< Previous20 FEBRUARY 2018HIGH PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYA few years back, we learned about a cloud-based visual report that Nation-al Comfort Institute, Inc. (NCI) cre-ated to simplify how we explain the HVAC system testing we perform. This report is called ComfortMaxx Air. At Copeland and Son, we’ve tested systems and performed duct reno-vations for more than 20 years, but knew there was something more we could add. We thought ComfortMaxx Air could be the key to get cus-tomers more interested in the products and ser-vices we offer. After the NCI Summit meeting in Arizona last year, I learned so much more about the pro-cess. I was stoked for the next thing that would give us the edge we need to continue our Per-formance-Based Contracting™ mission. Let me share with you some of the lessons learned along the way.IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONI saw right away how ComfortMaxx Air allowed us to take field measurements and simplify their meaning using our iPads. This cloud-based vi-sual report offers customers new information about their systems that they can easily under-stand – something I often struggled with ex-plaining. It helps us better communicate de-fects and problems found in customers’ homes through testing. Like all new things, there is a small learning curve to using ComfortMaxx Air. The first couple of tests require you to really pay attention to what you’re doing. We found that it was important to focus on the system type before selecting it in the ComfortMaxx program. Plus, you must be sure to enter the correct values in the right fields. After conducting our third test using ComfortMaxx Air, the process really came together. For us, it starts at our office. Our office personnel do the front-end work by filling out the customers’ “informational” data in ComfortMaxx Air. Our technicians fill out the technical details while they are mea-suring the systems in the field. This didn’t hap-pen overnight. It takes a commitment to get here. There is training involved for both Com-fortMaxx and the devices used to enter data. The results are worth the effort when you see the customer’s reaction.Being able to show them before and after results is an awesome feeling. Now we communicate with customers using visual reports instead of a bunch of numbers that mean nothing to them. The re-ports make it simple – we shoot for 100%. If we ex-ceed 100% on the deficiencies, we enter the “Dan-ger Zone” by Kenny Loggins (think of “Top Gun”). Once customers see the results, they understand them much faster than in the past.My Journey with ComfortMaxx Air™By Nathan CopelandLEAD GENERATIONMeet Nathan Copeland at NCI Summit 2018High Performance HVAC Summit 2018 is happening March 4-6 in Austin, TX. Nathan Copeland is one of six Per-formance-Based Contractors™ presenting how they Blaze A Trail to High Performance. Copeland, who is a comfort advi-sor for Copeland and Son Air Conditioning and Heating Ser-vice, Nashville, TN, will discuss how his team made Comfort-Maxx Air a normal part of their service offering.Come meet Nathan and network with your peers in Austin. Learn more about the Summit 2018 program at GoToSummit.comJOIN US FOR SUMMIT, STAY FOR SOUTH-BY-SOUTHWEST MUSIC FESTSummit 2018 offers you and your team a tremendous opportunity to not only hear from some of the Performance-Based HVAC Indus-try’s finest as they share their wins and challenges, but also a chance to network with like-minded contractors from across the nation. Questions? No problem. Call 800-633-1850 and talk to your custom-er care representative.After Summit ends, stick around for our Post Show Training class-es and then head into downtown Austin for one of the world’s best music festivals, South by Southwest. Click here for details.HVAC SUMMIT 2018HIGH PERFORMANCEFEBRUARY 2018 21HVACTODAY.COMers are assured they made the right purchase choice.OUR RESULTSUsing ComfortMaxx Air led to amazing results. To make sure we re-main busy, we plan to continue add-ing inventory through testing. One ex-ample of how quickly we began to turn things around occurred right after the NCI Summit in Arizona last year.The first job was for a custom-er who had worked in the HVAC in-dustry when he was younger. He was amazed at our results. I called NCI trainer John Puryear and consulted with him about ductwork since it was difficult job. With his help, we were able to provide a solution that cor-rected the customer’s return duct sys-tem issues. Several jobs after that we started testing systems previous duct reno-vation work done within the past five years, according to NCI procedures. We wanted to see if we designed and installed them properly. I’m happy to say that after all these years, we still managed to nail the post testing. As Copeland and Son continues IMPLEMENT COMFORTMAXX AIR DURING SLOW TIMESSo, once we overcame the Comfort-Maxx Air learning curve, we had to decide where and when to start using it. Being concerned that jumping in with both feet would be overwhelm-ing for everyone, we decided to start implementing ComfortMaxx Air’s use during our slower periods. This gave us time to adapt and really learn it.We began using it on every job during slow periods. We started with maintenance calls and progressed to using it on demand service calls. As we continued testing, we quoted more and more duct renovations. Us-ing the reports helped sell these jobs and the slow periods started getting very busy. Some jobs were simple register and grille upgrades, while others involved detailed duct system upgrades. The important part is we turned measure-ments into sales once customers used the report to understand our pressure and airflow readings. We also started using the reports as part of our test-out process. With a report showing the improvements made, our custom-Nathan Copeland is a comfort advisor for Copeland & Son AC & Heating Service, a family- owned HVAC company located in Nashville, TN. testing and capitalizing on the aver-age duct systems in our area, we find ourselves tackling more return duct issues than anything. Typically, we modify existing return ducts and add additional return ducts and grilles, along with IQ Air filtration. These re-turn issues are rampant in our area and continue being created by con-tractors using the old rules of thumb. I truly believe anyone who wants to improve their diagnostics, lead gen-eration, and sales should seriously consider integrating ComfortMaxx Air into their service department. You’ll make improvements for your customers and your bottom line. To hear more details on how Cope-land and Son uses ComfortMaxx Air, come see Nathan Copeland at Sum-mit 2018 in Austin, Texas when he presents his session, “ComfortMaxx Air: Put It to Work!” 22 FEBRUARY 2018HIGH PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYing, adjusting, and balancing services we pro-vided. Not only did that client and his assistant help test and adjust the unit, they also helped complete several traverses on each duct. They turned dampers, took measurements, turned more dampers, took more measurements … the usual procedure TAB specialists perform on constant volume systems. At several points, the client and his assistant said to me, “I know why you are the balancer -- I would never be able to do this job!” They also said, “You will never have to worry about me becoming a Balancer, I would not have the pa-tience for this.” That was then followed with, “I can under-stand why you hear of people falsifying numbers … this is infuriating!” I found their comments funny, as they said them while we were up to our necks in insulation, in a hot attic, turning dampers yet another time. But the truth is, there is nothing funny about it. I have so many clients, engineers, control techni-cians, general contacts, and building owners say the same sort of things to me time and again! IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE PHYSICAL WORKTo make matters even more interesting, this building was not ideal for the technology TAB specialists use in the industry now. Bluetooth wouldn’t connect to my tools, there was no cell phone coverage, and nothing electronic re-mained charged beyond two hours. So, this job had to be measured and recorded by hand and then entered into the report -- after the onsite work was completed each day. One evening after the onsite work was done and I was entering the daily recordings into the test re-ports, my client commented how he was amazed that I was still working. I laughed and explained how the computers and software wouldn’t work So many people misunderstand what an HVAC TAB (Testing, Adjusting, Balanc-ing) specialist does. The reason: no one has ever educated them. All too often I hear about balancers who don’t interact with their customers – they just take measurements and record them in a spreadsheet. I always make it a habit to invite client partic-ipation in all balancing procedures we perform. I take time to explain what the procedure is and why and exactly how we do it. This way, the client ends up with a better understanding and appreci-ation of exactly what a TAB specialist does. More importantly, they also learn about how much time, effort, and patience goes into our work. It is so important for the client to under-stand what we actually do and what exactly they are spending their hard-earned money on.EYE OPENING EXPERIENCEI completed a TAB job for a hospital several months ago. The client took part in all the test-Why Clients Should Participate in Testing, Adjusting, and BalancingBy Dana Walsh, Direct Flow Balancing, Inc.CUSTOMER SERVICEDana Walsh is shown performing a residential duct traverse. She has been certified as an NBC TAB supervisor and is co-owner of Direct Flow Balancing, Inc.FEBRUARY 2018 23HVACTODAY.COMThey fell in love with the wrist report-er and air capture hood!CLIENTS RESPECT THE EXACTING WORK WE DOMy company had the pleasure of working with these two again on a new section in one of their buildings some time back. The job involved a constant volume system, which means every diffuser had a manual damper that had to be adjusted. The clients and I started the job with an inspection and then focused on the air handling unit (AHU). The AHU had no submittal data. So, the first step was to contact the manufacturer and find the correct nameplate information to balance the AHU to manufacturer design specifi-cations. Once completed, we moved onto the diffusers.This is always when I hear those same statements again: “I know why you are the balancer!” And, “Oh my is that close enough?” Also, “We have to do it again? What do you mean we have to do it again?” Though I laugh every time, these statements show they now under-stand that balancing a system is not easy. They realize what we do takes time, patience, integrity. They better understand how balancing is so im-portant for their HVAC systems to operate efficiently, the way the man-ufacturers designed them. Just be-cause they have the best system in-stalled in their building does not mean it’s running efficiently.IT’S REALLY AN EDUCATIONFor these reasons, I always rec-ommend that clients, engineers, and building owners take part during the TAB service. We get far greater results when they become aware of what it is we do and why it is worth the cost of doing it! When we fin-ish the TAB services, clients better understand the functions of their HVAC equipment, and the impor-tance of the system operating effi-ciently and to manufacturer design.These clients; who can physically see, touch, and use all the different types of tools we use, and procedures we follow, learn that the TAB ser-vices provided are vital to any HVAC upgrade or installation. Personally, as a TAB specialist my-self, I find client participation crucial to growing our business. on his site, and that a TAB specialist’s job consists of 50 % physical work and 50% reporting. This means what we do on site, we also record in a docu-ment. His eyes widened and he said, “Wow, I had no idea how much work was actually involved in balancing!” This hospital project proved to me that when a client takes part in the testing, adjusting, and balancing work and learns why it’s necessary and how much time and effort goes into it, they have a greater apprecia-tion for the services we provide.SOMETIMES IT’S ABOUT THE TOYSOn another job, I planned to use a brand-new evergreen telemetry air capture hood. This client also provid-ed me with two assistants to partici-pate in the TAB services. They were just as excited to try that new tool as I was! One of the them took physical measurements using the hood. The other read the measurement number on the wrist reporter so I could enter it into the computer spread sheet. Great team effort! These jobs are always the most fun! I taught them about the new tools TAB specialists use, and together we completed the testing, adjusting, and balancing. We also were able to address any is-sues that arose. Best of all, they had a better understanding and apprecia-tion of how much work, time and ef-fort goes into all HVAC TAB services. Working on balancing a commercial hydronics system.Dana Walsh is an NBC-certi-fied professional part owner/operator of Direct Flow Balanc-ing Inc., headquartered in Mt. Pearl, Newfoundland, Canada. She is the company’s vice pres-ident and one of their project managers. Walsh has held a Certification with the National Balancing Council since June 19th, 2015. She has been a test, adjust, and balance professional for over 10 years.24 FEBRUARY 2018HIGH PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYHow would it change your conversations with your customers if you were able to show them that one-third to one-half of their heating or cooling was being lost by their poorly operating duct system? Would your customers be interested in you eliminating that problem? Savvy HVAC contractors are finding practi-cal ways to reduce duct system heating and cool-ing losses through testing, diagnostics, and mak-ing simple repairs to the HVAC systems they install and service. Customers are eager to pur-chase these repairs when they are taught the cost of their duct system heating and cooling losses through live field testing and a simple calculation they participate in.Typically, home performance contractors pre-scribe replacing windows, appliances, shower heads, and light bulbs to save energy. This isn’t very appealing work to most HVAC contractors. But reducing the building load up to 50% by im-proving the duct system, and proving it to home-owners is right up our alley. FIND DUCT SYSTEM LOSSESWithout diagnostic testing, load calculation software normally assumes a Btu loss of about 15%. Under peak summer and winter weather conditions this assumption will miscalculate ac-tual losses by more than 300%. Especially during the peak heating or cooling days of the year when delivered system capacity is critical to comfort and impacts their utility bill the most. To identify actual operating conditions, field diagnostic tests can be taken on a live system to reveal defects that can then be corrected. With-out identifying and correcting these operating system defects, there is no way to control the load Measure and Repair Duct System Heating and Cooling LossesBy Rob “Doc” FalkeTECHNICALMeasuring static pressure on residential HVAC systems helps you find whether duct leakage is hindering system efficiency.FEBRUARY 2018 25HVACTODAY.COMin delivered system heating or cooling capacity.Duct leakage is best measured live with your customers using basic air balancing test methods. Measure the fan airflow, then measure and total the airflow at the supply registers, and then at the return grilles. Subtract the total airflow of the supply registers from the fan CFM to find live supply duct leakage. Then subtract the to-tal airflow into the return grilles from the fan airflow to discover return duct leakage. Example: The system fan air-flow is measured at 1000 cfm. The total airflow through the supply registers is measured at 800 cfm; the difference is the supply duct leakage of 200 cfm. On the other side of the fan, the air at the return grilles measures 700 cfm. 1000 cfm of fan air-flow minus 700 cfm at the return grilles reveals 300 cfm of return duct leakage. Duct leakage of 200 cfm on the supply side and 300 cfm on the return side totals 500 cfm of live duct leakage.If you have been using duct pressurization methods to test duct leakage, you will find a substan-tial difference between the two duct leakage numbers. While duct pressur-ization testing is more widely accept-ed, the duct leakage number it pro-vides has never claimed to represent a live duct leakage cfm number. Com-pare the two methods for yourself.of a building or deliver maximum HVAC system performance. DUCT LEAKAGEDuct leakage is a real threat to the load of a building, and can be reduced in almost every situ-ation. Btus that are lost or gained through leaky duct systems di-rectly add to the load of a build-ing. This is especially true on the return side of the system. By tightening up a duct system cor-rectly, the duct system heating or cooling losses will be reduced.But you can’t just slap mastic on the ducts and guarantee ener-gy savings. Knowing the average residential .50” w.c. fan currently operates at over .80” w.c. of ac-tual total external static pressure, additional duct capacity must be added to the system before duct sealing. Otherwise the result will substantially increase stat-ic pressure which will then result in lower airflow and reduced sys-tem capacity. How efficient is a 20 SEER system at 250 CFM per ton? Unfortunately, this is the typical result of many duct seal-ing jobs.So, before duct sealing, measure to-tal external static pressure. This ev-idence will help your customers un-derstand additional duct capacity is needed before ducts can be sealed to assure adequate airflow. Once more or larger ducts are in-stalled, seal the duct system to as-sure airflow and Btus will not be lost from the system on the supply side or pulled into the system on the return side. This will have a substantial and immediate measurable improvement Using a flowhood, HVAC techncians can accurately measure airflow at the grille.WITHOUT DIAGNOSTIC TESTING, LOAD CALCULATION SOFTWARE NORMALLY ASSUMES A BTU LOSS OF ABOUT 15%. UNDER PEAK SUMMER AND WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS ASSUMPTION WILL MISS CALCULATE ACTUAL LOSSES BY MORE THAN 300%.26 FEBRUARY 2018HIGH PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYFEATURE OVERLINEput is 60,000 BTUs, multiply by 50% to find 30,000 BTUs of duct loss.Doesn’t this turn 90% AFUE equip-ment into a 45% AFUE system? Your competitors can’t fix this system de-fect, because they are unaware the problem exists without measuring it.OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDSThis is only one example of new opportunities available to Perfor-mance-Based Contractors™. It is be-coming more and more evident that those who educate their customers de-liver better performing and more effi-cient systems. Using test and diagnos-tics while serving your customers will give you a substantial advantage in ev-ery sales situation. passes through an attic at 40º. The temperature entering the equipment is 60º. Subtract 60º from 70º to find 10 degrees are lost through the return duct system from duct leakage and thermal loss.To find the percent of Btu loss, di-vide the degrees of duct temperature loss into the temperature rise of the equipment.Example: If the equipment tem-perature rise is 40º and the duct tem-perature loss is 20º then 20º divided by 40º equals 50% of the equipment generated heating Btus lost through the duct system. If the equipment out-DUCT TEMPERATURE LOSSUnder live operating conditions, nearly all duct systems lose some of the Btus generated by the equipment. The question is how much? The only real answer is found by measuring the actual duct losses of the system. This is a quick and simple test that will of-ten blow your customer away.On the supply side, measure the air temperature where it leaves the equip-ment. Next measure the air tempera-ture leaving the farthest supply regis-ter. Subtract the two temperatures to find the temperature change through the system. Ideally the two tempera-tures should be almost the same. On the return side of the duct sys-tem, measure the return air tempera-ture at the farthest return grille and subtract from the air temperature en-tering the equipment.The air temperature in the ducts should not change more than a degree or two. An air temperature change greater than this is evidence of a loss in system heating or cooling capacity. This loss is invisible and unaccount-ed for by most designers and service technicians. Example: The air entering the re-turn grille is 70º. The return duct Rob “Doc” Falke is president of National Comfort Institute , Inc. — an HVAC-based training company and membership organization. For more information about indoor air quality opportunities, contact him at robf@ncihvac.com or call him at 800-633-7058. UNDER LIVE OPERATING CONDITIONS, NEARLY ALL DUCT SYSTEMS LOSE SOME OF THE BTUS GENERATED BY THE EQUIPMENT. THE QUESTION IS HOW MUCH? THE ONLY REAL ANSWER IS FOUND BY MEASURING THE ACTUAL DUCT LOSSES OF THE SYSTEM. THIS IS A QUICK AND SIMPLE TEST THAT WILL OFTEN BLOW YOUR CUSTOMER AWAY.FEBRUARY 2018 27HVACTODAY.COMPHOTO OF THE MONTH“Pure Idiots” — Andrew Farrell, DM Select, Burke, VAWell this is bad. Do you run into this situation, ever? A 90% AFUE Lennox Pulse furnace is replaced with an 80% AFUE furnace, but the contractor reused the same PVC flue pipe? This is what Andrew Farrell discovered. Visitors and subscribers to High Performance HVAC Today magazine and website voted his entry as the February 2018 winner of our Photo-of-the-Month contest. Congratulations to Andrew! He will receive a $50 gift card.Did you know that you can also win? All you have to do is submit an image. By the way, submissions are always welcome. If you’d like to submit a photo for consideration in our Photo-of-the-Month contest, click here and fill out the information as requested.THE MARCH 2018 CONTEST OPENS ON FEBRUARY 9, 2018. That gives you plenty of time to sumit something in any of our three categories: The Good , The Bad , WTH (What the heck).28 FEBRUARY 2018HIGH PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYNCI MEMBER UPDATENational Comfort Institute, Inc. (NCI) is excited to announce the addition of a new partner in our Training Incentive Partner Program (TIPP) -- The Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA).EGIA is an 85-year-old non-profit or-ganization. It is dedicated to advancing energy efficiency and renewable en-ergy solutions through the home im-provement and renewable en-ergy industries. They also man-age one of the largest energy-efficiency financing programs in the country. In their partnership with NCI, EGIA will provide special financing services to NCI’s membership. Financing is more im-portant than ever for Performance-Based Contractors™ because it helps to make bigger renovation projects much more affordable for consumers. Please join us in welcoming EGIA into the NCI partner family. And be sure to visit with them during the 2018 High Performance HVAC Summit in Austin, TX, March 4-6, 2018.Summit 2018 is Nearly Here!Summit 2018 is less just six weeks away and promises to be one of the best for the Performance-Based Contracting™ industry. We are excited to announce that Goodman Manu-facturing and The Electric & Gas In-dustries Associ-ation (EGIA) are this year’s Plati-num Sponsors and will be co-hosting our Welcome Recep-tion on Sunday, March 4th.This reception is a great way to kick off your education as you Blaze Your Trail to High Performance. So be sure to stop by the reception, enjoy some food and drink, and visit with your fellow Perfor-mance-Based Contractors™ from across the country.Just click the GoToSummit.com link to register today.In addition, be sure to plan on staying for the FREE Goodman post conference sales training they are offering. Intend-ed for your sales team, class attendees will learn how to sell premium comfort sys-tems, how to increase the average ticket price, increase their closing rates, and cre-ate more satisfied and loyal customers. This is a two-day class that you’d nor-mally pay $375 per person to attend. Goodman is offering it to all Summit at-tendees. There is a 50-person limit for the class, so be sure to sign up right away. Click here for more information.If you have any questions about this special class offering or anything else re-garding Summit 2018, visit GotoSummit.com or please call 800-633-7058. You can also register by phone at this number.There is an App for That! We Call It AirMaxxNCI is excited to launch a NEW mobile app that is available to only to members at NO ADDITIONAL COST. It is called Air-Maxx™ and is included in all Comfort-Maxx™ subscriptions. It is available for both Android and iOS phones. AirMaxx enables you to show home-owners the “airflow grade” for their HVAC systems. All you need is to collect some nameplate information, then do four static pressure measurements, and input the results into the app. The app does all the calculations and produces customer-centric graphs and wording for you to show them. For more information click this link: ncilink.com/AirMaxx.NCI Member Benefits Are Bigger than Ever!NCI has made some exciting changes to our tools, instruments, and support materials, plus added some fantastic new benefits for members like you. First, as an NCI member, you can now apply NCI Bucks to pay for up to 50% of your tool and/or instrument order! For example, if you have $2000 in NCI Bucks, and you order an EBT 731 Flow Hood for $3245, you can apply up to 50% ($1622.50) in NCI Bucks to that tool order, then pay the balance with a credit card. This benefit is ONLY for NCI members!In addition, NCI has increased the member discount from 2% to 5% on all the tools, instruments and support ma-terials you buy. Please note that these two benefits do not apply to our resale products. But wait, there’s more – NCI now of-fers FREE shipping and handling on all tool, instrument and support mate-rial orders that total more than $200. If your order is under $200, a standard $15 shipping charge will apply.Oversized items may be subject to additional shipping costs. Again, resale products are excluded from this. If you have any questions, please call Nick Guarino at 1-800-633-7058.Welcome to NCI’s Newest PartnerHVAC SUMMIT 2018HIGH PERFORMANCEFEBRUARY 2018 29HVACTODAY.COMAdvertiser IndexHIGH PERFORMANCEHVAC TODAY TMAD INDEXEGIA | egia.org ......................................................................................................................................31High Performance HVAC Summit 2018 | www.GoToSummit.com .....................................2Jackson Systems | www.jacksonsystems.com..............................................................................5Lazco Corp. | www.lazcocorp.com..................................................................................................27R.E. Michel Company | www.remichel.com ...................................................................................6TSI, Inc. | www.tsi.com/comfort.......................................................................................................4National Comfort Institute, Inc. | www.nationalcomfortinstitute.com ....................19, 32To Subscribe to High-Performance HVAC Today:ONLINE: Visit HVACToday.com/subscribe for a FREE digital subscription.PRINT: 1 year/$72; single copy $7. Canada: 1 year/$92; single copy $9. Payable in advance with U.S. funds. Prepaid subscriptions may be sent to: High-Performance HVAC Today, PO Box 147, Avon Lake, OH 44012. Phone: 440-949-1850; toll free 800-633-7058; FAX 440-949-1851, or visit HVACToday.com/subscribe.PublisherDominick GuarinoEditor-in-ChiefMike WeilArt DirectorConnie ConklinOnline Development DirectorBrian RosemanSales ManagerDave KenneyCirculation ManagerAndrea Begany- GarsedEditorial AssistantMarge SmithEmail us at contactus@hvactoday.com with your comments and questions.Next >