Tech Tips

This tech tip was heavily informed by Ed Janowiak’s past symposium presentations. You can watch his presentation about setting proper airflow HERE. You can also now purchase your tickets for the 6th Annual HVACR Training Symposium HERE. HVAC School was founded by a Floridian—representing Climate Zone 2, to be exact. So, it’s no surprise that […]

A friend of mine was telling me that a utility had the idea that they could reduce energy consumption by turning HVAC equipment on and off rapidly during times of high load. In their minds, wouldn't it be better to spread out the off time rather than keeping the system off for longer periods and […]

Assessing the Situation It is fairly common for a service technician to come across a failed condenser fan motor in the field. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about really old or fairly new equipment—condenser fan motors sometimes fail. The issue is deciding whether to use an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or a universal […]

This tech tip was written by Dr. Chuck Allgood with Chemours. Thanks, Dr. Chuck! While the ever-evolving world of refrigerants can often seem overwhelming with what seems like a never-ending parade of new gases being developed, taking a simplified approach may help clear the clutter. It can be as easy as A, B, C—that is, […]

This tech tip was written by Casey Contreras. Casey is a field coach and instructor for the National Comfort Institute (NCI). Thanks, Casey! As HVAC technicians, our careers often focus on either cooling or heating. Because of this split view, we typically ignore gas-fired appliances during the cooling season. There are dangers lurking in any […]

This tech tip was written by Jennifer Manzo. Thanks, Jennifer! As an HVAC technician in Maine, I've seen my fair share of aging systems, but nothing quite prepared me for the sight that greeted me while responding to a “no heat” call in a multi-family apartment building this winter. Stepping into the boiler room of […]

This tech tip was written by Luke Peterson, the president of The Maintenance Department in Louisville, KY. Luke was a speaker at the 5th Annual HVAC Training Symposium in 2024 and has been on HVAC business panels at the symposium in 2023 and 2024. Thanks, Luke! As an HVAC technician, your primary goal is not […]

A few weeks back, I wrote an article called “5 Takeaways from Manual T.” That was a nice article, but I sense there was some disappointment. Some of you still want to know how to “do” a Manual T. Well, this article is for you! We are going to go through the process of selecting […]

This tech tip is a companion piece to a recent short podcast episode about the same topic. It contains links to the specific products mentioned in that podcast. You can also learn more about NAVAC products as a whole at https://navacglobal.com/. Our trade has a lot of cool tools. But while we’re thinking about how […]