer
again, this time to Chula Vis- editors were there. They were willing to not only changed their overall approach Hyde says he just upgraded and bought and distributor technical training as well
ta, CA. For years he worked in spend time with someone like me. It had to system design and service, but also many tools for his team. as in soft skills training. He says soft skills
the aerospace industry, rais- a huge impact on me.” he adds. put the company on path of continuous Besides providing his people training are equally important to technical skills
ing his family. “I signed up for a class with Rob Falke, training and certification. In fact, Mike and certification, the Hyde team also because that is how customer-facing peo-
But in the late 1960s and and our company has been an NCI mem- says one of the things his team is very buys state-of-the-art tools to help the ple learn to better help the customers.
early 1970s, the aerospace industry suf- They sold the Orange County company ber and a believer in Performance-Based proud of is the NATE certification of all team stay on the cutting edge to provide
fered from economic woes that lead to and focused on building the air condi- Contracting™ ever since.” their technicians. true system performance. IT’S ALL ABOUT PERFORMANCE
many layoffs. Brian Hyde became very tioning business in Indio, CA . Interestingly, Mike Hyde says that as “We spend a lot of time and effort con- Hydes Air Conditioning is a member of Mike Hyde says, “We are a perfor-
disenchanted and got into the appli- Sometime around 1999, the company great as that first Comfortech experience sistently training,” he says. “We are real- several national groups in addition to NCI. mance-based contractor. Meaning not
ance repair business. He opened a shop first crossed the million-dollar mark. “We was, he realized he and his team really ly honed into training on system renova- The reason: peer contacts. “I like the peo- only do we follow the tenets of perfor-
in Orange County, CA. Besides appli- hired our first sales person at that point,” didn’t know anything. He says he came tions and air upgrades. That started from ple involved with these organizations,” mance, we believe in them. And not just
ance work, the company dabbled in Mike Hyde says. “We became a lot more the very beginning. The light bulb went Mike says. “We learn so much from other in the field. We train for performance in
HVAC repairs. focused on the heating and air condi- off at that first Comfortech when I real- contractors that it is worth the invest- every facet of the business, including of-
Hyde’s sons originally had no desire tioning side of the business and spent ized we couldn’t just change out equip- ment in the organizations. It doesn’t mat- fice work and management. We set goals,
to work in the family business, but did less time on the appliances.” ment. We needed to measure the system ter if we are on opposite ends of the coun- provide incentives, and pay well. As a re-
work their way through high school and The reason, the appliance business before and after we work on it.” try, we can have similar problems.” sult, we have very little staff turnover.”
college with the intent of starting their wasn’t growing, and air conditioning He says he bought his first flow hood Hydes has memberships in ACCA, To do this, he says, requires having
own careers. was bursting at the seams. He says appli- after attending Rob Falke’s class in 2000 EGIA, the Service Nation Alliance, and checks and balances, so team members
While they worked with him, Brian ance repair was a very small part of the or 2001. Since then they’ve added nearly continue to do what is prescribed and
Hyde instilled in them the power of treat- business but generated cross referrals a dozen more of them. how it is prescribed. Mike Hyde adds
ing customers right, of doing good work, for air conditioning work. “One of the things I learned is to have that this is one of the hardest aspects of
and standing behind it. He taught them The Hyde clan from left: Mark Hyde, Barry technicians do their own testing. That Performance-Based Contracting™. Once
how those things created loyal custom- EYE-OPENING CHANGE Hyde, Brian Hyde, Mike Hyde. Founder Brian means they have to have their own tools you implement it, if you don’t have a sys-
Hyde passed away in 2011.
ers. That modus operendi is still behind Then, everything changed. and instruments. tem in place, your performance endeav-
Hydes Air Conditioning today. “The very next year I attended my very “So currently, each installation team ors will fall by the wayside.
Eventually Brian left the business first HVAC Comfortech event in Atlanta, to understand that they most likely de- has their own flow hood, duct blaster, and Mike adds that in the early days for
and moved to the desert to try his GA. I was eager to learn more about the signed and installed systems wrong. basic tools like vacuum pumps, digital his company, implementation was too
hand in the real estate business, which industry and the business, and wasn’t Talk about eye-opening! So he and gauges, and even hot wire anemometers. Hyde’s employees receive on-site training on much. The reason: he was trying to do
didn’t work out. So he opened an ap- worried about trying new things,” he says. his brothers committed to correcting “I like good tools, and we really help static pressure testing from NCI. everything himself. He was the only one
being trained in it. The solution was stop doing what makes you money.’ In scribe it as a different mindset and ap- NN Price your services properly so you of the business. So we look to keep our
to involve more people. To work to get other words, don’t jump into home per- proach to not only the technology part, can stay in business. growth to around 10% per year so we
more people involved. formance exclusively. If you make money but also the business systems in the of- “Pricing properly was the turning point can keep track of where we’re going,
One way to do this is to take advantage selling boxes, that is fine. Just add duct fice. Training is key. Practice is vital. And for our company. My college degree is in who we’re hiring, and how we’re doing.”
of programs to live-train your field force. renovation and air upgrade services on learning is the cornerstone to success. accounting, so it’s not like I don’t under- When hiring new people, he says
“My nephew had just bought a house as menu items. I think that is very critical.” “We are focused on delivering comfort stand business. But it’s too easy to get they start them at the bottom level and
with an HVAC system that had never That is exactly what Mike’s team is to our customers. It is not about just sell- caught up with thinking about why we “train them up.” By doing this, he says
been tested. There were two condensing trained to do. He says it is an education ing equipment, even though we do that can’t price things high, because no one they have very low turnover and really
units that were delivering around 40%. process for the customer. as well,” he says. “We’ve been operating will buy them. Once I realized I was killing great employees.
After testing, we removed both units “We developed our own system, based as a Performance company for so long the business by NOT charging enough, I Mike Hyde says he loves the HVAC in-
– three tons each -- and replaced them on NCI teachings, but customized for that I believe it is just ingrained in every- raised our prices. The other side of that is dustry. He says contractors in general
with one four-ton unit. We added zon- our company. We tell customers exactly thing we do.” if you raise prices, you absolutely better need to be involved in it, not just by run-
ing, new duct work, cut ins, and more.” what we are going to do, and then if they The company has enjoyed a long pe- deliver. That is the key.” ning their companies.
He explains that this case is fairly typ- buy in, we write up a proposal. Our pro- riod of growth and Mike attributes that Pricing properly enables Hydes Air “Get active in the trade associations
ical for Hydes Air Conditioning. In addi- posals always focus on the reason for the to the processes built in by the perfor- conditioning to be profitable, to pay and other affiliate groups. They keep us
Mike Hyde receives one of National Comfort
tion, we usually find the transitions are original call, and then include what we mance-based approach. He says his Per- employees well, to train them well, and all on the cutting edge. They impact our
Institute’s Contractor of the Year Awards in
terrible and need to be repaired. But are going to do with some other things formance-Based success is also based grow. Mike says that he doesn’t want the businesses and our lives. They help us
March 2018.
not every customer is onboard with and air side stuff. on these three practices: company to grow too fast, however. have a positive impact on our customers’
the amount of work required and the “Then we come out on a separate visit, approval and buy in from the customer NN Really listen to customers “We try to keep it small and hands on. lives. And for me, that is what we are in
expense. run a load calculation, measure the air- before we do our full test-ins. When we NN Deliver the best customer service My brothers and I are active in all aspects business to do.”
flow, and get a baseline. We also test out are done with the job, the installation
DON’T FORGET TO MAKE MONEY after our work is done to assure the cus- crew does the test-outs. So our install
“I remember something Rob Falke said tomer we delivered what we promised.” crews do more than install. I find that if
in one of our classes. He said, ‘You can’t “For our business, we usually like to get they measure their own jobs, they see
the consequence of making mistakes or
cutting corners.”
Furthermore, Mike requires his crews
to take pictures of every job – before
and after shots. He says they use the
pictures to check each crew’s work. He
calls it a final check, making his crews
accountable.
“We had one job very recently where
the technician sent me a picture of a fin-
ished job. We didn’t like what we saw
and had him go back and change the
plenum. With pictures you can do so
much more.”
In 2017 Hydes Air
Conditioning cele-
brated 45 years “of THE PERFORMANCE IMPACT
Family Service.” ON THE BUSINESS
Mike Hyde says that becoming a Perfor-
mance-Based Contracting company has
totally changed their business. Though
he didn’t use the word culture, he did de-
Performance-Based Marketer
n Use your email data base to supply educational information: new trends
and offers, seasonal tips, comfort and health solutions. This can be done
through emails or ‘posts’ on social media.
n Use factual third-party data such as that available through organizations
T
like National Comfort Institute (NCI) or trade associations to boost your
oday’s contractor is faced with challeng- the average contractor, and with so many other true that it costs less to keep an existing credibility. It costs nothing, other than time, to deliver your message through
es not even considered ten or even five “channels” available, it is difficult to determine customer than to acquire a new one. this method of ‘direct mail.’
years ago. This is particularly evident which is the ‘right’ one that fits their target/de- So, what does the wise contractor n Encourage your existing customers to share your message with family,
when one looks at advertising and mar- sired demographic. do? How can they determine where to friends, and neighbors.
keting. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is For example, directory advertising is ex- spend their advertising budget? n Perhaps consider running a contest of sorts. NCI has great support materials
getting proper marketing messages to customers pensive and not particularly effective. available and possibly a future newsletter.
and potential customers. Print is rapidly going out of style. Sever- TIPS FOR MARKETING TODAY n Canco has the capability, through our software, to ‘attach’ our messages
Customers are generally more sophisticated to- al years ago, Canco went from spending more First, pay attention to how existing -- including maintenance reminders -- to our email data base. If you have a
day than they were in the past. With the internet than $30,000 per year in our local market, to and potential customers contact you. similar capability, or even if you use a third party email service, make sure
revolution, they can now be “educated” with the spending zero, with little difference. Flyers Track every phone call and computer that an ‘unsubscribe’ clause is included.
push of a few buttons. No one needs to be ‘tied’ generally have a short shelf life and unless you inquiry. For Canco, our software pro- In Canada, we also must adhere to our CASL regulation (Canada Anti-Spam
to a computer to gain this information, it is avail- can accurately predict weather patterns, flyers gram does this. We have found that Legislation) which prohibits us from sending electronic messages without
able on mobile phones and tablets. arrive either too early or too late. our top source is referrals, thanks to consent. ‘Implied consent’ is from anyone who has done business with us in
Unfortunately, not all the information found Direct mail can be effective -- although the our existing customers. the past two years. Check your local regulations to see if there are any similar
on the Internet is factual and can lead a custom- cost of printing and postage adds up, especially if Whether you use software or not, laws in effect.
er into making poor decisions. So how can con- you want blanket coverage. be sure to make ‘referral categories’
sumers find a trustworthy source of information? Another of today’s realities is that attaining a specific: i.e. not just the internet. In
More importantly, how can YOU become that new customer can cost more than $500 depend- other words, find out if the referrals N N Does it have testimonials from can define their target market and
trustworthy source? ing on your geographical location. Therefore, it is are coming from your website, your satisfied customers and from those reach it in inexpensive, effective ways
Not too long ago, manufacturers supplied it google ads, your manufacturer’s site, whom you made satisfied? that yesterday’s contractors knew
through traditional print media ads. In many etc. Request email addresses at every NN If the answers are yes, you are well nothing about.
cases, contractors could align themselves with opportunity. Those of us who are members of
a manufacturer or two using their co-op dol- Once this information NCI also have the advantage of a net-
PAY ATTENTION TO HOW
lars. However today co-op dollars are not as is available, it is easier to work of fellow contractors willing and
readily available as they once were, nor is man- choose a marketing or EXISTING AND POTENTIAL eager to share their expertise. All you
ufacturer “brand” as essential as it was once advertising method that CUSTOMERS CONTACT YOU. need to do is ask.
thought to be. best appeals to your tar- TRACK EVERY PHONE CALL
get market. Nancy McKeraghan is an
Performance So Important?
TM
O
real efficiency and fix the defi- perature readings, determine
ver the years we’ve learned that just (NCI) not only helped us train and certify our ciencies. We also realized how HeatMaxx™ and CoolMaxx™ are exclusive NCI the temperature difference,
selling a new furnace and air con- field workforce in high performance HVAC sys- many systems were either over membership service programs. They allow techni- and then calculate actual ca-
ditioner doesn’t mean we provide tems, it also helped change how we managed our or under charged with refrig- cians to check approximate BTU output of a heating pacity versus rated capacity.
customers the efficiency the system company by showing us how to implement Per- erant — all due to poor air flow or cooling system in less than 15 minutes. By mea- With these calculations we can
is designed to deliver. There are many factors formance-Based Contracting into our culture. caused by ductwork issues. It be- suring static pressure and temperature you can add begin to make final adjust-
and existing design conditions that stand in the It was a slow process. The first step was with came evident how many compo- a system performance evaluation to your service ments to the installation, ei-
way of having a new system perform at its rated our service department. Our goal was to certify nent failures were a direct result calls or start-ups. ther on the airflow side or the
A Getzschman capacity. In fact, we find that most new systems all our technicians in residential system perfor- of poor airflow. The HeatMaxx and CoolMaxx test reports pro- equipment capacity side.
technician end up operating at 50% of rated capacity. That is mance and then complete their training on how Understanding the impact of vide you with the ability to offer customers an A properly calibrated system
conducts a static just not acceptable. combustion works. This truly was an enlighten- combustion performance tru- initial evaluation of how their heating and cool- is not only more efficient, but
pressure test on a ing systems perform compared to how they were
For our company, this is the key reason we’ve ing experience. ly opened our technician’s eyes. it’s quieter, will last longer, and
residential furnace, designed to perform. Technicians gather import-
then records the adopted Performance-Based Contracting™ as We became a better company, have less major component fail-
the way we want to do business. Our partner- USING HEATMAXX™ AND COOLMAXX™ one that better understood the ant test data, complete the report, and present ures. Our G-VERIFY process
results on a digital
HeatMaxx™ form. ship with the National Comfort Institute, Inc. As a team we had to figure out how to explain combustion process and carbon the information so customers can understand that also gives us an opportunity to
to customers why our new instal- monoxide safety. better system performance and efficiency is avail- answer customer questions and
lation already needed revisions to Being a performance-based able to them. to review the installation one
ensure peak performance. We be- contractor doesn’t happen over- To see an article on how to do the calculations more time to ensure it meets
gan using NCI’s HeatMaxx™ and night — it’s a culture change that of a HeatMaxx test, just click here. our installation guidelines and
CoolMaxx™ forms (see sidebar on must be embraced by your ser- safety standards. Since initiat-
next page), tailoring them for our vice team. Our service department mum efficiency from both the equip- ing this process our call backs have
G-Force Team. Based on hours of meets weekly and we still focus on ment and distribution system. This drastically decreased. Our custom-
testing furnaces in our own shop, HeatMaxx, CoolMaxx, and combus- requires us to design a system with ers have the peace of mind know-
we began to redesign our instal- tion performance. After our techni- proper air flow and a safe and clean ing their system is operating with
lations. We changed all of our re- cians began the transformation, we combustion process. It is adjusted to proper airflow and at peak efficien-
turn boots from 1” filter racks to began working with our Residential operate at peak efficiency. cy. G-VERIFY ENSURES A QUALITY
4” filter racks; we also designed a replacement and installation teams. Both processes are necessary to pro- INSTALLATION.
return air box with a filter drawer vide top performance from the heat-
to accommodate 4” filters proper- COMMISSIONING ing and cooling system. This requires STILL NOT PERFECT
ly sized for the air flow. Eventual- At Getzschman, we feel if we sell more than changing equipment. You As we focused more on providing
ly we made it mandatory to install high efficiency systems, they need must be prepared to look at the entire excellence, we found we were still fall-
a 4” filter on every residential re- to perform as efficiently as possible. system including equipment calibra- ing short. We really hadn’t embraced
placement system installed. However, until we began commission- tion, supply, return, filtration, and to- this concept in all our departments. I
By using HeatMaxx and Cool- ing replacements, we really weren’t tal distribution. am very confident with G-VERIFY —
Maxx forms on all our mainte- being honest with our customers. We We call our commissioning pro- our replacements were exceeding cus-
nance and demand service calls, were like every other contractor — just cess G-VERIFY. We begin by install- tomer expectations. But I knew we
we learned how important proper selling furnaces and air conditioners. ing static pressure ports. This allows weren’t providing that same focus to
air flow is to ensure comfort, reli- Today with commissioning we set us to measure supply and return duct installations in our new home depart-
ability, and efficiency. For years we up each replacement to deliver opti- static pressure, filter pressure drop, ment. Providing performance excel-
lence must be a total focus. You must CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS make? Did we deliver system capacity
reinforce it in all departments each At Getzschman’s Heating, we began and have proper airflow in each room?
day to succeed. to look at all aspects of the system in-
For years we used rules of thumb: 35 cluding equipment, zoning, controls, GOING FORWARD
Btu’s /sq.ft. for heating and 25 Btu’s / the distribution system — including The only way to truly determine if
sq.ft. for cooling. This usually provid- the quality of registers and grilles — our installation performed at peak
ed a very safe but usually oversized to ensure we deliver real comfort to efficiency was to measure. We had to
heating and cooling system that would in each room or zone of the home. We G-VERIFY and balance our systems.
almost always result in hot and cold took time to investigate ductwork. Now this is a common practice. For
us it provides the homeowner with
the peace of mind that their system is
operating as designed. It means pro-
viding excellent comfort to each room
in their home.
Today our focus is on making sure
every system we service, replace, or
install new, operates as efficiently
as possible. We continue to constantly
train and reinforce the residential
system performance process and
combustion process to our entire
Part of the HeatMaxx Report Form
team. It truly does separate us from
spot complaints in the home. We studied takeoffs, the different our competition.
Today we use Manual J and perform design of boots, and the spacing be- This would have never been possi-
a load calculation — including heat loss tween takeoffs on the duct system. ble without the tools and support we
and heat gain — on the entire home. By reviewing design criteria for the receive from our partners at Nation-
With the information from Manual J, many fittings in a system, as well as al Comfort Institute. In our industry
not only do you know the loss and gain the number of outlets serving a sys- I always hear contractors say they are
of each room, you also know the re- tem, it became clear our duct sizing looking for that silver bullet. In my
quired airflow. This allows you to begin had to change. In fact, in almost all opinion the residential system perfor-
sizing duct systems accordingly. cases, designs called for increases in mance process is as close to a silver
We were taught the industry stan- duct size to ensure proper airflow. bullet as you will ever get.
dard for duct sizing, which is still used On the return side we began using
by many contractors today. The stan- floor grilles for returns. We sized re-
Scott Getzschman is
dard calls for sizing the duct system at turn drops for the proper static pres- co-owner of Getzschman
.10 inches of friction per 100’ of duct. sure and we improved our filtration Heating LLC in Fremont,
NE. Getzschman currently
It calls for all heat runs to be 6 inches systems as well. Lastly, we began
employs 55 people who are
in diameter, and using a wall cavity, to to add turn vanes in our return air focused on providing cus-
provide 125 cfm of return air using a boots. As these improvements began tomers with safe heating
and cooling systems oper-
14 x 6 grille. However, once you learn to pay off, customers experienced ating at optimum efficiency and as close to the
and understand airflow principals, it’s quieter, more comfortable, and more factory settings as possible. The company was
featured in the High-Performance HVAC
easy to see why there are so many un- efficient systems. In other words,
Today April Spotlight. Getzschman also won
dersized duct systems. That’s why so they were happier. the prestigious Medium Contractor of the
many heating and cooling systems fail However, the real question is how Year Award from National Comfort Institute.
He can be reached at scottg@getzschman.com.
to meet homeowners’ expectations. much improvement did we really
Refrigerant Charge Adjustments: accuracies and assumptions in this RCA faults produces. A couple of con- roughly 100 million residential and
M
several aspects of these uncertain- ed to be significantly impacted by ad- Note, however, that 18% received
any High-Performance HVAC while others had trouble detecting savings at all. ties and provides a starting point for justing the charge to factory levels.” upward adjustments of 20% or higher.
Today readers are at least famil- One study even indicated negative overall savings understanding them. Did they need the adjustments in the
iar with utility energy efficiency for comprehensive equipment maintenance that The California Public Utilities 2. “Addressing other non-RCA faults first place? Did the adjustments pro-
programs that pay an incentive for included RCA as one measure. Commission Study of Deemed HVAC appears to be more beneficial than ad- duce a benefit?
adjusting refrigerant charge. These programs are To understand what’s behind the highly Measures Uncertainty Year 3 Report dressing the charge offset fault itself.”
typically designed to correct low or high refrig- variable results, it’s important to understand that (HVAC 4)1 strives to achieve a deeper PROGRAM DESIGN FLAWS
erant charges in residential and light commercial EM&V impact evaluations can take several dif- understanding of the energy savings One final point to consider is that RCA programs typically pay out an
HVAC systems. Over the past two decades, many ferent approaches to answer the same question - uncertainty of three types of HVAC this study only partially examined the incentive for making charge adjust-
sources have pointed out the significant opportu- how much savings did the program achieve? measures, including RCA. The find- uncertainty of the RCA measure. ments, which are assumed to pro-
nity in correcting refrigerant charge. For RCA, EM&V faces a particularly difficult ings show that only correcting the It didn’t consider the uncertainty of duce savings. Some programs also
The story goes that charge deficiencies are challenge. The typical savings claimed for RCA charge on a highly undercharged sys- lab instrumentation, manufacturing pay a smaller incentive for diagnos-
widespread in split systems and rooftop units. tend to be small compared to the energy use of tem produces a high enough improve- variability, or performance respons- tics, which don’t produce savings
This equipment is nearly ubiquitous in both res- the HVAC equipment, and are downright min- ment in cooling efficiency or capacity es to varying outdoor and indoor en- directly, but in theory should lead to
idential and light commercial buildings, creating iscule compared to the energy use of a whole to overcome the associated uncertain- vironmental conditions. It also didn’t contractors finding and fixing more
a huge energy savings opportunity. The prem- building. This makes direct measurement of the ty around the improvements. consider persistence of the RCA ben- charge deficiencies.
ise seems so simple and promising that literally savings very difficult and expensive, or simply In other words, the energy sav- efits, uncertainty in the simulations What happens in practice is that
hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent impossible. ings benefits of doing RCA by itself used to project energy savings, or the some less scrupulous contractors make
nationally over the past decade to pursue these Further confounding the results, many RCA are questionable except in the case relative uncertainties of the various as many adjustments as they can,
energy savings. Here’s an unsettling question to programs include a broader tune-up or mainte- of a highly undercharged system. EM&V methods used for RCA. whether they are truly beneficial or not.
ponder: What if we’ve been wrong all along? nance program. This means there are many other Furthermore, addressing an over- If you consider the additional uncer- Why? Because the economics of the
measures that also impact energy use, so it’s easy charged system is likely to produce tainties inherent in this chain of de- program drive them to adjust. Once
TOUGH QUESTIONS, MIXED RESULTS to lose track of the performance of the RCA mea- a negative benefit, with most scenar- pendencies, it’s easy to see why EM&V you’re on the roof or in the home and
One example of
Energy Measurement and Verification (EM&V) sure itself. ios showing a decrease in efficiency results have been all over the place. have the gauges on, it’s easy to add or
the indirect EM&V
on Refrigerant Charge Adjustment (RCA) pro- To address these challenges, some extreme- and capacity. remove an ounce or two of refrigerant
processes often
used to estimate grams has produced mixed results over the past ly indirect methods have been developed for The HVAC4 study also looks at the SHOULD RCA BE AN ENERGY and claim the larger incentive.
RCA savings. 10 years. Some studies found excellent savings, EM&V. One approach is to use laboratory re- uncertainty of RCA when non-RCA EFFICIENCY MEASURE? Some programs leave the charge
search data to establish the impact of vary- faults such as economizer failures are With these conclusions in hand, let’s diagnostics entirely to the contrac-
ing levels of refrigerant charge deficiencies addressed, and the findings lend even consider whether RCA should contin- tor, requiring them to decide whether
on equipment efficiency and capacity. This is less credibility to the idea that RCA ue as a utility energy efficiency (EE) to add or remove charge, potentially
then coupled with program data on refrigerant itself produces any measurable ben- program measure. The first thing to based only on limited training and un-
charge addition or removal amounts to estimate efit. In fact, any RCA benefits realized think about is what percentage of derstanding of the refrigeration cycle.
the efficiency and capacity impacts for each ad- after addressing other faults were systems out there are operating with Verification on these programs typ-
justment that the program made. overshadowed by the uncertainty of egregious charge deficiencies. ically happens only after the fact, so if
Finally, the efficiency and capacity impacts are the benefit. In one study 2 of 4,168 air con- the system is running alright after the
simulated in a building energy simulation pro- Overall benefits produced by ad- ditioners that received refrigerant RCA measure is claimed, there’s no
gram like eQuest or Energy Plus to estimate the dressing non-RCA faults, in addition charge diagnostics and adjustments, repercussion to the contractor for in-
annual energy savings. to RCA faults, can be traced primari- approximately 18% received a charge correctly interpreting a charge fault or
As you can imagine, there are so many in- ly to the benefit that addressing non- addition of 20% or higher. With making an adjustment. Refrigeration
HIGH PERFORMANCE
HVAC TODAY
TM
W
e often get asked by our readers, At ABC Heating and Air, before we install a
“how should we market what we new furnace or air conditioner, our NCI air-
do differently as a high perfor- flow-certified technicians test your existing
mance contractor?” system to identify comfort issues and energy
Below you’ll find some sample messages that waste. We then offer solutions that can be in-
can be used on your website, social media, blogs, cluded with your new installation. Once we’re
Dominick Guarino email marketing, and of course, traditional print done, we test again to make sure your system
is publisher marketing. I've broken the messaging into three is operating at peak performance."
of HVAC Today
magazine and CEO
categories based on the type of lead you are Short message:
of National Comfort trying to generate: "Our NCI certified technicians fully test
Institute, Inc. He 1. Service and Maintenance every new system we install to help insure
can be reached at
domg@ncihvac.com 2. Replacement Sales you get the maximum comfort and energy
3. Solutions to Poorly Performing Systems efficiency."
Be sure to customize wording to fit your com-
pany offerings, the specific marketing vehicle, POORLY PERFORMING SYSTEMS
and what makes you different. "Have you replaced your furnace or central
air recently? Are you getting the comfort and
SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE energy efficiency you paid for? We are trained
"Our 21-point Performance Tune-Ups include and certified to test your entire comfort
certified airflow testing to help insure your home system to make sure it’s operating at peak
comfort system is operating at peak perfor- performance."
mance. This will improve comfort, reduce ener-
gy costs, and extend equipment life." "Tired of uncomfortable rooms, high utility
bills, or poor indoor air quality? Our techni-
"We provide certified, professional perfor- cians are NCI trained and certified to fully test
mance testing on every service or maintenance your system and help solve these typical home
visit. Our technicians will give you a detailed, comfort problems once and for all."
computerized report on the health and perfor-
mance of your system, along with suggested GREAT IMAGES COMPLETE THE PICTURE
improvements." As the old saying goes, a picture is worth
a thousand words. It’s important to balance
REPLACEMENT SYSTEM MARKETING words with images to help convey your mes-
Here's a longer message for websites and blogs: sage. You might include before and after pic-
"Thinking of replacing your old worn out fur- tures, or images of happy, comfortable fam-
nace or central air system? According to the ilies. Try to resist pictures of trucks and
National Comfort Institute, every day thou- equipment. To differentiate your company,
sands of homeowners pay top dollar for high you can’t look like everyone else.
efficiency equipment only to be disappointed These are just a few approaches to how you
by the lack of utility bill savings, and the same can market your high performance HVAC
comfort problems they’ve lived with for years. services.
Unfortunately, these problems typically cannot Let us know if you have others you'd like to
be solved by just installing new equipment. share.