Foreign, foreign, look at it. Hello, hello coming to you live from Virginia Looks like we've already got a few folks on here, so taking your questions heating and air related live and as always sometimes we are joined by some other professionals way smarter than me. If I don't know the answer to your question, then we can usually find the answer with somebody here. So welcome to the show everybody! Uh, we've got Gary Carl Bucky uh Gill duct Pros says WV so I don't know if that's West Virginia or not.

but if it does, one stayed over hello to you and uh, good to see everybody. Wanted to start out tonight's show by showing you. um I I Went and looked for some new stories on the internet. Couldn't find anything.

uh normally I I if there is something crazy out there. I'll normally start our shows with that but couldn't find anything that crazy this week which is not necessarily A Bad Thing Uh, here in Virginia the weather's starting to level off a little bit. We had quite a bit of heat uh, leading up to the last few days this week, it seems to have finally let up a little bit and so thought. I would uh start out tonight's show by showing you something on our website.

This is new Hvacguide.com where we provide tips and it's a it's as if I wrote a book. Um, for homeowners that are in the market for a heating and air system, a lot of homeowners. you know, they buy cars and homes more often than they buy heating and air systems. So because of that sometimes there's a little bit of an education curve there.

Some of the verbiage: some of the steps you should take when you're buying that heating and air system. So because of that I'm you know we built this website and um I wanted to show you. scroll down. scroll down here at the bottom, there is an area here.

no matter what brand you have. Uh, well, let me rephrase most brands you'll be able to click on right here it says check your warranty here and so I wanted to go through that because when you click that, it takes you to this page that has all these logos, all these different heating and air Brands and you as the homeowner for most of these Brands will be able to check your own warranty. I Went through it today I updated it. Um, a few of the links were not working and so we updated those.

I was able to get all of them on again and I was actually able to add a few that were not on there before. but I want to draw your attention as we scroll down through here one of them and I did a YouTube video on this I called out Linux which is one of the bigger Brands out there I wouldn't say Linux is one of the big three when I when I usually say the big three I usually mean you know Daikin and their brands train and their brands and carrier and their brands. and so usually most guys would admit that those are the big three here in uh, the US anyway and uh, Linux is not far behind. but I don't usually put them in my three.

Some guys disagree. Some guys will say that they are, you know, in the top three and some of them might even say that they're number one. Um, we all like. You know what we like, right? You know you like Ford I like Chevrolet kind of thing.

But uh, unlike some of these other brands, Linux if you go to their website, let's see, jump over here. and so when I click that link to check my warranty. If I have a Linux system, it takes you to this page where you need to sign in. You need to have a Linux pros.com account and you as the homeowner are not.

At least I could be wrong. Linux has not contacted me to say Josh you're wrong. Take that video down. Um, nobody has contacted me on that and so because of that as I see it, a homeowner cannot check their own warranty on Linux's website.

however. however, one thing I wanted to point out if you do have a Linux system that there are a few brands on our list here and I think Armstrong is one of them, that Linux is actually um, the parent company or at least affiliated with them in some way. And so if you go to Armstrong Armstrongair.com backslash or forward slash owners forward slash warranty registration you come to this page here and at the bottom it says look up warranty information Now if you have a Linux system and you click this I wonder I I Don't know but I wonder if you could check your warranty And so if any of you guys out there do have a Linux system, my question to you tonight is please test this out for me. Please put in your serial number here and let us know if this website if Armstrongair.com will pull up whether or not your system is still covered under warranty.

And so I think the best way to test that is if you have a system that you know for a fact is still under warranty it's less than 10 years old, you know it was registered. You know for a fact it is under warranty and you test it here. Let's find out if this website will help you determine if your system is still uh registered. Most of these websites.

Um, let me go back here. You know what? I might have lost you guys. Hold on One second, you can't see what I'm seeing. Hold on.

Hold on Hold on. Don't don't click off yet. don't click off yet. Of course it would not be a live show if I didn't have a a few issues here right? All right, So there we go.

So now you guys can see what I'm seeing. So if when you go down here, here's Armstrong Air if you click that put that into put your your serial number and your information in on that website and let's test if Linux up here if if you're able to check your warranty because Linux if you go to Linux's website unlike most of these Brands If you go to Dike and Train carrier any of these websites, you will be able to check your warranty. Ream! York All these Brands down here you'll be able to check your warranty even as the home homeowner and the reason that's important is there are heat and air guys out there that will simply lie. They'll tell you that your system is not under warranty anymore.

It's time to replace it, it's time to, you know, pay them a bunch of money for a repair. whatever. Um, and so that's that's the thing. So most of these brands that are listed here, um you can check your warranty and then if you go all the way down here at the bottom now I Have not checked these in a while but as of about a year ago all these Brands listed in this.

uh in this. so Mr cool. You can actually I think take off of this list now and we've added them up here. Lovely brand that is and um so you'll be able to, um, check these up here.

you'll be able to check your warranty. but these Brands down here uh I don't think you can. and so if you find out I'm wrong, please let me know. Feel free to shoot me a message, shoot me an email.

But um, as of about a year ago, the last time I went through all of these, you were not able to check any of these. Brands just check your warranty outright on a website like you can with all these Brands up here. So anyway I thought I would show that to you and uh, if you don't have uh, your your warranty registration, you should be able to pull up at least proof on one of these websites. Uh, for your your uh warranty.

So I highly recommend doing that. Uh, so let's go back to our chat here. Uh I already see a couple guys give me a hard time about not wearing my hat I See Gary um I have a friend of mine Steve I don't know if he's watching here, but he's been giving me a hard time about my wardrobe. He says I need to dress up a little nicer for you guys I need to wear a collared shirt, look a little more professional and I don't know.

Maybe it's just maybe I'm being a little rebellious, maybe I'm you know my last job I had to wear a collared shirt every day I had worked my way up to being a manager and they expected me to wear a collared shirt and uh, maybe you know once I became a business owner, it's just you know, nobody can fire me now. kind of kind of deal, right? Um, but he's probably not wrong I'd probably look a little better if I tried a little here. um duck process thank goodness Byb. Where in Virginia are you located? I am about an hour north of Williamsburg in Middlesex County So we do service Williamsburg we service the middle Peninsula at least most of it and we service the Northern neck of Virginia or at least most of it.

So let's see or at least my company does. Uh, Daniel says what do you think of Comfort Maker I think Comfort Maker is an ICP brand. let me verify I'm pretty sure it is, but I'm I'm wrong all the time. live on the show and it looks like that is correct.

So Comfort Maker is one of the ICP Brands ICP I would say in general has a decent reputation in our industry. Um, you know I Don't think anybody thinks they're the best at at least from a premium product standpoint. They're not gonna break any records with Seer ratings or anything like that, but a lot of the guys that install them like them because you know they they install them and they don't hear back from the customer in a good way. and uh I will say in my area I uh it's hard for me to have an opinion because there's no good suppliers.

there are suppliers, but there's no good suppliers for ICP or any of their brands. and so I I have worked on them a bunch. but I don't know that I've ever installed one I've installed carrier I've worked for companies that installed carrier but I don't know that I've ever worked for a company that installed ICP So I think if you've got a company recommending an ICP brand such as Comfort Comfort Maker to you Daniel I would say say that they're a fine brand, they're they're just fine and I would say uh, if you like the contractor themselves, that's way more important than the brand they're installing anyway. So if you were installing a brand that I'm not such a fan of that, they do have a reputation of having problems then I would tell you.

but I don't think Comfort Maker would would be on that limit that list Emery says Linux owner here installed in 2015 which means that's it's at the end of its warranty. Emery Yeah so maybe you could be our guinea pig. Maybe you can check your warranty on that Armstrong website. So if you go to our website new Hvacgod.com and and then it'll take you to this page right here and you'll be able to, um, well let me let me rephrase.

It'll take you to this page right here this is our home page and then if you scroll to the bottom all the way to the bottom, there's our Resource Center there with all kinds of other things there. but it says check your warranty and when you click that, go to that little Armstrong or Ducane tab one of those right there. They're both Linux Brands I Believe and and do it. Do us a favor and check that warranty.

Let's see if let's see if maybe these Linux folks can check their warranties after all, because Linux is not making it easy on New Linux customers to check your own warranty on their website. Byb says what's the name of his company. It's called Griffin Air Boom Griffin Air. Our actual colors are blue, but I I get these gray and black hats.

So that way you know my wife always gives me a hard time. She says you know, don't uh, don't be wearing your Blue Hats your you know your company hats all the time when we're going out to dinner and things like that. um you know you look like you're always in uniform, you look like a bum and so I refuse to wear. You know, once I became a business owner, it's just something you know.

I I I'm not gonna unless unless Nike or or uh I don't know what's one, what's another hat brand? There's guys around here they'll wear hook and all these fishing Brands until those companies send me a check I Wear the company that takes care of my family so that's that's the hats I Wear mostly. Uh, let's see. Mr Buzz Welcome to the show! Can we expect HVAC prices to ever go back down? I'm in the market for to replace my 22 year old system and have gotten a few estimates. Sticker shock is an understatement.

Yeah I think uh I don't know if they'll ever. uh I I think they'll they'll go down a little bit. Um, from a standpoint of when you're in the off season, some companies change their prices based on how busy they are. Um, that's something we've talked about on our YouTube channel a lot.

Some guys don't like that I share that they'll uh, they'll They'll get mad at me and say it's supply and demand and all these different things which is fine. They're allowed to do whatever they want, so am I You know I'm allowed to say that they do those things and so I uh I don't know that you're gonna see. You know, because of the the world we live in and inflation and and I'm not going to get political but all the other things that happened that drive the prices of things up it and then I'm not even saying who's in the White house I Just think in general when things are going on, um you know prices go up And they don't always come back down. And so, unlike say, gasoline and other things that are volatile, um, things like heating and air and um, things like that like cars I Don't think you're ever going to see cars just dramatically drop in price I Remember a couple years ago during the pandemic, they said we're have this shortage on chips.

uh, you know, processing chips for these cars and so once they figure that out, there's going to be a gigantic drop in prices for all these cars that are sitting around brand new cars. and I haven't seen that happen yet. I'm not saying it won't happen, but um, it hasn't happened yet. So um, yeah, I don't I don't I hate to break that news to you Mr buzz but uh I don't see a huge drop I mean you might see a drop, but not a huge drop in pricing Mr Griffin Craig Griffin says glad to be here again listening this week.

Great to have you! Um, Byb says we got a quote for an 18 000 system with an electronic dampers. Can you visit us in Newport News We need you. Uh, call us tomorrow. Um, depending on where you are in Newport News you actually might be.

Uh, we do have customers in Yorktown and so I know Newport News and Yorktown and Williamsburg all have that kind of weird area where it kind of seems like you're in Yorktown but it's actually a Williamsburg address right? and I think Newport News plays a little bit of that two. but if you're down there way down in Newport News down in the city, um I can maybe make a few recommendations, but we don't go that far. Um, let's see Emery pointing out some of the ICP Brands Byb says it's 90 degrees on the second floor. Wow, that is hot.

Um Craig says having two dike and fit heat pumps going in next week. Been a good source of info here. Nice! Craig Where are you located? Let us know at least let me know I'd love to hear where where that's at. Um Byb says same here Mr Buzz Just got our first quote: Marty Welcome to the show says: I'm looking to install or have installed a mini split two zone system I Live in a rural area in central New York What brands should I be avoiding what kind of what that can be purchased online? Thanks! So it'd probably be easier.

uh Marty for me to tell you the brands that you shouldn't avoid versus the ones you should because I would say there's about a handful over here that are good and then there's everybody else. There's thousands of Brands out there. Uh, especially many split. Brands You know there's these companies that manufacture them and they just have tons and tons of different brands.

One will go out of business or they'll you know, get bad reviews and they'll just do away with that brand and just put a different sticker on it and start another brand. So uh, I would say the big three. Um, right now it's the big two. The big two are Mitsubishi and Daikin uh I would say and then you've kind of got Fujitsu who used to be a part of the big three but you know they're they're They do most of their Manufacturing in Taiwan and and I think some of the world pop political stuff plays a role in this and I don't really know.

but um I think it's safe to say that they're not one of the big three now and maybe Gree has kind of jumped in there. Agree: I Don't think the quality is quite as high as Mitsubishi and Daikin and not just the the, not just the quality of the product, but just the company themselves and support and parts and all that good stuff. but I Do think that Gree probably is one of the big three now when it comes to Mini Splits so those are the big four I Guess you could say and then it's kind of everybody else. I would I would definitely stick apart.

stick with one of those main brands that we can get parts for or that you know you might. If you get one contractor that's not answering his phone, you got another one over here that can still get parts For that brand kind of thing. and there's a lot of other brands out there that maybe that's not the case. So whether you can purchase those online or not I have no idea I don't purchase things online.

We have suppliers, uh, wholesale suppliers as a contractor. but um, but I do know that I've had a lot I've heard a lot of horror stories for from guys that you know they they tried some of those online DIY Brands and regretted it later. Let's see Mr bus says I'm in New Jersey getting a quoted 17K for Carrier 19 variable speed AC Byb says should we expect to pay 18 19 000 for a new system We have three other zones and fourth went bad this week. That's so expensive Byb I think you're in the thick of it right now.

You're in the middle of the summer and you got guys that are charging that because they can and so I don't know where you're located? You might have already shared that, but I would say if that's the kind of prices you're getting, continue to get quotes and keep looking around. Uh, but you know where you're at in the country plays a role in this. Um, so that's why I don't normally I'll have people say well what do you charge It doesn't really matter what I charge because you know every Market's different. Some states have unions, some of them don't.

Some states have higher taxes than others, Some states have higher costs of living and so on. and so because of that, companies have to charge accordingly. They've got to pay their employees to to keep up with that that sort of stuff. So if you live in a more expensive State then you might have to pay higher prices than say someone that doesn't Um, that's just kind of the way it is.

And I don't make those rules. so I you know I feel for you though. Emery says try the warranty thing. Doesn't work.

Interesting. So good to know. So Linux we're still calling you out Linux You still do not have a way for your customers to be able to look up their own warranties and that is not good. Uh, unless I'm wrong.

please please let me know if I am wrong. um New York City HVAC any brand purchased online avoid Marty says I'm having trouble getting a local HVAC company to call me back. There are not a lot of HVAC con companies or contractors that will get back to us folks in. Rural America Yeah, I Help the lady.

Uh, it's been probably a year ago now. it's probably last summer. I Helped a lady that was in an area that she literally had three companies. Just three in her entire area within an hour and one of them wouldn't return her calls.

So that really narrowed her options. Every you know a whole lot. So I feel for you there. Uh deest I guess is how you pronounce that says I'm in Dallas and getting quoted 20K for Linux Merit Five ton and a two-ton 17 seer single stage units with matching air handlers Marty says thanks for the info I Watch your channel often just to learn Thanks Marty Thank you for watching Emory says how much can I save on variable speed system? That's a loaded question.

Um, it's hard to put an exact number. Now let me say this. when you say variable speed system. there are variable speed units out there that are not inverter, but in general most and or all inverter systems are variable speeds.

So if you're talking about an inverter system, that's where you're going to see the Savings in in most cases. So if you've got a single stage unit versus A two stage or three stage unit versus an inverter system I Don't care what the Seer ratings are, you're going to get more savings. Usually with an inverter system, a true communicating inverter system is where you're going to see the savings. Now, do you pay a little more for those? Of course, but you know there's no way for me to put a number on it because there's so many variables.

one of those being how often do you run the system. Is it your primary home? Is it the only system in the home was it sized properly? Is the ductwork size properly? Uh, how what do you keep your temperature at? How cold or hot do you keep it in your house? What is the weather That year? Did we have a more warmer year or a cooler year? There's a lot of variables there, but I Just think across the board in general. Um, you know you're going to see a bigger savings with inverters. What? I tell people is how long are you going to stay in the house if you're going to stay there a while.

If you are planning on dying in this house, you're going to stay there. You're going to retire and live out the your last days in this house. Then you'll probably be there long enough to see the savings. But if you're going to sell it in the next year or two, you know you're going to move in the next year or two you might not get the savings to.

You know to to go with a higher end, more expensive system, Byb says thank you for sharing experience and knowledge. We'll call tomorrow and beg you to come. we're near. Christopher Newport University You're probably gonna be outside our coverage area.

Cnu's pretty far. Uh, my sister-in-law went to school at CNU Um, what is there I think it's the shipment ship men. is that their mascot? go Shipman Uh so Ed says good evening I bought two Mitsubishi's online. Nice.

good enough. Uh, let's see bear with me here. We're gonna have a breakaway segment here and get back to your questions in a moment. Um, our Breakaway question tonight are ask the audience question tonight is do you have someone in your family or friend Circle It can be an outside you know, Maybe maybe it's just barely in your friend's Circle but someone in your family or friend Circle that is in the HVAC industry and the reason I'm asking that question is if you do, then do they? Are they the one you call to fix your air conditioning and so I'd be curious to hear your stories on that.

Please comment your answer to that question if you do have someone in your family, uh, why do you not use them if you don't and then of course, why do you use them if you do, uh, do they give you a break in pricing? Do you expect a break in pricing? uh or do you take better care of them and actually pay them more than they ask because they're family. Just curious what your thoughts are on that? If you have someone in your family or friend group, let us know in the comments. Let's see. Get back to our questions here.

s C Texan SC Texan wonder what the SC stands for? Don't tell me SC Texan hmm is it soccer I Googled SC Texan And the first thing that popped up was something about soccer. Um and then a bunch of other stuff. So hmm. maybe that's the initials of your name.

Maybe that's the initials of where you're located? I Don't know. but SC Texan says planning for a new house. Some are saying that putting a mini split head in each bedroom is overkill for a quote. Tight house? What do you think? Yeah, I would say if it's a tighter house and let's say you have, um I don't know.

It kind of depends. There's a lot of variables. So I installed a multi-zone heating and air system mini split system in a very tight house years ago and it had, you know, several bedrooms and we put units in each bedroom. but this dude built this gigantic of a house.

I mean the ceilings alone in one of the rooms was almost 30 feet high. I mean it was huge and I remember his master bedroom was almost as big as my house, you know? So it was no big deal putting many splits in each room. But if you have these tiny little rooms, it's a tight house. You better make sure that you're running the system in automatic.

We did a YouTube video on that once where we talked about automatic and I know there if there's Heating and Air Guys in here they're going to disagree with me and that's okay because I had guys disagreeing with me on that video. but Auto on a remote. So if you have a mini split remote that says Auto on it and you put that system in auto mode, it is different than if you put a thermostat on a conventional system in auto mode and so what happens is um, you you are giving. So if you turn it off of Auto with that remote on a mini split and you turn it to some sort of fan setting, you are removing the ramping up and down capability of that system.

You're you're no longer letting that system ramp down as far as it can. Now the argument that a lot of heating and air guys made on that video and they may make here is, well. this outdoor system is still going to turn on and off when it reaches temperature. That's not what we're talking about.

We're talking about the fact that when it's true variable and it's an inverter outside and the indoor unit is set to Auto There will be times that that system is just barely running. barely very low. RPMs on the compressor. Very low air flow across that evaporator coil still removing humidity from the room still running but barely running.

And so you know. if you do have a very tight house, you've got many splits in these very tight small bedrooms. Make sure they're set to Auto Make sure that the fan and the mode of the system are set to auto. Marty says I currently use a coal boiler Wow! I'd love to see pictures of that.

Marty I Worked on a boiler years ago where you could see where the coal boiler used to be. but I personally have never actually worked on a coal boiler. So all these people in this chat that are you know, saving the world and they're installing these extremely. Efficient Electric Systems they are hating you with your coal boiler over here.

um I Would also be curious where on the country you're located if you have a cold boiler. that's pretty cool. Marty says I currently use a coal boiler for heat in the winter and I'm looking for a secondary way to heat and cool my house that's more automatic. That's what's making me think a mini split would fit my needs.

There's actually a really big push right now Marty Um to make these heat pumps and Mini Splits better to you know they're going to work at lower temperatures than ever. Some of these systems are coming out um but I will say I don't know what the heat rise is on your oil I mean your coal boiler but I will say just be careful I would not rip a boiler out before you you know, get all these mini splits in there and see how well they're going to work because I have heard horror stories. In fact I've been involved with one in particular I Can think of where they removed an oil furnace and not realizing the heat rise is just simply not as high and so that's a whole nother long story. They had this really old house with no insulation and you know, thinking there was something wrong with the Mini Splits it wasn't wrong.

Anything wrong with the Mini Splits they were blowing warm but they also had four space heaters plugged in in each room. and if that room has four space heaters in it and it's you know, less than 100 square feet and it's still not getting warm in there. The problem ain't the Uh mini split. The problem is how and how well the insulated that that you know house is the captains.

Okay, all right I could I that's uh, makes more sense. We have lots of free beer on tap and lunch for for 20 extra minutes of driving. My guys would probably appreciate that. Ed says my daughter's brother-in-law has a business and is a Mitsubishi Diamond dealer.

Nice Yeah, uh. usually to be a Mitsubishi Diamond dealer you have to do a certain amount of business. uh to keep that status and I live in a rural area I have a small company and we did not meet that. we we were fine.

they they never stripped our Diamond dealer status but they threatened to. They said if you don't sell this many units you can't be a diamond dealer and Daikin has never said that to us, you know? So I I actually like Daikin better. Anyway, we tried their products and switched to them entirely once we had tried their products. Um, but that was another thing that was a you know, a selling point for me.

Daikins has never said to me oh well, you need to sell a certain amount of units to get the 12-year warranty for your customers. and that was something that Mitsubishi did say to us. So anyway, they're allowed to do business however they want. But um I I do think it's great that your uh, daughter's brother-in-law is doing that.

Craig says yes, family and business my father's company before he passed. sorry to hear about that. Don't use them due to location distance from my location. Interesting.

Um Marty says Central New York Gill says I have a go I have to go good night, have a good night Gill Marty says snow belt area no no I plan on using the boiler but in the fall and spring I could use something to take the chill off plus to be used and as AC in the summer instead of this noise window AC Yeah, that's going to be a huge difference for you. but I also say that um, the amount of coal or you know, wood. My dad Burns wood. he has a wood stove in his house.

Uh, on those mild days there's no for him, you know Building A Fire Or or for you starting up the boiler, you know you're going to save yourself a whole lot of money and time and and effort. And you know, Blood Sweat and Tears Um, you know, on those mild days, just you know, kicking that unit on and not like you said, knocking The Chill off Tech Junkie Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. All right, let's uh, let's see, we're moving right along.

Um I Have not done a uh, goofy invention segment in a while. We've done a few of them in the past and so we'll get back to your questions in a moment. but let's step away for uh, a goofy invention. Um, I've done uh, goofy inventions or hypothetical inventions on geothermal Loops in your foundation when it's being dug a Bluetooth Thermostats uh, thermostats with AI technology that could see you have an eye and see that you're getting a little warm and turn the AC on.

line sets made of other materials other than copper that do not have slack like some of these uh line sets we've seen before and also we talked about one night a recessed wall unit that you would only see the vents of almost like a mini split, but it would be recessed in the wall and that would include the indoor and outdoor units. So tonight, our goofy invention is not something that I've come up with. it's something that I've seen other guys come up with. and I'm going to show you what I'm talking about.

bum bear with me I'm trying to find it now. Of course if I wasn't looking for it, it'd probably be all over my all over my bear with me. hmm and of course I can't find them now. but basically I've seen them pop up on my uh on my Facebook and feeds and and normally I could probably Google this.

but for some reason I'm not being able to find it. but the idea is having uh, heating and air units that would be customizable colors that would match their surroundings and so uh, let's imagine let's see. so like if you had um, there you go Outdoor? Yeah so if you had one of these houses here, if you had an air conditioning unit that was say sitting, you know, right here and you could actually have it painted the same color as these rocks on the wall and or this decorative uh I guess it's a bush plants there on the wall. The reason I was having so much trouble finding is I have actually seen on you know, goofy uh pictures of heating and air units that were camouflage color.

you know, like you know, like a mossy oak or real tree camouflage color on that the heat pump and um but you know having heating and air systems like you know here's a house that has a white wall. so if you had a heating and air system sitting right here and get a heating and air system that would be the same color as that wall, so that would be our hypothetical invention for tonight. it would probably be more aesthetically pleasing. It would fit with each and every home and you could argue.

Well, Josh You could paint the units. Now here's one. Here's a here's a red brick, right? So if you had a house that had red brick, you know if you had your heating and air system sitting right up against that red brick and have it painted the same color, um, let's see. HVAC Red brick color.

Let's see if that does anything. Nope. But as you can see from this picture here, like look how look how much this this unit sticks out. But what if it was the same color as this brick? here, you know I don't know.

Kind of a goofy invention. I Don't know how they would pull it off, but you know, even today, if you go buy, you know here's a good example. If you go buy bricks, there's different color options. If you go buy, uh, deck boards.

There's different color options. you know, have a heating and air system that has different color options, you know? I don't know. Kind of a goofy invention. Let me know what you guys think.

Um I uh I hate that I'm not able to find see if I search camouflage AC Unit It uh, just comes up with these. you know, lattice work. You know the these these ways of just basically hiding the unit but not that actual camouflage color. Maybe if I put color.

oh we're getting closer. so there's a camouflage blanket of some kinds draped over a a side discharge unit. so that's kind of goofy looking. Look at that thing.

somebody's selling these on uh some website here that is hilarious. This is on Amazon right here that is that says Amazon down here. So I don't know. kind of goofy.

um but you know I mean like look at this picture. Obviously that's not what you want because the you got all this these leaves and Vines growing up over the heating and air system. But you know if that system was painted the same color as that wall right there instead of having to build something around it like this right here, you know, maybe it just, you know I'm not saying that you wouldn't see it at all if you were looking for it, but maybe it wouldn't stick out quite as bad quite as much. You know, like this unit, you know you ain't hiding that unit right there.

you know? I don't know. Let me know y'all's thoughts. There's here's a another invention somebody built or something around the heating and air system and those look nice. You know that you know I It'd probably be a pain to try to service the unit that that this picture actually looks like it's it's uh, got a trash can behind it.

This says how to camouflage a mini split unit, but if you look at the picture closely, it actually looks like a trash can to me. But um anyway, just kind of a goofy invention. That's that's this week's Josh inventions that that's what we'll call this segment from now on. Josh Invention Um, Heating and Air Systems Josh Josh HVAC Inventions and this might be my favorite one yet.

This actually says camouflage colored paint. So maybe if you painted the heating and air system that that color I Don't know. Let me know what y'all think back to our uh, our chat. looks like I've gotten a little behind here.

You guys were chatting while I was away. Um Emery says I have to get a new drain pan due to the gunk in the current one. Is it worth four hundred dollars? Uh, depends. Uh Emery Just you know, are we talking about? um, let me get this back on our chat here.

Share this tab. Um, are we talking about these primary or secondary drain pan? Um I'm surprised that they're replacing it just because it's gunky or dirty. I Mean you'd think they should be able to clean it? Uh, now, if it's cracked or it's failing in some way, then that's different. But if it's just dirty or gunky, they should be able to clean that, you know Chris says hello.

Perfect timing for this, my 23 year old five ton train just went out tonight. Oh my gosh. I'm sorry to hear that. knew it needed to be replaced.

Thoughts on five ton inverter based share Chris I would? uh inverter base system There we go. Um Chris I would find a really good Heating and Air company and then go with what they recommend and if they if you want an inverter system and they say don't do inverters because of this reason or that reason and they'll have a good reason why they don't install them, um then just keep you know you don't want to be anybody's guinea pig. Don't try to convince that company that they should install an inverter system for you. but um, you know, find a good company and go with the brand they recommend.

We're a Daikin dealer and I like Daikins products, the Dike and Fit is probably one of the more budget-friendly communicating inverter systems out there. But I would again even still recommend you finding a good company, a good contractor and then go with the brand that they will stand behind. Tech Junkie says installed My AC unit was company that installed my AC unit was monitoring it last week and they seem to think I have a faulty sensor or two your thoughts on validity of that. Um well I have no idea Tech Junkie I mean they should be able to show you they a sensor is either good or bad.

they should be able to come out and test that sensor with you. We're standing right there and show you if it's good or bad, if it's under warranty, then you know And and you know if they think it's bad and it's under warranty, then you know. No harm, no foul. But if they're wanting to charge you money for a sensor, then they should be able to definitively tell you if it's good or bad.

Byb says, why Is an inverter system better? They're just more efficient. They're quieter. They uh, remove humidity better. They uh.

I've done a whole video on all the reasons you should. In fact, I think it's called 12 Reasons Inverter systems are better. Check out that video. Um, and I think it's that.

that's what it's called. Give me just a second. Foreign when I'm when I'm typing and searching things you guys uh I should have like elevator music or maybe I should sing. do you all want to hear I'm just kidding.

So here's uh. let's see what isn't this one's called what is an inverter System 12 reasons: Inverter systems are better. Here you go and I'm gonna put that in our chat. So here you go, Byb This video right here tells you 12 reasons: Inverter systems are better.

Uh Tech joke He says Comfort Energy saving due to low demand Carl says what about contractor's ability to remotely call up a system and review its operating performance Heat pump SP Temps amp draws Yeah, there's a a big push right now. Uh for companies that are doing remote, um, monitoring of systems and you know some some contractor or some customers are okay with that. um I Would say if you've got a company that has your best interests at heart, it's not a bad thing. They might be able to even.

you know if if something's off or wrong, they might be able to actually repair it or get it going. Better make a change, tweak something remotely. Um, but if you've got a company that's just using it as a way to, you know continue to be a blood-sucking leech off of you, then you know you should have the ability to remove them if if you feel that way. Carl also says how far off is that? yeah I mean that's kind of just depends on um, uh yeah Daikin does that now.

So yeah, Daikan, all the big companies have some sort of remote technology uh where they can connect to the system through the cloud through the internet. but I think most of them youth as the homeowner have to give them the ability to do it. Um, and so we have a we actually have a couple customers starting to do it with us so we're still learning and getting our feet wet with it. But you know if you've got a company that is good and they're they're not taking advantage of you and they're just using it as a way to alert you if something seems off, or if they you know need to make a tweak or something like that remotely, then you know maybe it's not a bad thing.

They can do it without even having to, you know, come to your home. Byb says have prices gone up 60 for equipment on the over the last 18 months? not 60 percent? No, um, we have seen quite a quite significant price increases over the last several years, but not 60 percent. Chris says supplies my 2 800 square foot unit Craig says would it be possible to give your opinion on the Daikin one home Air monitor did not add this to on our two systems I've done videos on that I actually have not installed one. We've offered it to customers.

Um, but they it's really neat so it can give you real-time data. Um, we've got customers that we will sometimes come and do a standalone monitor or test of their home uh, air and the there's also a company called Haven IQ that um they we talked to them a little bit about maybe doing some videos together and just have not gotten around to it really. Um, been so busy doing videos on other stuff but uh Haven also makes a a monitor that you can use for with a non-communicating system and give you data. but you know it's just monitoring the the air as it goes through there.

It'll tell you if the particulate count goes up, it'll It'll tell you all kinds of data. and if that air is unsafe to breathe. and in some cases, some systems out there even automatically turn on the air cleaners or circulate some air through the filtration or whatever. Um, so you know I think that that, especially if you have some indoor air quality products that are able to do something about it.

if the monitor notices something is wrong. I think it's a really cool addition. It's it's you know I think it's a a snapshot of the future really? Ryan says sorry I joined it late did you get a chance to see that picture I sent last week I would like if you showed that on the show and have your thoughts Ryan I think I did take a peek at that and I laughed I know exactly what you're talking about. Give me just a second Dude, here's that time you.

you all should be listening. There's my there's my elevator music for y'all uh Ryan Ryan Ryan Where did that email go? Bear with me. Computer running slow All of a sudden. Bear with me.

Bear with me. Come on. um, bear with me. Here's the email.

but I don't I'm not seeing the picture. Hold on here. It comes Okay, All right. I think I could share this with you guys.

So this is the picture. that Ryan sent to me. So we've got two mini split units that are uh mounted on the same pad here. So um, for those of you that don't know, this is not gonna work very well at all.

and so the only time that this unit in the front What's Happening Here is the back unit is. let's say it's in uh AC mode. It's removing heat from the home so the air coming out of that fan that grill right there after it's coming being blown across the coil is quite warm and so then it blows across the coil of the unit and the front and the head pressure. I Can only imagine how high it would get.

Um, these units require a certain amount of clearance around the unit and this is one of the reasons why. Um, so there's way better ways to do this. The crazy thing about it is the grass looks kind of nice and you know I I Can't tell from the home, but you know this might might have been on a you know, decent home and they've here. They had some guy come along and put two two units just right on top of one another.

So um, they're not going to work too well. Um, back to our chat. Emery says my drained pan damage the ceiling but they cleaned it but they want to give me a new one. Um, Oscar says from your visit to Daikin is the Goodman GVC 20 21 Seer split system inverter heat pump equivalent to Daikin's heat pump dz20vc If so, will the Daikin want Plus or touch thermostats work on both? So the Daikin one as I understand it will not work on other brands? Uh Goodman and maybe a Mana I'm not as familiar with Amana's stuff.

Um, but I know that Goodman uses the what is it called Comfort Bridge or something like that technology for their higher Seer communicating stuff and so, uh, is it equivalent? The specs may be very close. uh, but it is not going to work with a dike in one. at least that's what they've told me. Um, so the Daikin one only works with what it works with.

Uh, let's see at says tips one making a return vent in finished basement. Does the return vent make basement temperature better? Uh, it just depends on the situation at uh it. I would say that if you're asking this question, maybe you have an issue. Maybe you do have a basement that maybe they've put some Supply events there and you you're still having some stale air or it's not.

Um, you know cooling very well and if that's the case, then yes, adding a return vent I'm assuming it's a finished basement or at least somewhere that you spend time. And so there's just a lot of variables. So for example, if you have a basement that's unfinished, well, maybe you don't want any return air coming from down there. Um, if you have, say, a wood shop, you know somewhere you do have some sawdust flying up things like that.

Well, you might not want to return vent in that particular room. You're going to be changing the air filter a whole lot. Or at least you're gonna. You should replace it a whole lot.

So it just kind of depends on the situation I would probably if you're not quite sure. Um, get a few opinions from some local. Pros My Basic: He says my basement doesn't have any return vent I am trying to see if I can cut out duct work and pipe it down to make return vent. Um Tech Junkie and him are going back and forth on that.

So yeah, it just depends. Yes, there's three supplies. Yeah, so you know if you're having an issue with it circulating air, then yes, adding a return would help with that. You when you're adding returns and supplies, you're creating Loops there.

So you've got air coming out, you've got air going in. and so if you imagine the room, it's literally a loop of air right there that's being pushed in. And so when we install our different returns or supplies, you want to keep that in mind. Um, you know I think some guys don't keep it in mind enough? I've been in some houses where they're literally right beside each other.

Um, but you know, for better air circulation, you want to kind of keep that in mind. space them apart and so it sounds like if you did have supplies added to that basement, adding return might help you with, uh, better air circulation? Ryan Says that's why I Ignored the HVAC company and don't recommend them in anymore. I Was shocked when they showed me that picture of an example of their work. Yeah, that's pretty shocking.

Don't don't call them out. That is not my goal on the show. Um, but that is pretty crazy pal. Oh, see that said.

Uh, if you do, we've done this before and I I want to, You know? definitely do this before we leave tonight. If you do have a good Heating and Air company in your area and please share them, let's give them a shout out. Let's give them some love. Where are they located? Uh, give them a shout out and uh, you know, maybe someone in your area might see this and you know what better way to show that company your support than to give them a shout out and someone else give them a call.

So wherever you are, shout out that company where they're located, maybe the area they service or the city they're in. and uh, you know, give them a good shout out. Here at says another question is return duct better on ceiling or at the bottom on wall. It depends on the situation so if your vents are you know up high then I would probably try to get the return down low and uh, you know it just depends um or or yeah So if my vents are down low then I might you know have my return up High um returns you know I did a whole video on places that you don't want a return to be high traffic areas um areas where it may be restricted like on behind a piece of furniture.

um you know but for comfort and residential I've heard some guys say oh, is it better to have it up high or is it better down low and I think this and I think that if it's you know I've even seen houses where they'll have a high and low and I think that's kind of an Antiquated way of doing it I'm not saying there's not a difference, but I think that in the grand scheme of things if everything else is sized correctly meaning you know you're heating and air system is size according to your heat load and your ductwork is sized correctly from a you know CFM standpoint static pressure standpoint, then I don't I Don't think it matters to be completely honest with you with most residential homes unless you got a house with really high ceilings, vaulted ceilings, or something like that. If you're talking about a normal room with eight foot ceilings, in my opinion, it doesn't matter and that's just my opinion. And I'll tell you why. I Think that because I've had customers say they can't tell the difference, you know they can't tell the difference even in those homes.

If everything is installed right, if you close that upper vent and use the one down low or vice versa, they can't tell the difference, you know. So that's just my opinion. I know there's going to be guys out there that will say oh, you know, What about this? What about? I'm just telling you in the grand scheme of things from a comfort standpoint, most homeowners wouldn't even notice, so put it up high so that way it doesn't get it that dog hair on it as much. you don't have to replace the filter as much.

There you go. Uh, at says I says I have a drop ceiling so I can easily make one in the ceiling. but I really think cold air stay on the low so it would be better. Yeah, so that's that is one of the things that guys will say.

but if if your ceilings are only eight foot ceilings, unless you're spending a lot of time crawling around on the floor, you're not going to really notice that much. I mean genuinely you. I'm telling you if you put the return in that ceiling or you, you could put one there and then put one down on the bottom part of the wall and cover one with plastic and then you know, use that area for a week and then move the plastic to the other one and use the other one for a week. I Don't think you would notice a difference if everything else is sized right.

that's just my opinion and you know as long as everything else is laid out properly and you've got the supply vents on the other side of the room and you're keeping those Loops I'm talking about in mind and everything is sized right? I Don't think it matters in most residential applications I just don't think it does not that much. anyway. I'm not saying it doesn't matter at all, but it doesn't matter that much. Emory says Where do you put the Ducks if they have vaulted ceilings every house is different.

um I out. So I had one where we had all the vents. so we had this house with all these big vaulted ceilings and they had all these Supply ducts in those that ceiling blowing down and so we put the return kind of low on the wall on one side and we put this real big return in there. I had another house where we put a couple returns in.

there just depends on the house. um so at says appreciate your help so nobody's called out any good companies I Guess nobody on here knows any good heating and air companies I know one Griffin Air here in Virginia Uh, we're in the middle Peninsula Northern Neck areas and so if you do know a good Heating and Air company, feel free to give them a shout out. We're going to wrap up here in just a moment. I Do have a video coming out tomorrow.

One of you guys pointed it out at the beginning of the show. Uh, it's gonna be called. Let me pull it up here. Where's it at? Bear with Me! Why is this thing acting like this? Oh, it's because I've got I was searching inverters.

That's why Bear with me. I've got a video coming out tomorrow. Man my internet is running slow tonight I Think it's because I'm live with you guys here. We go here it is.

Share this tab. So we've got a video coming out tomorrow and it's going to be the new as some of you know, if you saw our video on the trip to Daikin that we took. um, this video is going to be all about all the new products now. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to talk about all of them.

Uh, but we do talk about several in the video launching tomorrow at 5 p.m Eastern Um, so there's several new products coming. Some new things. uh, that pertain to the dike and fit, some new things that pertain to ductless, and some new things that pertain to some of the controls that Daikin has. So, um, I I I'm just really excited about.

You know not only the video that we did of the trip we took, but also this video. Um, because you know Honestly, I don't think there's any other heating and air guys out there that are doing YouTube videos that are doing anything like what we're doing right now. And it's not because I'm so great. it's just because I've been lucky enough blessed enough to get behind a few closed doors to be able to show you guys things that no one else is showing.

There are guys that you know they take a camera and they go out and fix an air conditioner and I think that's great, but you know we're giving you guys some things that no one else is giving you. and so because of that, hit that subscribe button so we can get to 100K subscribers and maybe get behind a few more closed doors. That's the goal here I Want to by the end of next year? I'd love to be at a hundred thousand subscribers, but we've got a long way to go and so you know, share your support. Obviously it's appreciated and uh, I believe once we do get there, uh, it's going to give me the opportunity to approach a few more folks.

You know, if you get behind a few more closed doors kind of deal, we're going to continue to try to do that anyway. but I Just think that that's kind of the the threshold. When you really, you know, show them what's up, you know? Uh, all right, we're gonna wrap up in just a second. I'm just reading through your last few comments here again.

We'll be back next week at 8 30 Eastern live and uh I think I'm gonna do away with this thing where we give companies good shout outs because the last three times I've done it, nobody shouted out anybody. So maybe there's just not enough good heating and air companies out there to be shouted out. Um, but anyway, I appreciate your support. If you do, you know every little bit helps every subscribe, every view, every like definitely is very much appreciated.

Um, my two-year-old daughter says thank you and um, let's see. Tech junkie says do does your company want to do an internship We've got a few Junior attacks that work uh with us right now. So I guess that's kind of an inter a paid internship. Um, and so they're You know they're learning, they're coming right along and that's you know.

I Think that's how most companies do it anyway. they'll hire Junior tax or helpers or apprentices. whatever it is they call them. Uh I actually stole that from a company I used to work for.

They didn't call them helpers or apprentices, they called them Junior techs. And so we have a few Junior techs and uh, you know are we hiring for a junior? Tech Not right this second but we're always accepting applications so you know if you're moving our area. Tech Junkie let us know Gary says great show Josh Good night to you and the Gang Till next week Thanks Gary Have a great week and on that I think that's in the spirit of that. Thanks for uh joining us guys again.

We'll be back next week! Live at 8 30 Eastern Standard Time and uh, taking your heating and air questions live make it a great week and we'll see you then.