Written by HVAC Professionals for HVAC Professionals

TEC’s Roomulator®

Have you ever had a customer complain that their bedrooms are too hot, too cold, or too stuffy? Do you know that this situation is often the result of negative or positive pressures in each room?

In my experience, many contractors shoot from the hip to solve these complaints. Sometimes they add another supply or return, but often don’t properly size the duct and grille. Or they simply cut the door off at the bottom.

The HVAC Industry needed a way to determine the size for a “transfer” duct or grille to relieve passive air pressures in uncomfortable rooms.

This has always been a challenge until The Energy Conservatory (TEC) developed a tool they call the Roomulator.
The Roomulator was developed by TEC in collaboration with National Comfort Institute (NCI).

This “tool” is the size of a business card and can be used to determine the amount of airflow (CFM) needed to relieve the “positive” pressure of an individual room.

Your technicians can learn how to use this tool by scanning the QR code on the front of the card that takes them to a video: the Roomulator Tutorial.

They will also need a micromanometer with a 3/16th hose that runs four to six-feet in length. The micromanometer must provide measurement readouts in Pascals.

Here are some micro-manometers to consider:

I use the Roomulator fairly often and highly recommend it.

To learn more go to ncilink.com/roomulator.

— by John Puryear, Instructor, National Comfort Institute