In today's video I Want to talk about something I see very common in our industry and that a lot of guys kind of blow off. They say that's not really that big of a deal. Why are we even talking about this? And so I was having this conversation with an electrician the other day. We were talking about the ins and outs of what's required, the line voltage, wiring, and a lot of it revolved around what the data plates say and we've talked about in other videos how there is sometimes a Max fuse amps or Max breaker size whatever the verbage is but basically saying that the maximum size that that breaker can be is marked on that label, especially on the outdoor units and a lot of guys will sometimes ignore that.

I've talked to some electricians that will even say I'm going to go up in size because I can do that not realizing that codes have changed and you really are not supposed to be doing that if it says that your max fuse amps are 35 and it should be on a double pull 35 amp breaker, that 40 is not cutting it, that it really does need to be a 35 amp breaker. And so this opened a whole can of worms and what I want to express to you if you see this video and how big of a deal it is because one thing I see guys do all the time is ignore the label on air handlers and not so much furnaces but it's usually Air Handlers and the reason being, a lot of air handlers depending on the brand and depending on the layout of the system, a lot of those labels will have a place where you can Mark what size heat kit was installed inside that air handler and a lot of guys just ignore it. They don't mark it or they don't add. The extra labeling could be argued that it's laziness.

It could be argued that they just simply don't think it's that big of a deal and the problem becomes when you do have an electrician that is doing everything right and they're looking on labels and so on. Me personally A as the HVAC technician as the one that when it comes to my equipment I don't want anyone laying hands on it and I take ownership of it I say it is mine if I'm the one that installed it I'm the one that repaired it from that moment forward. it's mine and it's correct, right? And so the reason I say that is. one could argue.

Well, Josh they could just remove the covers off of that system and see what size heat kit was installed in there and me personally I wouldn't want an electrician touching my equipment. It's not a knock on the electrician, it's just I don't want anyone touching it. Whoa, No touchy, no touchy. It's mine.

From that point forward, it's right unless someone else lays hands on it and that's just the way I've always rolled and I know I'm not the only one. A lot of guys feel the same way that it never fails when somebody else puts their hands on that equipment. Now they're going to have problems. and of course now it's the HVAC guy's fault that there's problems and it's like stop touching my equipment.

You wouldn't have problems if you would, just leave it alone. If you're having an issue, call me and I I'll get it straight for you and then just stop touching it. you know. Anyway, that's that's a whole another topic whole.

another video. Back to the matter at hand that is that label and how important it is is at times depending on the label itself, depending on the brand of the equipment, all it takes is you just taking a Sharpie or some sort of something that could mark on there very well. some pins and you just mark on there what size heat kit was installed. It allows the electrician to look at that label to know not only what are the minimum ampacity and the current that's going to be drawn on that system now with that heat kit installed, but it also gives him the max fuse amps or the max breaker size that he needs to be installing when he runs the line voltage wiring.

And it really is as simple as that, You're communicating with not only the electrician but future people that hey, this is the heat kit that I installed and that way also if that heat kit is ever replaced, that that's the heat kit size that should be put back in there depending on what parts of the country you're in, that sometimes different. Some parts of the country with a 3 ton system, they may install a smaller heat kit because they just don't need a large heat kit in there, or the system is a very well performing heat pump system that can work at low ambient temperatures and you just simply don't need a large heat kit. But then you get to other parts of the country and it's not unheard of to install much larger 10 and sometimes even larger than that depending on where you are. So in summary, as we wrap up, I think it's just important to mention to you: if you're a homeowner, make sure that your installer and or repair person your service tech is marking things that they are filling out paperwork.

They're marking that label on the air handler and that way if nothing else they're communicating to Future texts or electricians or whoever. Hey, here's what I installed and sometimes because they've marked that because that label will show what those other ratings are. And the other thing that I'll just point out is when those things are done finally right? So if you do see someone Mark that there are sometimes things that need to be changed because of it just because you replace the system that was on a certain size breaker does not mean the new system is going to have that same rating and so marking that correctly plays a big role in all of this and just doing things properly right. We talk about all the time on our Channel how installations of the equipment is typically the issues behind why you continue to have problems and callbacks and repairs.

and all of those things that usually is because of day one it was just had a problem with the installation in some way and the question I get all the time is, well, how do I know if it was installed correctly? Well, here's just one simple thing you can look out for: were the labels marked correctly? Was the paperwork filled out properly? Did that install or take a moment to do absolutely everything to make sure that everything's on the tiptop shape Now, whether they fill out the paperwork or not, one could argue that that has nothing to do with the performance of the system moving forward. But I think it could also be argued if they're cutting Corners there? What other Corners Are they cutting anyway? what are your thoughts I'm sure there are some Hbac techs out there that probably have a very strong stance on this one way or the other. Love to hear about that. If you like this video I think you'll like this one even more.

It's where I Talk about one of my biggest pet peeves in the HVAC industry. Thanks for watching Hit that subscribe button. We'll see you next time.