Tech Tips

This article was inspired by a recent short podcast episode covering a common issue among leaders, creatives, and technicians who try new things. You can listen to that podcast HERE. Maybe you’ve had a time in your life where you felt like a pretender. You’re really not as knowledgeable as people think, and they wouldn’t […]

This photo is of a blower door test we performed at my own house using a Retrotec blower door. You will notice the 15-passenger van outside the window, which is a dead giveaway. A blower door is used to measure the tightness of a building and is often discussed in terms of an ACH50 number. […]

“Haven’t you heard?! Air conditioning is a fundamental human right! If you don’t support my right to have air conditioning 24/7, then you’re an awful human being!” Okay, that impression of an entitled customer is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is true that customers have high expectations for service workers.  But can we […]

  “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “Where will you go to college?” Young people hear those questions all the time. Although we ask those questions in good faith, they also carry a burden of expectations.  By asking those questions, we imply that we expect the children to go to college […]

Whether you’re putting an A/C unit in a new home or doing a retrofit, installation jobs make up a pretty big chunk of residential HVAC work.  Installation can be hard work, and there’s a lot more to it than throwing a unit together and making sure it starts up. When you consider building design, ductwork, […]

Some careers, such as the more prolific positions in journalism and broadcasting, require lots of networking for you to land a job. A candidate’s appeal may depend almost entirely on who they’ve rubbed elbows with and which companies they’ve worked for. Luckily, HVAC/R jobs typically don’t require networking, especially not to that degree. However, that […]

When you first start your HVAC career, it’s pretty common to be afraid of failing or doing substandard work. The job market is competitive, and many new techs may worry that they’ll be inadequate and easy to replace. So, the fear of failure is common and understandable. Embarking on an HVAC career journey can be […]

I've always liked old books. Think about an old printing press somewhere in Chicago or Boston or Scranton, Pennsylvania. Imagine workers with their hands covered in ink up to their elbows, setting type while giant machines of iron, steel, and brass stamp out a book page by page. Then those pages go on to be […]

Why is it called single-phase 240 when there are two opposing phases (or legs)? I wondered why we called two 120v opposing legs “single-phase 240” for years. Then someone pointed out to me that a typical “single-phase” pole transformer only has one power leg entering and two coming out. That freaked me out. How can […]