n Tools & Instruments

HVAC combustion analyzer

Cordless threader

Ridgid, Elyria, Ohio, introduces its new battery-powered 760 FXP Power Drive, a hand-held cordless threading tool. Powered with the tooling company’s FXP technology platform, the battery-powered tool can thread 1/8-inch to two-inch pipe. The portable threader’s brushless motor can complete up to 30 two-inch threads per charge. It is available in two variations, 12-R and 11-R, and is ideal for new construction and repair applications on mechanical, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and oil/gas projects.

Ridgid u www.ridgid.com

Impact driver attachments

DeWalt, Mississauga, Ont, announces its new Impact Connect system — a new line of attachments to convert select impact drivers. It features two new attachments: a copper pipe cutter attachment and a PVC/PEX pipe cutter that connects to select DeWalt 20V Max tools and other pro-grade 18V impact drivers. It is ideal for pipe fitting, plumbing, HVAC, and home renovation. The copper attachment features a 1/2-inch and 3/4-inch cutting wheel optimized for cutting performance and speed, and the PEX features up to a two-inch cut capacity in schedule 80 PVC.

DeWalt u www.dewalt.ca

Pipe thawing machine

General Pipe Cleaners, McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, launches its Hot-Shot Pipe Thawing Machines. It can thaw pipes in minutes, without tearing up floors or walls, digging around pipes in frozen ground, or using hazardous blow torches. The Hot-Shot 320 can thaw up to 100-ft. of 1-1/2-inch pipe and weighs 30 pounds. The Hot-Shot 400 can thaw frozen lines up to 175-ft. and 1-1/2-inches in diameter. The 400 model features a dual level output that lets users switch to 320-amps and pulls just 14 amps. To use, just attach the clamps to the frozen pipe section and plug the machine into any 115-volt outlet.

General Pipe Cleaners u www.drainbrain.com

Fieldpiece, Orange, California, has announced the addition of its CAT85 combustion analyzer to its growing line of products. The CAT85 can accurately measure O2, CO, CO2, and draft pressure and has a built-in manometer. It can also automatically separate and return accumulated water to the flue using its patent-pending HydroCycle pump technology. Along with a fouryear sensor warranty, the CAT85 HVAC combustion analyzer features patent-pending SensorVault technology that extends sensor life by sealing the sensors from oxygen in the air during storage.

Fieldpiece u www.fieldpiece.com

Bend pipe easily Navac, Lyndhurst, New Jersey, introduces its brand-new tubing bender. The newest addition to the company’s BreakFree of cordless tools, its NTB7L power tubing bender is designed to make typically time-intensive chores simpler. Suitable for seven tubing sizes, ranging from 1/4inch to 7/8-inch, the tubing bender allows soft ACR copper to be bent to any desired angle up to 90-degrees via a single press/release control switch, and offers O.D. size changes in seconds. Upon a completed bend, the unit’s baffle automatically ejects the tubing while the tool resets. It can power more than 100 bends per charge and can be fully recharged in 30 minutes. Navac also offers a separately sold NTBRK reverse bending kit.

Navac u www.navac.com

Pipe beveler

Esco Tool, Holliston, Massachusetts, introduces its Dictator II Millhog pipe beveler to market. It is an I.D. clamping welding end prep tool that aligns using self-centering clamps and can incorporate four blades in order to bevel, face, and bore or create a compound bevel. Featuring an adjustable tool post for indexing the blades, it can perform 37.5-degree to 10-degree compound bevels on a 24inch O.D pipe with a two-inch thick wall and is offered with air, electric, and hydraulic powered motors. The Dictator II Millhog uses one mandrel and a set of three wide clamps that provide six points of contact to the pipe I.D. to mount rigidly and ensure chatter-free operation.

Esco Tool u www.escotool.com

By Glenn Mellors

As residential replacement furnace and air conditioner companies, we have become prone to using the term system loosely, no pun intended. We tend to go about our business convincing consumers that our system is the most efficient system on the market. We throw around acronyms like AFUE and SEER as if they mean something that delivers optimum savings to the home, when in fact, those ratings should be referred to as potential AFUE or potential SEER. Now I am not looking for a fight, but rather reminding us that a system doesn’t stop at the plenum. If we were to use the human body as an analogy of a system and compare it to a home comfort system, we would find several similarities, such as the heart with a furnace; air conditioner or heat pump with the lungs/ air filtration; purification with the liver or kidneys; supply run with the arteries; return air with the veins; and lastly, the intake and exhaust with the mouth.

We are all aware that a healthy, happy body requires all parts to function harmoniously. The heart alone is only one part of the system, and a 100 per cent efficient heart isn’t enough to properly sustain a healthy body. Our focus in this article will be on the arteries and the veins.

Fallacy No. 01: ENERGY RATING

While most contractors measure in AFUE or SEER, National Comfort Institute (NCI) certified professionals use what they call either a heating system efficiency rating (HSER) or a cooling system efficiency rating (CSER). Both are the efficiency rating of your installed system, including the effects of the ducting and the construction of your home. Typically installed equipment operates at 55 per cent to 70 per cent of rated capacity. An NCI-trained and certified contractor will field measure the installed efficiency of the current system. As a contractor, you should recommend improvements while installing the new equipment, such as duct sealing and insulation where possible. Once completed, you should test again and prove the value with actual energy savings.

Fallacy No. 02: AIR LEAKAGE

“It doesn’t matter if we have air leakage, all the ductwork is inside the home, so why should I worry about it?” Have you ever had a homeowner ask you this?

These leakages cause an imbalance in airflow and create hot and cold spots throughout the home, making it very uncomfortable.

A way to test this would be with a simple pocket thermometer. While the system is run- ning, insert the thermometer into the plenum above the furnace and record the temperature, then, insert your pocket thermometer into the supply air grill and record the temperature. Now divide the latter temperature by the plenum temperature and you will see

You can use this formula to calculate energy-saving opportunities for central air conditioning as well. NCI reports that it is not uncommon to find 14 SEER air conditioners acting and performing equal to that of a seven SEER.

Fallacy No. 03:

DUCT SEALING the energy loss percentage.

While duct sealing is part of the solution, it can also be part of the problem. Before doing any sort of duct sealing, we need to search for damaged ducts, inspect pipes that might be flattened in joist spaces, locate fittings that have come apart, and determine if ducts have been sized correctly. Is there enough return air? Without remediating these items first, you will not get the benefit of sealing.

For example, 26c divided by 49c is 53 per cent of energy making it to the register. If you were to do every register in the home, the average may be somewhere around 60 per cent. The HSER would be equal to a 59 per cent efficient furnace, or conversely, our potential energy savings opportunity could be over 40 per cent!

Fallacy No. 04:

HIGH WALL RETURNS

Typically, we look for high wall returns in each room, especially on the second floor. This is one of the easiest fixes and can usually be accomplished by another return with a

Continued on page “31” damper directly above the existing sidewall and replacing the current grille with one that has a damper.

If it already has an existing floor return against a wall, sometimes, by gently removing the baseboard and cutting out the base twoby-four, it can create a cavity to supply the high wall return, utilizing dampers.

Food for thought

Dislodged fittings can be a bit tricky. However, with the use of rope and two people (and a little bit of patience), it can be pulled back together. By feeding the rope through the duct and having one person on each end working the rope back and forth while pushing or twisting, the pipe can get the fitting back in place. Another option is to run a bypass around the problem area and create a drywall chase if it can’t be done out of sight.

Another use for a rope and thimble is for crushed pipe. Pull the thimble through the damaged area to improve airflow. Plan B is the bypass option, which was also used for dislodged fittings.

When wanting to add additional return air, simply think of the common rule of thumb — what goes in must come out. Adding returns to areas of concern can be a simple solution by using joist spaces and closets to get the returns where needed. Take advantage of turning vanes wherever possible. Not only does this improve airflow but it also improves coverage of an air filter.

When it comes to too small of a supply, it often is easiest to run a new run and, where possible, use ceiling chases to hide the run. Another alternative is to provide an extra run to the room to provide the proper CFM.

Dips and dives

Check for the proper suspension of the duct. The perimeter pipe should create a smooth flow and shorten runs whenever possible. You are now ready to seal the system. We want the air, or rather the blood in our analogy, to stay inside the airway and all the return air coming in from the proper location. Once completed, test the system and congratulate yourself on a job well done. And most importantly, share the new results with the homeowner. Even a 20 per cent increase in energy savings is something to brag about. :

Glenn Mellors was born into a plumbing family and started in the industry in 1973. He entered the HVAC side of the business in the 80s, working in wholesale, and then joined Lennox in 1992. In 2008 he joined the ClimateCare Cooperative Corporation, an Ontario contractor group, where he is director of training and implementation. Glenn can be reached at gmellors@climatecare.com.

Low GWP chiller

Carrier, Charlotte, North Carolina, introduces its all-new AquaSnap 30RC aircooled scroll chiller featuring Greenspeed intelligence and R-32 refrigerant. The AquaSnap 30RC was designed with a new compact tier unit. The optimizations boost the integrated part load values up to 18 for a wide range of applications from 60 to 150 tons. It is ideally suited for office buildings, schools, data centers, hotels, hospitals, and any other application where quieter operation is required. This new model features variable frequency drives for the fan motors and PIC6 controls.

Carrier u www.carrier.com

Unit heating

Nortek Global, St. Louis, Missouri, announces the release of three new capacities for the Reznor UEZ condensing gasfired unit heater. It now comes in 55, 85, and 110 MBH and is certified for industrial/commercial use, and residential, non-living space applications. It has a 93 per cent fuel efficiency for cost-effective operation.

Reznor u www.reznorhvac.com

Residential boilers

Weil-McLain, Burr Ridge, Illinois, introduces its Eco Tec Series 2 residential boiler. Featuring the same components, features and accessories as the original Eco Tec unit, the Series 2 features integrated control software that allows for multiple boiler configurations without needing third-party controls. Designed to meet residential replacement applications, it has a 95 per cent AFUE rating. Additionally, the Series 2 has a stainless-steel fire tube heat exchanger, built-in zone control and heating system pre-sets, and is available in four heatonly sizes ranging from 80 to 199 MBH and three combi-version sizes of 110, 150, and 199 MBH.

Weil-McLain u www.weil-mclain.com

Mechanical ventilation solutions

Greentek, Bouctouche, New Brunswick, releases three new product lines of mechanical ventilation products — the Solace Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV), the Premier Heat & Energy Recovery Ventilator (HRV/ERV), and the Profile ERV. The Solace top-ported HRV features five models and offers 80 per cent heat recovery. The side-ported Premier series of HRV/ERVs feature five models and is designed for single-family homes. The Profile ERV has been designed specifically for areas where space is at a premium. To balance a Greentek HRV/ERV, the only requirements are a manometer and an STS 2.0 (four wire). Set the exhaust fan speed and the supply fan speed of the HRV/ERV to complete the balancing procedure. The supply and exhaust offset values will be proportionally applied to low and medium speed as well.

Greentek u www.greentek.ca

The biggest change coming to the HVAC industry is recertification to UL 60335-2-40. Intertek can help manufacturers during the transition period.

Canadian refillable cylinders available