Technology & Trends - Packaged Terminal Heat Pumps (PTHP)

College was never the only path to success. There are many other nontraditional avenues to success, and I had the privilege of blindly venturing down one myself. My path included a short stint in college, then trade school, an apprenticeship, a role building a training program, a managerial role running a branch, and ultimately a leadership role running a large region of companies. I started my career as a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning technician, and I didn’t think I’...

Nothing is immune to entropy. As buildings age, they suffer natural breakdowns in efficiency, performance, and useability, compromising occupant comfort and leading to higher energy bills. Luckily, they do not have to stay that way. Retro-commissioning brings existing structures up to speed so they can function their best.  What Is Commissioning?  Commissioning helps buildings operate as the owners intended and ensures staff maintains their equipment and systems. During new construct...

According to some recent estimates, the cooling industry accounts for approximately 10% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. To place this in perspective, the transportation sector, as the highest contributor, accounts for approximately 20% of global CO2 emissions. While some may see this as a “glass half empty” scenario, the better approach is the one taken by key players in the HVACR space. As we see it, because the cooling industry has been a source of significant emis...

Today’s HVAC contractors are acutely aware that they need visibility on the internet and in their community if they want the phones to ring with requests for new business. As a result, HVAC company leaders have become savvy about marketing and advertising and know that search engine optimization, direct mail flyers, and flashy truck wraps attract attention. Public relations But what they don’t stop to think about is that their competitors likely have a very similar marketing strat...

When your HVAC system isn't working correctly, it's often difficult to pinpoint the exact issue. Does your home have hot and cold spots? Do doors randomly close on their own? Is your A/C blowing warm air on a hot summer day? If so, your HVAC might have an uneven airflow. There are many symptoms of uneven airflow and many solutions. Amid the increasing demand for HVAC repair, homeowners need to learn how to keep their home system operating at its best. Understanding the potential causes of unev...

With the UK experiencing increasingly warmer summers and more frequent heatwaves, we’re equally seeing more air conditioning units installed in both commercial and residential spaces. As the demand for air conditioning continues to increase, so too will the demand for copper pipes. Copper is a trusted and reliable material that air conditioning installers have been using for many years and, not only that, it’s also infinitely recyclable – making it a sustainable alternative to...

Net-zero is high up on the agenda. And to achieve the UK’s carbon-neutral pledge by 2050 the country’s building stock must be decarbonized. Embodied carbon When we talk about decarbonizing buildings, there are two distinct categories of emissions that come into play. The first is embodied carbon. Here, the embodied carbon of a building includes emissions deriving from the construction materials, the building process, and the fixtures and fittings inside. It also covers emissions f...

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is seemingly drawing to a close, living, working and learning at home is set to continue. Under this new normal, home electricity use is expected to double by 2050. Simultaneously, as climate change devastates communities around the world, we are faced with a moral and economic obligation to cut CO2 emissions from houses. Our goal is to build Net Zero houses and we can't get there fast enough. Fossil fuels use in heating systems Many countries continue to rely...

Seasonal transitions are the perfect time to take inventory and inspect a building’s various systems. We’ve been reminded for years that when we set our clocks back, we should also replace the batteries in our smoke detectors. The same thought process can be applied in support of seasonal preventative maintenance for a building’s HVAC system. Now that the cooling season has passed for a large part of the country, it is time to ensure that HVAC systems have been shut down prope...

I am writing this the day after the Autumn Spending Review, which among many measures, included a huge focus on how the Government wants to ‘level up the country’, creating a new post-pandemic economy, with higher wages and higher skills. Part of this is the £500 million ‘Multiply’ scheme, which aims to increase numeracy and basic mathematics for adults in the United Kingdom via in person tutoring, digital training and flexible courses. Lack of basic skills to acce...

The development of digital technologies in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) sector has been transformational for the industry, as well as for those who run HVAC systems. While the electrification and digitalization of machines, and assets has made a lot of operations simpler, it has also meant that the collection of machine data has never been more critical. Given that engineers can now view lots of different metrics on a single screen, including things like heating control...

It is now more common to read about cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the media than ever before, with outbreaks regularly being reported in cities around the world, all the time. Many of these cases are attributed to contamination of domestic systems, showers and spas, but some are the result of operating cooling towers. While this problem is not new, with the first reported case in Philadelphia, in 1976, the United Kingdom (UK) has been at the forefront in leading the battle with Legionn...

At the moment, it seems as though a day rarely goes by without low-carbon heating hitting the headlines. Whether it is reports of ‘revamping’ the Clean Heat Grant, to include a ‘boiler scrappage’ scheme, which may offer home owners up to £7000 to make the switch to a low-carbon alternative, to speculation that the Prime Minister is under pressure to push back the 2035 ban on gas boilers, the debate on how and when the low-carbon heating revolution will happen is ong...

The energy transition is upon us and we are shifting today’s energy use to low and zero carbon sources. The way in which we heat and provide hot water to our homes and businesses will change, and we are developing technologies that will support this transition. A bold and pragmatic policy framework will encourage investment and drive change. BEIS Hydrogen Strategy We, therefore, welcome the publication of the Hydrogen Strategy from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Str...

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050 - a landmark moment on the road to net zero. To meet that target, owners and managers of commercial buildings are increasingly facing more standards, regulations, and legislation to promote carbon reduction. This may pose challenges when it comes to investing in building service technologies, but the net-zero goal also provides an opportunity to embrace new approaches to th...

Most people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. For home owners, indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is the most meaningful differentiator between ‘high-performance’ and ‘code-built’ homes. Indoor environmental quality  IEQ describes how well the indoor environment promotes occupant comfort and health. The components of IEQ include thermal comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), sound and lighting. Requirements for optimal IEQ vary per occupant and household, d...

A cooling tower allows building owners and operators to take advantage of low cooling water temperatures and higher rates of heat rejection per square meter inherent in evaporative cooling systems. A well maintained cooling tower enables cooling systems to perform at optimum efficiency, reliably and cost-effectively, with contractors who maintain cooling systems able to service their customers with comprehensive and routine cooling tower maintenance programs that should maintain cooling perfor...

As our urban centers grow, so does our demand for key resources, such as energy. Currently, cities are accountable for over 60% of resource use and an estimated 70% of global carbon emissions. In the Middle East particularly, countries have experienced unprecedented population growth, increased economic activity and consequently, increases in energy consumption. Integration of sustainable systems Fortunately, industry leaders and governments are placing sustainability at the heart of regional...

It’s no secret that climate change is one of the most pressing concerns facing our planet. We must act collectively on behalf of future generations to enact the change that will help us to avoid a climate catastrophe; and not least the HVAC industry, which has been, and remains, a major contributor to atmospheric greenhouse gases and global warming. In 2015, the UK Government, along with 196 parties entered the legally binding international treaty on climate change, which was adopted at C...

In the coming decades, the government plans to phase out gas and oil boilers and replace them with renewable heating systems. To make this possible, to give us a shot of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, more people need to train as renewable heating installers. But when you were a teenager, if old people like Boris Johnson or George Eustice had told you that you ‘should’ choose a certain career, would you have listened? No, me neither. Yes, there will be plenty of enviro...

Strategic electrification encompasses a host of solutions aimed at decarbonizing Earth’s atmosphere, decreasing pollution and reducing the costs of modern comfort and technology. Also known as “beneficial electrification”, this movement requires increased energy efficiency and end uses powered with electricity from cleaner grids and renewable sources. The movement will transform both the built environment and society’s modes of transportation. Despite the complexity of i...