UltraMAX™ whole home germicidal air treatment

Ultravation UltraMAX uses the natural power of ultraviolet light to control airborne allergens and microorganisms — bacteria, viruses and mold growth on HVAC interior surfaces.
Natural UV light from the sun keeps airborne microorganisms under control outdoors. UltraMAX improves the air in your entire home by doing the same thing indoors. . . inside your HVAC system! And UltraMAX also destroys mold and mildew on interior HVAC surfaces for a cleaner running, more efficient HVAC system. Since UltraMAX installs in your HVAC system, it’s always completely out of the way and operates silently.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics,click here to visit our website

AIR CURTAIN

An air door or air curtain is a device used for separating two spaces from each other, usually at the exterior entrance. The most common configuration for air curtains is a downward-facing blower fan mounted over an opening, blowing air across the surface of the opening. Air Curtains can come with, or without heaters to heat the air. Normally the opening is an entrance to a building, or opening between two space conditioned at different temperatures. Air curtains can serve many purposes. They can be intended to help keep flying insects out by creating forceful turbulence. It also helps keep out outside air, reducing infiltration though the opening. They can also be used to avoid cold drafts by mixing in warm air heated by the air curtain. The fan must be powerful enough to generate a jet of air that can reach the floor.
Air curtains are utilized when a barrier is needed across an opening, and when reducing energy costs is desired. Some applications include customer entryways, airplane hangars, cargo doors, drive through windows, restaurant doors, or shipping receiving doors. The air stream the air curtain places across the opening creates an invisible barrier to contain an air conditioned space and reduce infiltration. Typically, an air curtain can pay for itself in one to two years by reducing the load on the building's heating or air conditioning system. Usually, there is a mechanism, such as a door switch, to turn the unit on and off as the door opens and closes, so the Air Curtain only operates when the door is open. Heated Air curtains are commonly used when supplemental heat is needed for a space, and to reduce the wind chill factor across the opening in colder climates. Air Curtains work best when the pressure differential between the inside and outside of the building is as close to neutral as possible. Negative pressures, extreme temperature differences, elevators in close proximity, or extreme humidity can reduce the effectiveness of Air Curtains.
The most effective air curtain for containing heated or cooled air inside a building with an open door will have a high face velocity at the opening, generated by top-down flow, recovered by a recirculating air plenum and duct return to the source fans. This configuration is available for new construction, but difficult to provide in existing buildings. The air curtain is most effective with low exterior wind velocity. At higher wind velocities, the rate of air mixing increases and the outside air portion of the total face flow increases. Under ideal conditions of zero wind, the effectiveness of the air curtain is at its maximum. In windy locations air curtains cannot create a perfect seal, but are often used to reduce the amount of infiltration from an opening.
For industrial conditions, high face velocities are acceptable. For commercial applications like store entrances, user comfort dictates low face velocities, which reduce effectiveness of separation of exterior air from interior air.
Non-heated air curtains are often used in conjunction with cold storage and refrigerated rooms. Airflow through a door depends on wind forces, temperature differences (convection), and pressure differences.
Air curtains can be used to save energy by reducing the heat transfer (via mass transfer when air mixes across the threshold) between two spaces, although a closed and well-sealed physical door is much more effective. A combination is often utilized; when the door is opened the air curtain turns on, minimizing air flow from inside to outside and vice versa. Air curtains are often used where doors are required to stay open for operational purposes, such as at loading docks and vehicle entrances.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics,click here to visit our website

Variable-Speed vs. Single-Speed Blowers

Of all the components in a air handler (a/k/a furnace), the blower is one of the most important. As the name implies, the blower does the job of pushing the cooled or heated air into the ducts so that it can flow into all the rooms of your home. Obviously, the blower can use a lot of energy to do that very important work, and it’s reflected in your utility bills. Changing the way the blower operates can help you lower your energy costs.

Variable-Speed vs. Single-Speed Blowers

If you’re thinking about upgrading, and your priority is energy efficiency, you should seriously consider a variable-speed blower motor, instead of a single-speed motor. Why?

•A single-speed blower motor cannot be adjusted. The speed is set when the air handler/furnace is installed in your home. This means that the blower is either on or off, and when it’s on, it runs at the same speed, no matter what.
•A variable-speed blower, however, operates at different speeds. Because the motor won’t be running at full tilt when it’s on, your air handler/furnace will operate more efficiently.

Here are two examples of how a variable-speed blower motor can function in your air handler/furnace:

•Soft Start: The blower kicks on at a lower speed when the thermostat signals the air handler/furnace to go on. It runs at that speed for a designated time. If the house is warmed sufficiently, it will never go on full blast. If the house doesn’t warm up sufficiently, the blower will speed up.
•Continuous operation: An air handler/furnace with a variable-speed blower can be set to run on an ongoing basis, operating continually at a low speed. This is not only more energy efficient, but also important if you have HVAC components such as a whole-house humidifier or a whole-house air filtration system that depends on the blower being on.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics,click here to visit our website

DBX1000 Plastic Dryer Vent Box

The DBX1000 Dryer Vent Box with snap on trim ring. Made of High Impact Polystyrene. The DBX1000 dryer vent box comes in two sizes 4" (For a 2x4 wall) or a 6" size. (For a 2x6 wall) This dryer vent box can also be used to down vent, just turn the box upside down and your done. The DBX1000 comes with a snap on trim ring which helps elimate repairs and saves you time.

The dryer vent box helps eliminate all the excess dryer venting behind your dryer. It really make a neat, clean area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics,click here to visit our website

LOCKING CAPS

Locking Caps Guard Against Huffing and Stealing
Your air conditioner or heat pump has an indoor unit and an outdoor unit connected by copper refrigerant lines. The refrigerant within these lines is the working fluid that enables the cooling and/or heating of your home. Unfortunately, it was also a contributor to the tragic loss of a young life, which led to recent changes in the model building codes. These locking caps are designed to deter people from stealing or misusing refrigerant.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics,click here to visit our website

EPA Issues Warning on Hydrocarbon Refrigerants

The U.S. EPA issued a press release warning HVAC contractors, homeowners, and home improvement contractors against the improper use of propane based refrigerants that pose a fire and explosion risk. This follows a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) posting on the EPA website related to a specific refrigerant, R-22a, that has recently shown up in retail stores.
Contractors should be aware that hydrocarbon refrigerants are illegally being marketed as “replacement” refrigerants. In June the EPA began enforcement actions against Enviro-Safe Refrigerants, Inc., of Pekin, Illinois, for producing and selling a product called ES 22a in violations of the Clean Air Act.

Hydrocarbon refrigerants pose a special hazard for HVAC contractors unaware of their presence in a system. Before performing any work, contractors should ask customers if they have used Frost22a, and check the area with a combustible gas detector, and purge the system with nitrogen before using a torch.

The EPA press release is below:
EPA Warns Against Use of Refrigerant Substitutes That Pose Fire and Explosion Risk

Release Date: 07/01/2013
Contact Information: Dale Kemery (news media only), Kemery.dale@epa.gov, 202-564-7839, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is warning homeowners, propane manufacturers and sellers, home improvement contractors and air conditioning technicians of potential safety hazards related to the use of propane or other unapproved refrigerants in home air conditioning systems.

EPA is currently investigating instances where propane has been marketed and used as a substitute for HCFC-22 (R-22), a refrigerant that is widely used in home air conditioning systems.

Home air conditioning systems are not designed to handle propane or other similar flammable refrigerants. The use of these substances poses a potential fire or explosion hazard for homeowners and service technicians.

EPA is aware of incidents that have occurred both overseas and in the U.S. where individuals have been injured as a result of the use of propane and other unapproved refrigerants in air conditioning systems. We are investigating and will take enforcement actions where appropriate. Other names for these unapproved refrigerants include R-290, 22a, 22-A, R-22a, HC-22a, and CARE 40.

At this time, EPA has not approved the use of propane refrigerant or other hydrocarbon refrigerants in any type of air conditioner. Homeowners and technicians are strongly recommended to limit use of propane or other hydrocarbons to only those appliances specifically designed for these substances and that are properly marked to alert technicians that the equipment contains a flammable substance. EPA has approved the use of propane as a substitute refrigerant for R-22 in industrial process refrigeration systems and in new, stand-alone retail food refrigerators and freezers that are specifically designed to use flammable hydrocarbon refrigerants.

R-22 is being phased out of production and importation under the Montreal Protocol, an environmental treaty ratified by every country in the world designed to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of ozone depleting substances. EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program has already listed numerous refrigerants with improved environmental, health and safety profiles and continues to evaluate other refrigerants that can be used to replace R-22 and other ozone-depleting substances.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics,click here to visit our website

MORE ABOUT R-22

Really interesting article from Air Conditioning Contractors of America.

Actions, or to be more precise inactions, by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have caused confusion and uncertainty about the availability of virgin R-22 for residential and commercial cooling and refrigeration systems.
R-22, or as it is commonly known, Freon, is a hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) gas that for decades has been used as a refrigerant in dozens of residential, commercial, and industrial appliances, such as central air conditioners, heat pumps, and commercial refrigerators. It’s not a byproduct or emissive gas, but unfortunately when it is released into the atmosphere it is known to deplete the ozone and it has a high global warming potential.

So, how did we get into this situation with rising prices? The EPA controls the production and import of HCFCs through Allocations Rules that tell each companies how much virgin R-22 they are allocated to produce or import in a given year. Allocations rules typically cover a five year term.

Just days before the start of 2010, the EPA issued an Allocation Rule for 2010 through 2014. This particular Allocation Rule caught the industry off guard when it banned the manufacture of pre-charged HVAC equipment intended for new installations, but allowed the manufacture of uncharged, or dry-charged units, to be used as a replacement parts.
The 2010 Allocation Rule failed to recognize a legal trade between two manufactures who sued the EPA and won in 2011. The judgment ordered EPA to perform a regulatory “do-over” for the remaining years (2012-2014) with an Adjustment Rule to allow those companies to recoup money from the lost allocations.

Unfortunately, the EPA didn’t finish the Adjustment Rule before the year it was to take effect and 2012 began with the producers and importers of R-22 without the legal authority to manufacture or import R-22.

Recognizing this problem, the EPA sent “No Action Assurance” letters to the producers and importers of R-22, alerting them that they could temporarily resume the manufacture and import of R-22 for the rest of the year even though EPA hadn’t set the new allocation amounts. These letters advised that production would be curtailed by 45% of their last allocation amount.

At the time it was expected that it would take the EPA until the summer of 2012 to complete the Adjustment Rule.
Unfortunately, the EPA still hadn’t finished the Adjustment Rule by the start of 2013, so once again the EPA had to issue “No Action Assurance” letters.

Finally this past April, the EPA released the Final Adjustment Rule for 2012-2014. This means that some of the uncertainty has been cleared up and manufacturers and contractors know what to expect through 2014. However, the price of R-22 may not drop due to the rule being completed.
Even with the final rule in place, the question remains, will this issue arise again when the EPA needs to set new allocations for 2015-2019?

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics,click here to visit our website