Testing testing I think we are live and we're going to give you guys a couple moments to get on here. I uh for some reason my system did not schedule this week right? Uh so when I went to uh use the system the software that I use to get started tonight it was not showing up as uh, the right date for tonight's episode. So because of that I think we might you know have a few of you that normally join us might think that we're not doing our tonight's uh live show but we are. We're here.

you know? um so everything HVAC Hvacr welcome. um we're gonna talk about uh a few things tonight that you know. hopefully we get some questions. some of you guys that are Pros that are here I know you guys sometimes are even better than I am in answering some of these questions so feel free to jump in.

but uh I uh thought I'd start out tonight while we're waiting for a few folks to jump on. if you already are already on and wanna throw a question in there we can get started with that. looks like uh looks like more than I thought have already found us so that's great. uh again.

I had some some issues with the the date change on our system for some weird reason it it just did not show the right date and so I don't know if that reflected on your end or not you know I think a few folks might have thought well tonight, um you know maybe we're not doing tonight's episode. so uh hey Ryan I only pretend to be a pro same here I've been pretty good at pretending. uh Tech Junkie says the same thing. uh, just try to preach in.

That's funny. So yeah. um I did want to ask before we get rolling. how am I sounding I have switched a few things up I've got a microphone that I've actually had for a while, but I've got it.

I I learned how to properly put it to where it's supposed to like right up to my face here. um I used to use it kind of like you know, like that and I don't know if it affects how you guys can hear me now but I kind of had it like out in front of me like I don't know. like almost like an old school microphone and so I learned this week goofy or not I learned that I was doing it wrong but it's supposed to be down here like this so thanks Chris appreciate the kind words. um I actually I don't want to give away too much.

um Tech junkie um I don't want to get a boy too much but uh I was invited to go maybe do a factory tour some some behind the scenes stuff. Um, so stay tuned for that. I'm excited! We've got a lot of details to iron out, but I'm hoping to do some videos on that. not just the factory tour, but you know, maybe get some.

You know I don't know something something before it hits the Press You know, maybe I can share what that is. That would be kind of cool. You know you guys that do follow us a little bit. you know, get to see something that hasn't already hit the market yet.

So um, I'm trying to get my chat straight here. So are they really building a smart AC and heating unit? Um, well, they've they've got I'm not. Can you be a little? Can you elaborate on that question? Chris Are you talking about AI or are you talking about something else? Um, because I know when I started researching some of the AI stuff, apparently there are some commercial buildings they're already using. Ai and um, now when we think I think a lot of people when they hear AI they think you know they think what I always thought they think about, you know some.

Yeah. AI So they think about like you know Skynet on the Terminator movies or you know they think of just some machine that's doing all this thinking and I'm not saying that that's not out there or won't be. You know I think uh, I think some people literally literally do fear that, but um, AI doesn't does still have its limitations right? I Mean it depends on what you're using it for. so you, in other words, you know, chat Gbt for example, is not an AI that could learn how to drive drive a car.

If that makes sense, you know each one has its own abilities and what it's designed for. So when it comes to the uh AI stuff I do know that they're already using it. Um, yeah. so everything HVAC Um, they have been using them in some commercial buildings and according to what I was reading, where they're mostly using it is in these buildings where you know if they've got like I don't know 30 rooms zoned the S the AI and the system can figure out how to operate the system to get the most efficient.

It's all about efficiency Comfort too, but more efficiency. How can I run the system to heat and cool these rooms like they're wanting? sort of deal. but I I actually have predicted and I don't even know if this is that bold of a prediction. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't but I think that we're going to see a time in AI where um, when it comes to the heating and air side of things where AI will be able to decide, you know, not just because because these days, like if when you consider temperature and humidity, there's like this constant battle, right? So if it's really humid in the room, 72 degrees does not feel the same in some rooms as it does others right.

So if it's really humid, 72 might feel a little warmer or 72 degrees might you know? If it's a little drier in that room, it might feel a little cooler if that makes sense. And I I Do see a time where AI is going to decide how comfortable you are and say hey I know he normally keeps the temperature at 72 on days. you know, normal days but it's a little more humid today so I need to operate a little differently I can definitely see a time where that's going to happen. Um I don't think that that's that bold of a prediction.

Um I can plug in a computer and tell what your building is doing. Nice, um, everything. HVAC Tell me. tell me what.

Tell me more. Okay, never mind you already did, it's a trained Software System Interesting. Um, the only thing that I've really dealt with a whole lot of plug in your computers in and stuff like that in residential is the Unico stuff now. I do know that Daikin has some stuff now and I think even train and carrier have some stuff that you can you know connect your computers in different ways.

but um I don't know that I've seen them to where they're like necessary. whereas we installed this Unico system and it was necessary you had to plug it into a laptop to get you know your airflow and stuff set up correctly. So that was interesting. Um, was built in 94.

Interesting. Um so yeah. so if you guys if if there are any homeowners especially on here, these guys that are chatting right now they're all Pros I Don't teach them anything, they just tune in to laugh at me and the dumb things that I say. But uh, if there are any homeowners in here, feel free to share a question.

Uh, even if I can't answer it between these guys, we'll be able to get an answer for you. so feel free to throw a question or two in our chat. It is a live chat Before we do get any questions though, feel free to throw them in there when when you do get them. But I did Want to start out tonight with a with a little bit of a I don't know a game each week I Want to start throwing in a few different things to kind of break our shows up a little bit.

And to start out if everybody, it looks like we've got almost 20 people in here. If you could, just share where you're located in the country? if you don't mind I don't even know if I'm a legally allowed you know? uh I don't know if that's against the rules. So I remember playing a video game years ago where you could not ask that? so maybe I'm not allowed to ask that. But if you don't mind sharing where you are? uh, especially Josh your mic has made to talk into the side not the top as you are now.

uh Gary does this sound better because that's the change I made I was watching a video where that it was actually showing me the opposite so it was showing me that I do need to talk into it this way so if you guys can hear me okay I think this is the way I need to be using it now because I had done away with this mic. If you guys Tech junk you might remember a few weeks ago I had posted or I had asked you guys did I sound better with this mic or the simple little mic on my airpods and you said the airpods sounded better but I did some testing this week with this microphone and realized I should be talking into it like this. So if if I'm if I sound okay I'm gonna leave it like this I think um Metcon RX he's a good friend of mine. guys.

if you are, if any of you guys see him in the chat right there, go to his channel and um subscribe. He knows way more than anybody I know about health stuff and I don't mean just like how to work out I mean like right down to the type of vitamins you should be taking if you are dealing with a certain type of health issue. So Metcon RX definitely subscribe to his channel. He just popped up on our chat right there.

He's a good friend of mine, but uh Ryan says you I'm in Virginia So if you guys are asking where I'm located, I'm in I'm on the coast near Williamsburg Virginia about an hour north of Williamsburg in a small town um, and a small town you've never heard of. it's called Hartfield but it's near Williamsburg If you know where that is, that's probably the closest closest city that anyone has heard of that's near us. So great We've got some folks from Michigan North Carolina Texas Kentucky uh and then of course John's in Blacksburg Nice. Um Gary do I sound okay I did want to ask you that way.

do I sound okay right now on the microphone. Um yeah. So I was one that I wanted to ask where everyone was located. so if you haven't put in there, please do where you're located.

um I wanted to ask because have you heard of the great reset I don't think I have um or maybe I haven't I'm not remembering it but I Was wondering if there was anybody outside our country that uh, was on tonight because um, we have had a little bit of that we've had when I look at my analytics, we get some folks that look at our stuff and they're not actually in the U.S and the reason I even care is I don't know that any of my stuff is even relevant outside of the US. You know if I do a video I don't Usually you know some of our stuff is just simply inaccurate. If they were to be watching our where, he's all my conspiracies. but now you now.

You got me intrigued. Great Reset. All right. The Great Reset Now you got me to end this.

Rabbit Hole The Great Reset The World Economic Forum This is an urgent need for Global stakeholders to cooperate and simultaneously managing the direct consequences of the Covid-19 crisis to improve the state of the world. The World Economic Forum is starting the Great Reset initiative. Interesting. Well, all right then.

I Um I I I Do like to late night. you know you're hanging out with some friends I like to chat about some some conspiracies I don't know much about this one, but uh, that's funny. a lot of a lot more. Ryan says a lot more HVAC Channels are now having live streams of podcasts.

Would you ever be a guest on one of those or have you been asked before I have not been asked before I'm not really in the fraternity yet I Don't know if I ever will be, but um I do know that there are some heat and air guys that for whatever reason don't like my content. they I am very careful I It's weird because I don't do any DIY stuff I'm careful about that just because you know a lot of homeowners think it's because I care about the money. If you're not in my coverage area, you're not affecting my money anyway if you do. DIY So I've got a like, a little bit of, uh, dry skin psoriasis going on my eye tonight.

but um I don't do DIY stuff because I actually don't think it's safe for homeowners to be doing some stuff. Now if you're smarter than the average homeowner then you know. Fine, but it's interesting that a lot of the heating and air guys that get upset with me I actually had a guy threaten me. He emailed me because I gave out a thermostat code I put I gave out how to get get into the programming of an eight a Honeywell 8000 one time.

So a lot of guys don't like my stuff. Um, and because of that because of that I'm not quite in their fraternity I think which is fine, but what's interesting is a lot of those guys that might be upset with me about that will do videos on actual technical stuff on their channels or watch other guys that are on their channels. Who you know they'll say. Well, this is that.

you know my videos are for other Pros you. but my my question is, you don't think homeowners are watching that. You know to me your stuff's more DIY than mine is I'm just trying to give out. You know some information that you know that might help a homeowner, right? That's why our channel is called HVAC God for homeowners.

So I don't know? um I don't know if it's you know that or maybe it's just that my channel ain't big enough yet. but for whatever reason I'm not in the fraternity. uh I I You know maybe we will someday. So um John thanks for your thank you for your uh, kind words there.

Cool little Krauss your stuff is fine Thanks pal. Ryan says I would like to hear your story about how you got in the business. that's why I asked about your podcast stuff. So Ryan I have an interesting story on how I got in the business.

Uh, because the trade school that I went to when I was in high school I started in high school and then I continued at that trade school for two years after I graduated high school. and the interesting thing about that particular trade school is they do not have heating and air classes. They all. they only had electrician classes.

You know they had other stuff too like computers and masonry and things like that. but they did not have heating and air classes. So what? I have picked to do heating and air from the get-go anyway I don't know. Um, but I I'm just saying that that I went to school to actually be an electrician which today I think actually helps me because a lot of heating and air guys start out you know, as a helper doing duct work and things like that and they work their way up to what you know.

Whatever it is they work their way up to whether it be a business owner or a service tech or whatever it is they work up to. um but because I had the electrical background I once I learned how to braise and Refrigeration side of things I was golden right? Anyway, make a long story short, chasing jobs I Ended up at a plumbing company for a while after doing electric work for five years and then I ended up at a company that did all three. So we did heat and air, plumbing and electrical and that's how I fell into it and I fell in love with doing uh, heating and air. The company I was at had a lot of contracts with customers that had boilers.

so I learned how to how a boiler worked and how to work on a boiler way before I even knew how a heat pump worked I remember the first time I I already knew how to do steam boilers and you know I was I'd worked my way up a little bit and I remember laying my laying eyes on on a reversing valve for the first time. This guy was like, you know, um, that this right here is why this is a heat pump and not a straight AC and I'm like what and so that's my story. so uh, one thing led to another became a you know, of course you know worked my way up there, became the service manager and then three years later started my own business. So um I watch your videos and other guys to educate myself and how to explain what's wrong with my system and to ensure I don't get taken advantage of.

That's my goal. You know there are some really good apples in our our industry but unfortunately there's probably just as many if not more bad apples. and because of that, um you know it it. I remember when I started doing YouTube my whole goal was to help homeowners when I saw a lot of other channels making heat and air videos for other heating and air guys I honestly don't even know if I'm qualified to do that right? I don't know if I'm you know I don't know why somebody would want to watch me fix an air conditioner over.

You know, some of these guys that have even more experience than I do. But I did see a need where I thought we could do videos like this where we can help you guys. You know that if it's a homeowner in the heat and air you know Market Looking to buy a system maybe I could help them out a little bit and that's how it all got started. So let's see Josh I would be happy to connect contact you via your page being in audio tech I would be happy to help.

By the way, this is your mitsuga for Massachusetts Okay, sounds good man. I'm always open to suggestions I actually looked at microphones this past week which is what made me realize I was using this one incorrectly because I was looking at getting one of those extremely expensive uh sure microphones that a lot of the other guys use and so then I started looking at this microphone and realized like I say I thought I was doing her I found out I was doing it wrong. So Ryan I do have another uh he I do have another. well I don't have any other.

oh sorry, that's not what you're asking I'm sorry. do I watch any other HVAC channels? Yes I do um I watched several others actually. um I don't know if I have any that I particularly watch regularly right now, but I have watched a ton I've watched of course all of Brian or stuff or not all but a lot of Brian Orr stuff but I like to I I like watching them all I'll sometimes just you know if it's just me in front of the TV late night and the wife is falling asleep I'll just flip it on YouTube and you know I um I don't know I'm not gonna mention any names, but there's a couple guys that I like to watch just because they're entertaining and um you know I'll sometimes watch their stuff just because it's interesting. So do I sell package systems? So I don't know what part of the country you're in Emory I know you've been on our channel before, so I'm sorry I don't remember exactly where you're located but uh, in my state or at least in my area.

Um, the package units are all all on the ground. So I know out on the west coast there's a lot of package units on roofs. Um, here we do have package units, but they're all on the ground or some of them might be up on platforms. so I've seen some guys do that.

They'll mount a platform, set the package unit, and then run the duct underneath of it like it was a um rooftop unit. Uh, weird. I that's not how I would do it. But we do have package units here.

We have gas packs, we have heat pumps, and I don't think it's a huge Market but I would say it's probably a a really good 10 or maybe more of folks have package units in our area, especially in homes that you know they didn't have enough room in the crawl space for, you know? Uh, you know to me, there there's enough room to run duct work, but there's not enough room to actually have your furnace or air handler down there. So they'll you know, set a package unit outside these days. I don't even know that I would look at that I would I would maybe even consider some of these you know either. small duct High Velocity units or of course Mini Splits you know? I I Do think that that might be an Antiquated way of doing things, but every house is different so you know there's exceptions to every rule.

There's homes that didn't have enough room in the crawl space. you know that for a regular air handler. But these days you know you could put a you know, a pancake air handler for a mini split under there. But then you ask, you know I already know what some of you heat and air guys are thinking.

well yeah, but how are you going to service it? How's Josh's fat? you know, tail gonna get under there? You're probably right. It probably wouldn't get service very well. right? if it wasn't installed, you know, correctly. All right.

Uh, we've got over 20 people in here. now. if you've got a heat and air question, feel free to share that. um, we're here to answer any of your questions.

In the meantime, while we're waiting for that, I'll throw another question at you guys. Uh, here's a good one. What kind of thermostat do you have and what do you like and not like about it? So I'll go first so share what kind of thermostat you have in your house on your system. Good or bad, just share and and what do you like or what do you not like about that thermostat I have the Honeywell 8000 on both floors I'm getting I'm thinking of switching to the Cincy 2 just because I think it's a good looking thermostat.

but I do have eight thousands on each floor right now I used to have a 9 000 downstairs and an 8 000 upstairs, but um now I just have eight thousands I Love the eight thousand. Uh, you know the they used to have the old like I don't know how to describe it like dark, dark green eight thousands, right? and then they switched to these. uh, easier to set up. eight thousands that are have a lighter green screen and I can do a lot of things with that 8 000 that a lot of these real expensive thermostats can't do.

For example, you can put an outdoor temperature sensor on it and mount it with a dual fuel system, you know? But I remember the old 8000s, they were one of the first ones that you could throw batteries in them and still connect to Wi-Fi And you know there were times where we were. We even had customers that had like you know RV ACS with you know Park Model ACS with you know instead of having DC voltage, going to the thermostat had Ac voltage and we could do a park mod or we could do a 8 000 with batteries in it on there. you know, um or no with the DC stuff is why you would need the one with it with batteries. That's right.

So Ryan says what's your favorite daikon system to install and which is the hardest to install. Well the hardest I would probably say or at least one of the more complicated ones if you don't know what you're doing is the Vrv life or really any of the Vrv stuff and what's what can be complicated about. it is not just all the rough Nets but also you know making sure that you know they could. Some of them can be a little complicated, you know as far as your communication wiring and you know all your zoning and stuff.

So the Vrv life what my favorite one is is probably the fit. We love the fit. Um, so that's that's pretty easy too. I would only install I would only install Mini Splits and fits if I could.

but every every homeowner is different, right? Um, check out the Electro Voice 320 I Use it with my ham radio station, the broadcast version and many YouTube channels use the re20. Interesting Emery says I have a Linux programmable thermostat, but the programs are tough to manage Emery Is that a uh Is that a communicating thermostat? I'm just curious. Um Ryan has the nests the non-learning model Nice. Uh Ryan Do you like your nest? Are you a nest lover? Some P I feel like there's no gray area with the nest.

Some people love them and some people hate them. But anyway, they also the Honeywell 8000 also I9 and then John says mine says Honeywell but can't tell which model. there's a lot of them out there. John there's a we already had probably I don't know 30 or 40 models and that was before the T-Series So now they have all these new T-Series thermostats and and then they got the lyric you know so Honeywell does have a lot of options Emery says it's the standard one.

so I wonder if I I don't know which one you have but I wonder if you have I know train an American Standard Did this for a while where they were taking some of the Honeywell thermostats and just putting a you know a train or American Standard sticker on there. So I wonder if the off weight model? um so I wonder if it's actually you know, like like a Honeywell or something like that and then you know Linux just rebranded it or licensed it. What is your opinion on Ecobee? Honestly, if I'm honest about the Ecobee I think the Ecobee is Also, there are some a lot of lovers of the Ecobee out there. I I Actually I think it's a good looking thermostat most of the ecobee's but I actually think they're They're majoring in the minors on a lot of their features, especially a lot of their smart features.

Um, now if it saves you a buck, fine. but I had a customer that I don't know what the setting was or something, but they had it connected to their power company in some way and it was not allowing them to run their second stage Heat and it also would shut the system down after now. we had a if any of you guys I know John's in Virginia We had a very cold spell this year around Christmas on Christmas Eve Me and two of my guys were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. get doing a bunch of heat calls I Mean it was.

it was, it was crazy horrible and you know this lady called us and the problem was the Ecobee said your system has ran for too long, it's ran for two hours straight and so we're shutting the there's something wrong and we're shutting it down and I'm like it's cold. don't shut the system down and I finally talked her it was a system we put in and but her power company gave her a deal on these ecobee's and so she we put those in and anyway we took them out, put some eight thousands in and have never heard back from her. She's in a good way. She's been very happy ever since, so that's other than that.

I Do think the Ecobee's look very nice. they unlike a lot of these other expensive thermostats. the ecobee is might be one of the few, there's several, but there's but there are also several that you know you spend all this money and it looks like you bought an Atari game. you know, uh, the ecobee.

actually in my opinion, looks like you bought a nice thermostat and I to me that's just my two cents on that. But That's My overall feeling Ryan says I like it. he's still talking about the nest I think the Google home app isn't the best, but I haven't had any issues with it missing missing with my AC or furnace. It even told me I had an issue due to a long run time and I found out I had a leak.

Interesting Yeah, so I'm not saying that the long run time is bad in all cases, but you know this lady had long run time because it was actually genuinely cold. You know, outside it was really cold that night. so in Virginia we don't dip below 30 where I live I think John's in the mountains so that's not the case for him. But down here we don't get below 30.

but maybe literally at the most 10 days a year. and this past year we had multiple multiple days below 10 degrees so it was very out of the ordinary for us. Uh Brian likes the Ecobee everything likes the Honeywell Wi-Fi better. Foreign says they have some Nest options Bob says sorry I'm late come on Bob Everything says emergency heat when it's that cold.

Yep Gary says Ecobee my buddy in Rhode Island just had a new carrier gas furnace AC system with those stats one on each floor of his condo. Loves them. So far awesome, good enough. They are very good looking thermostats.

I I Would probably say if we went on looks alone. um and we weren't talking about any of the communicating stuff. so we took out the you know trains 10 50 and you know some of these other thermostats that have. You know these other folks that have good looking communicating thermostats.

um and we only focused on the ones that you could you know go to Home Depot and buy. um I would say Ecobee is probably one of the top ones I mean they have a good looking you know thermostat Ryan says what new or soon to be releasing HVAC technology are you looking forward to the most in the future? um I I don't know that anybody I mean I Know that there's a few companies dabbling with some new stuff, but I think everybody is working mostly on this new refrigerant stuff. So I I would I Would guess that over the next 12 to 24 months we're not going to see anything super profound hit the market. um, technology wise because I think all these companies are switching here in the US to the A2o refrigerants.

um so that's I think I Feel like that's where most of their focus is right now and I would be real surprised if you see a whole lot like I know Daikin has a new little thermostat coming out that works with their Mini Splits and it it's you know, easily connectable to the Wi-Fi Um, and you know I went to Ahr so I know that there were a few other brands coming out with some new stuff but nothing like I think one. what was it I wanted to say it was there were one of the many split. Brands was coming out with some super high efficient mini split. it had a real high sear rating, you know, so maybe that's but you know I I I don't focus on that stuff as much I would rather have a happy customer at the end of the day and I focus Less on that sometimes and more on performance.

you know? So that's honestly why we sell Daikin because they you know they did better than some of the other brands that we installed. With the low ambient temperatures when it would get super cold outside, some of the many splits were rendered useless and so that's that's one of the reasons that we were even looking when it came time. Um, let's see Brian says I've put in over 300 new refrigerant is not going to be an issue. Lower pressure is good I don't know that the pressures are going to be that much lower I don't know about R54b.

Um, but I know R32 is significa or somewhat similar to 410. Um, it's not going to be that dramatic of a difference. I think it runs a I think this: the temperatures run warmer than 410. Um, at least that's what I was reading.

But the pressures themselves. you know, operating pressures are not that dramatically different. So I I haven't I haven't laid hands on one yet? Maybe? uh, you know, maybe if that guy from Australia that jumps on sometimes just happens to jump one, he can tell us. But I do know this.

you guys that have been doing heating and air for a while, you remember how easy R22 was to work with I mean R22 you would almost kind of like I could darn near just get the suction pressure where I wanted it on a hot day I could get that suction pressure around 38 to 42 somewhere in that range and especially with a piston. And if you got it in that range on super heat you're you know you're you would be running well. you know it would cool right? I'm not saying it was perfect I'm not saying your sub cool was perfect but it would My, you know we all had that old boss that would say beer can cold and it was just significantly easier to work with. it was I Remember having co-workers that didn't even know how to do a sub cool measurement when 410A came out and they had to learn or they didn't last.

we kept having callbacks on their stuff because they didn't know what they were doing and so I wonder if R32 is going to be the same way? you know it's gonna. it's gonna be a little more forgiving for these guys that don't know what they're doing. Maybe I mean maybe that's not the right way to say it. Maybe it's more like it's going to perform better because I felt like R22 performed better than 410 and not just because the pressures were lower, it was just simply performed better.

You just you know you could get that thing dialed in and I mean I remember having houses man you could have a delta T of well above 20 degrees you know and the water just dumping out of that. you know I don't think there's anybody in this trade that when 410A came out they were ex they were like oh this is so much easier to work with I don't I don't know I don't know who that would be, but you know it'll be interesting to see when these new refrigerants come out. you know? I Do think that R32 is going to be just more forgiving? You know, because it's a single refrigerant. it's not blend, it's not Blended so I could be wrong, but I'm just guessing Louis Thank you for your kind words.

Just had a new train system installed last week put in the Heiress air scrubber instead of the traditional UV Etc Do you have any thoughts on my choice? Yeah, I mean I think that as long as it's installed right? I think you know we don't We don't do the air scrubbers uh, per se at our company, but I don't really have a good supplier for those, but we will do the app code sometimes and it's It's still some sort of air cleaner using UVC technology. and I assume that you know the air scrubber. Let me look it up real quick before I go to too far down that rabbit hole. Um uh, the air scrubber maybe you guys might know is it is it just a UVC or does it have any ionized Uh has been proven 90 99 percent? Yeah.

I Can't tell from their website, but I they might have some ionizing going on there too. but I'm assuming it has a UVC light in there. Um, of course because I'm on a live show, they they don't want to just be outright with it, right? Oh, it just says that it. It says that it attaches directly to the HVAC system ductwork and reduces viruses, bacteria, and other contaminants in the ambient air and on surfaces while the HVAC fan is running.

So yeah, I don't know. Maybe it uses ionizing. Uh, but either way you know. I'm a big fan of that stuff.

I I became a big fan of UV lights because of an actual experience, not because someone told me to become a fan. I had a customer that we had an M coil that we could not get it clean no matter how well we tried to clean it and we put a UV light on there shining directly on all that black Gunk and went back six months later to do his uh, annual tune-up and it was shiny as a nickel in there. So I became a believer that day. If a company installed a system that is ineffective and they are open to fixing the issues, what is a normal recourse swapping out the unit I don't know if there is a normal.

So I just talked to a guy the other day who told me that they have replaced multiple systems because the customer just wanted it. You know that they they were having an issue and the customer said I spent all this money and it's not right and I just want a whole new unit And my only issue with that is you know why is the system not working right? Just because the customer says I want a new unit? Maybe the issue isn't even with the unit. Maybe we need to look at the duct work. Maybe we need to look at something else.

Maybe there's a reason why that brand new unit isn't operating correctly. Maybe it's just the installation and now you're going to put a new unit in and have the same install team make the same mistakes. So I don't know if there is a norm out there I think every company handles things differently and I told him I was like we have never had to give a new unit since I started Griffin Air Now have we had units fail and under warranty? the manufacturer give us a new unit for one reason or another? Yes. But I've never put in a unit and and we've had it units that had issues.

That's why we don't sell certain brands anymore, but we've never had to do that before. Of course you always you know you always want the customer to be happy and if that ever, you know if you just absolutely had to do something to to make that happen then maybe that's different. But he was telling me that they had done it like multiple multiple times and I'm like geez I would fire my install crew if I had to do that. you know that would be horrible.

Coil temps run warmer with four 410 um I I don't know if it's the coil temperature necessarily. The a guy from Australia was telling me that the head pressure on the R32 ran warmer saturation temperatures is what I think he said um but I haven't really Dove that far into it as far as PT charts and stuff because it doesn't really matter right now to me, until until I can actually install one, we're in Virginia They have not approved A2l refrigerants here yet. Um so as soon as they do, I'll be first in line to to grabbing one of those units. Um I would not want to be first in line grabbing the R454b units because they're not proven they're They're brand new to the market.

Just my two cents. You may not agree, but R32 is not new. It's being used in hundreds of countries. um, across the world.

maybe not hundreds I Don't want to say anything inaccurate, but more than one. Whereas R454b, you're going to be guinea pigs if you're first in line. you know just my my two cents on that. We also had crappy gauges and no temperature probes.

That's true. What was the temperature? Pro back then Brian Uh, my old York from 1992 installed used R22 The coil was still on top of my Heil furnace. saw the tag marked as such Nice a 92. How old is that? That's like what? 31 years old? That's pretty crazy good for you.

Did I do my math right. 2000 Yeah, 31 years old? How long should a properly sized AC run in order to remove humidity? Uh, too many variables to answer that. Emery It depends on how hot the humidity is. Um, you know I've seen houses to get that temperature down and it, you know the system is sized correctly or maybe even a little undersized and it might run a little longer, but it'll drop that humidity dramatically.

Can you have H Ahri matches across Brands Yes Ryan The answer to that question is yes. like if I wanted to do a dual fuel system for Mitsubishi and they don't have a furnace and I don't get one from another brand and I have to get one from another brand. The answer is yes Now I don't know if any would match that specific situation, but there are cross-brand Ahri matches and I'll give you a couple examples. mobile home furnaces would be one.

um small duct High Velocity units would be one. um there are some brands that don't make outdoor units so like I Just saw uh I just did a video where I just I literally went on Ahr and pulled up the first certificate I could find and I just typed in Daikin as the brand and grabbed the very first one that was not three phase and it happened to be matched with an Aspen brand coil. So the answer is yes, they they do have H or A-h-r-i matches across brands Brian says I am not a big fan don't hate Uncle Fester says my Ecobee works great on my two-stage system. It was free from the power company and the latest firmware update made the fonts larger on the screen and so many new features On the app.

that's awesome! Tech Junkie says that's not how HR works. Um, properly sized should run non-stop when at design temperature or above. Um, we called it. You guys hearing me read your comments sometimes is probably.

uh, unbearable. Well, nice. Um so yeah. yeah.

Ecobee lovers there. We had a couple business lovers, had a had a few Honeywell lovers I like it. a little little difference in everybody and and then the one Linux person. All right here we go.

Here's one for you. This plays off of the air scrubber question: Do you have any indoor air quality products in your current system? So you guys that you know whether you're in the trade or not, do you have any end or air quality products? Now we already had one person say they had an air scrubber? Um, the rest of you. Do you have any indoor air quality products in your system and I'd love to hear what you have and what you think of it. Have you noticed the difference after installing them or have you just simply always had them? In the meantime? I'm going to go ahead and try to pull up um our other email that you guys send questions to.

One thing I Forgot to tell you guys tonight. today's my birthday. Um so it was actually a really nice birthday. My wife and daughter made me brownies which I've been trying to eat healthy so that was nice.

Um let's see I'm trying to pull up. okay I know I Had one question come in from you guys this past week one our other website and I'm trying to find that right now. Bear with me I'm just going through all these emails I'm not seeing it right now. Oh happy Birthday Thanks guys I appreciate it um I played a mean joke on my mom.

My mom called me today and sang happy birthday and I told her she was a day late. oh that was very mean and she goes really and I was like yeah and today's the 26th and she said really I was like no I'm just playing thank you thank you for calling uh Ryan says when do you need an evaporator coil if you have a furnace and straight AC only when do you need an evaporator coil if you have a furnace and straight AC only I'm not sure what you mean by that Ryan uh I'm not sure what you mean by when do you need the coil I Guess the answer is in the summer so if it's the straight AC is running and you have the evaporator coil so you would need it in the summer I think as the answer to your question. Um, so you would not need it in the winter. um Tech Junkie says I have two 20 by 25 by two Merv 13 filters.

Well there you go. Brian has an April air filter. nice I have one too I like I like my April layer I actually do think it's worth it. Um I am an Aprilaire believer and I have the the you know the newer style but even the old school ones that had the Combs you know they were they were kind of Cutting Edge at the time you know they had that those long.

you know if you if you were to stretch that that filter out Gary says Josh Too funny that York System ran in until two years ago. bad leak shutdown removed Mitsubishi split system as primary heat Source Now just received my rebate on the second unit which was nice. Pretty cool. Um Ryan You can't have an evaporator coil without an AC Correct.

So the evaporator coil is essentially the coil that's inside, especially on a straight AC system. Um yeah, no. John I Didn't say anything. Uh, you guys were rolling on some pretty important stuff so I didn't say anything.

So April birthday Aries I think I'm a Taurus I'm not really into all that stuff but I think I think it's I think April 25th is a Taurus So so anyway anybody got any heat and air questions? feel free to jump in there and my our questions we just asked our community question was do you have any indoor air quality products? Do you like them? Have you noticed a difference? People do ask me from time to time especially when we're talking them about certain products is what do you have in your home I Currently have an April layer, I have a an eye wave and I have a UV light. So I think they all three do something different and I think they they all serve a purpose and you know. So that's why I have all three. Lewis says speaking of an April layer, what is the best way to determine when the element needs to be changed? What is the best way to determine when the element needs to be changed? All right I'm not sure what you're talking about.

All right if you're talking about the media in the filter, um, it usually tells you so. I think most April air filters you need to be replacing the media every 12 months, but in some we do. We have homeowners that that need to change them every six months. Um so that just because they have, whatever the reason is, you know they have more traffic or they smoke, or they have dogs or whatever the reason is.

but we do have customers that have to replace them more often. Um Louis If you're talking about something else, just elaborate a little bit. I'm not actually sure what you're talking about Ryan says I meant is an evaporator coil only needed with straight AC installs? Or they need it for heat pumps too. Yes, they are needed for heat pumps too.

I Got it now. Thank you! Yeah, so uh, the evaporator coil is the indoor coil. But when you install a heat pump, believe it or not, it becomes in the grand scheme of things because heat pump systems run backwards. It technically becomes the condensing coil in the uh, winter time.

And that's because in the winter time, it's removing heat from outside and putting it into your home. So technically it becomes the condensing coil. But most folks, if you say the evaporator coil, if you say to them, hey, I need a new evaporator coil they think you're talking about the indoor coil typically. oh, um Tech Junkie says a filter pressure gauge.

Interesting, much light and loves as we have an IQ air purifier not one hour unit. Nice! Doug says can you describe the sequence of events during an oil return cycle on a ducted mini split system? By the way, you sound great thanks Doug I Just that's what we've been talking about earlier. I'm doing this new thing with my microphone so that's great I'm glad to hear that. Um, can you describe the sequence of events during an oil return cycle? So I I Don't pretend to be Brian Orr I Don't know if I'm qualified to answer exactly what exactly you're asking here? Um I Don't know if I even know the sequence events, but here here's what: I Do know I Do know that some Mini Splits um, they have stipulations on how you need to run the line sets and not just Mini Splits but some systems in general.

they want you to run the line sets up before that you run them down in certain situations. Uh, another thing with mini splits is your metering device is going to be located in the outdoor and that brings up its own set of challenges. one of them being you don't check the refrigerant like you would on a typical heating and air system and in fact a lot of Brands you can't There is not even a place for you to connect a high pressure gauge and if there is, if there is a like a some sort of you know location that you can connect that red hose on your gauges, it's usually somewhere inside you've got to take the covers off and and get up in there to you know to do that. Uh, I think Ultimately, I'm not sure why you're asking this question.

Um, maybe you're just trying to stump me and then I'll just let you know that's not hard to do. but um, I Do think that you know as long as whenever we've had any kind of issues that you know whether it was something to do with, you know some sort of you know operation of the system. the first thing I'll always do is go to those instructions, go to the manual, and make sure everything was installed to specs and if it did need something such as the line sets to run UPS run uphill or something like that to make sure that I did make that happen Emery says what is the purpose of the outdoor fan when it comes to removing heat from the home? So it's only purpose if you're talking about uh, the fan that's located in the outdoor condenser is to pull air across that coil. So um I think that they've realized that it may have not always been the best design, right? You know? Now we've got these side discharge units that seem to operate a little better.

I think I mean there might be somebody that might argue and say it doesn't operate better, but it definitely makes more things happen with a smaller unit. Let's put it that way: Brian says mine every two years a one ton load April layer Nice. So I mean that's these days you're looking at 25 bucks a year. I mean that's less than what you would be spending on probably disposable filters, so that's good.

Much light and love says my eye. my IQ air filters are three hundred dollars. Wow. um Brian says this Probably sounds like the unit ramping up for a few minutes I never hurt hear it.

Plug in the Bluetooth checker um Georgia Marine or is it just GA for Griffin air GA Marine Speaking of side discharge, having an HM H7 installed on Thursday Fingers crossed. they will be good units. So Hm H7 let's look that up. Hmh.

Okay, so we that's oh, that's the York side discharge units. Let us know how that goes pal. Uh, up to 18 Seer Um, you guys that are in the trade is this actually a York manufactured product? or did York just uh Rebrand another, uh another, you know a piece of equipment Um I have not laid hands on one of these yet Doug says East Central Missouri nice I've never been to Missouri someday though I love to travel myself. That's probably the one thing that I'd you know I don't have a lot of vices I don't have too many hobbies but I do like to travel from time to time I'm a weird traveler though I like to do stuff my wife I drive my wife nuts because we'll go places and she wants to, You know, go relax on the beach for example and I'm like okay, well this was nice.

Now what are we gonna do? Can we roll a TV out here? You know they need to set up some corn holes or something on the beach. You know, at least get me a frisbee out here. We got to do something. you know, just laying on the beaches.

Not my thing I look like a beach whale? Uh let's see we are coming up on 9 30. isn't Missouri the show Me state LOL I Have no idea I don't know what that means I'm just reading I'm going back to your original message Doug and then you said you're in Missouri um yeah so I guess uh we'll wait until see if another question comes in here, but in the meantime I um I do have a few other things. I've got a few other questions I can throw at you guys but I wanted to uh, throw a couple things out there while I've got you know before we wrap up tonight. Oh, they need all the help they can get.

Um, so the first thing is I wanted to take a moment to um in each each week and just kind of plug a few you know folks that we are working with or have worked with one of those being of course Daikin that's you know, probably the folks that I work with the most closely. I've done a few videos on them recently and I you know we do have a few more coming up as well. Um, but I I did I did had somebody? uh you know they were. Let's see if I can move the right way.

So this is my website right here new HVAC God And so the idea of the website is. you know, having a place that homeowners if they're in the market for a heating and air system they can go. Uh, they could sign up for it and I wrote basically wrote a guide. You know that they could follow and try to avoid some of the problems or pitfalls that a lot of homeowners run into.

I do charge money for it. It's as if I wrote a book and I charge about what a book would cost and it's I don't know how many steps are in there, but it's probably close to 20. you know, 20 different pages chock full of information and you know, trying to help folks through that process. and I think we're coming up.

We're getting close to a thousand people that have signed up for that since it first launched, so that's pretty cool. Um, and you know we've had, you know some success with that. I have one guy that I'm helping right now that he is renovating a house and uh, I always like to Google Map the house whenever I get that? So I'll you know I'll go actually two and just kind of see. You know what? What are we up against? Is this a big house? Is it a small house? You know, are they doing mini splits that when they maybe should be doing furnaces? Or you know things like that.

So I'll sometimes do that. but he's uh, gutting this house and you know we're supposed to actually get on the phone tomorrow and kind of go through some of this stuff. but he's already gotten a few quotes and um, you know, uh, some of you guys just jumped on here. Our number just shot up so if you have any heat and air questions, feel free to put those in the chat and we'll try to answer those.

um another thing that we have on that website that I don't talk about enough I don't think is I wanted a place where uh if you wanted to check your warranty so if you were a homeowner and you know whether the heat and Air company registered it for you or they you know didn't whether they uh you know if maybe you have had a problem and now it's time to have have a warranty claim, have someone honor that warranty. I Wanted to have a place that no matter what brand you have, you would be able to go to this one place and click a link, click a couple other links. you wouldn't have to do a lot of hunting around and so whether you now I will say there are a few Brands Linux Being one of them that has made it tougher on you guys to look up your own warranty so they made it to where you have to be a pro to look up the warranty. My issue with that is uh you.

you could have a company lying to you. You could have a heating and air company say to you that your unit is no longer under warranty and if you can't find the paperwork or you were never given the paperwork, that's a problem, right? And so a lot of these other brands homeowner Pro Anybody could look up that unit and make sure it's still under warranty. Um, so anyway, the point is, you could go to our website new Hvacguide.com scroll all the way to the bottom and click. check your warranty and no matter what brand you have, unless you have one of these brands that has made it tougher on you, you'll be able to look up your own warranty.

All you got to do in a lot of cases is just punch in your serial number and you'll be able to get you know exactly what your current warranty coverage is in a lot of cases. So that was the the whole point of that. Emory Says how does a modulating furnace work and would you recommend it. So ultimately, a modulating furnace? Works Similar to a a variable speed motor and that is you know, with a normal with a normal valve.

So if you had just a single stage valve, the valve would either open so gas could you know flow freely through there or close right. And then you have staged valves where they're open or there may be half open. Things like that, a lot of those uh valves might have. you know, a first stage, second stage kind of deal.

A modulating valve is going to modulate. It's going to at times you know, barely be. You know, pushing any gas through there and then in other times open, wide open and the hope and dream is obviously that you would save some money on it. I I Have heard mixed feedback I Just had one of you guys one one of the folks uh, watching our videos tell me that they did not see a significant savings when they purchased a modulating furnace.

Now maybe they had a 96 AFU furnace and they only went up to 97 and it's now modulating and they were just expecting this dramatic drop in their utility bills. Um, have a good night Marine Thanks for serving our country. um and hap, thanks for the happy birthday. Um but anyway, so the modulating uh the the point in the hope and dream is that you would save a little bit of money on your gas bills is the hope and dream there Phillip says uh oh and and do I recommend them? Yes I mean I I think they're great I especially if you're pairing it with a high efficiency furnace.

I Would think that you would want to go ahead and go with a modulating valve, a communicating system. All that good stuff Philip says is there any option to replace those flat First Company Air Handlers Is there any options? Uh, if you can elaborate if you're talking about the first company units that had the hydro coils I'm I'm guessing that's what you're talking about. Um, there are some other brands out there that sell hydrocoil units. Um, let's see flat first air handle there.

Oh oh oh no no no you're talking about. Think you might be talking about according to Google here. Uh, are are you talking about the um, the old school you know, pancake looking Air Handlers that just has the two exposed squirrel cages. Are you talking about a wall hung closet? air handler? Uh, just want to make sure I'm getting your verbiage right here.

It's an HX Series So let's try that. HX First company air handler. Yeah, okay, never run. Yes.

So to answer a question, Goodman makes I know Goodman makes one of these. Um, who else makes them I don't know. but I do know Goodman makes one of these and there probably is some other companies out there that makes them too. but um, yeah, so makes juice.

In fact, we've installed a few. we installed. we installed, um, a bunch of those in some storage units. So the the folks had a bunch of conditioned.

um you know I forget the verbiage that they use. but y'all know what? I'm talking about the self storage units that are, um, what do they call it? That's uh, it's got the you know, the heating and cooling units. They keep them at a a reasonable temperature. It never gets extreme in there.

Forget what they're called conditioned storage units. maybe I don't know. Um, but anyway, we installed some of the the Goodman version of those. uh in there and they work I've never heard back from those people.

Uh, in about in a good way, you know. I'm actually Facebook Friends with their daughter and uh, climate Control? There you go Tech Junkie man, You always, you're just the man. Um, but yeah, they worked great and again I'm I'm Facebook friends with their daughter. So I'm sure she would have said something if there was an issue.

Um Ryan says I have a one-story home with ducks in the attic for indoors. I Also have ducks in my encapsulated crawl space with three vents. Is it a good idea for one unit to have ducks on multiple levels with one floor home? It just depends. Every home is different.

I Mean that does sound odd I'm not gonna lie. um I'm sure when it comes time to maybe even replace that system, it might even be in your best interest. depending on what state you're in to look at. putting everything in that conditioned encapsulated crawl space.

I Assume it's conditioned and if it's not, you could make it conditioned it. You know you could literally just put some vents down there. Now you want to do it right. Have somebody that knows what they're doing, do it.

But if it's an encapsulate a properly encapsulated crawl space, putting everything in there, you would probably save money on your energy bills. You know? get all that stuff out of your attic and you know, shoot some more insulation up there and then put everything in your encapsulated crawl. But again, there's its condition with Vince Nice. Um, but again, there's exceptions to every rule.

Don't take my word for that. Get a pro in there that knows what they're doing. Um, you know I think even Brian Orr's done some videos on that where he talks about you know, guys getting in there and throwing insulation around and they don't know what they're doing and causing issues. So, but in general I would say generally getting your indoor unit out of that oven of an attic, put it again in the crawl, and um, you know, increasing your insulation you would probably see quite a, uh, quite a savings on your utility bills.

That's the thing with a lot of our customers. They got these units and you know they had some thank you for that. Philip Philip Just gave me a tip there I Really appreciate that. Um, but we have customers that will.

You know? Um, you know have these units that have long runs and they're not insulated real well. The duct works not and they're literally sitting in a hot attic. They're in an oven, you know? I'll tell them your your unit is in an oven and it's doing all it can you know. Um, thanks Phillip Appreciate the kind words and the tip.

Um, no vents to the outside. the vents are from the ductwork. John says Josh Any experience with powered air filters like the fan Tech Hero attaches directly to the return plant plenum. Seems you can put a Merv 16 in this and a lower Merv adjacent to coil.

avoids High static pressures so I am not fan Tech Hero I'm not particularly bear with me fan Tech Hero I Have not installed one of these before. Full transparency I Do have uh, we have one customer that has some HEPA filters that look very similar to this but I don't think they are uh, this brand and um, and they you know they love them. Obviously they have us replace the media in them once a year and John you know they they look like they're priced, you know, pretty high so you know. I I Don't want to give you any opinions based on my inexperience with them.

Um, but if you like them then you know, go for it. um Tech Junkie Have you done a lot of installs with the dike and fit in? Unconditioned addicts? unfortunately? Yes. um I Just had a meeting with my guys this morning and told them we're getting closer to Summer Don't be He-Man get the you know we have poured away. Seas We can get you a little swamp cooler set up, we can get uh, you know, fans something and some of these addicts can get quite warm.

And I've got a few guys that you know they'll just power through and I'm like don't power through I'm I'm your boss and I'm telling you, stay hydrated and let's get you know, let's make that work environment as bearable as possible. If it means a one day job gets pushed into being a two-j two-day job because you took the time to make your work environment safer, you took the time to put drop calls down in the home. you took the time to. you know, just do everything, make sure everything's right and not cut any.

Corners Let's do that instead. is is my you know deal there Jack says relatively unknown here, but a friend of mine just had a dike and heat pump put in train. Wanted too much, they had to change all the controls to marry it to his four-year-old train communicating gas furnace. Interesting.

so he stayed with the train. but he did a dike and heat pump change all the controls to Merit to his four-year-old Interesting. Phillips Says biggest question with your recent video about warranties and Softstar. Since Solar has limited power our inverter systems the only options um I mean I would say yes.

In a lot of cases there are going to be times because of Solar we do have. You know folks that'll do the soft starts. If you can get the the you know the the amp draw low enough to you know have it on your solar system then you know you might do some sort of, you know I know a lot of guys that have generators and things like that. That's when they look real close at these soft starts and things like that.

Um, but of course there's many splits. but of course there's a mini splits an inverter too. at least most of them are. So I I don't know if it's your only option, but it's probably your best option in most cases.

not all, but most I would think Larry says great idea, probably talking to somebody else. they're usually the ones with the good ideas probably. Tech Junkie uh Tech junkie says the solar system should be sized accordingly. Yep, John says for supplied ducks in an unconditioned space, how do you like to insulate again? Every every house is different.

if we do do the bubble wrap I did just say do do we always do the air bubbles and just get that R rating as high as possible. Um, but I actually have a guy that's really good with ductwork. He's been doing this longer than I've been alive and we we actually just talked to him. He's actually finally for the first time in his life taken.

He's taking the foot off the gas and he's just going to work with us a few days a week. Um, so I actually I can't fault the guy for that man. He's been working his guts out for so many years and we're lucky to even I'm blessed to know the guy much less employee him. And anyway, I usually leave all a lot of that stuff up to him.

I'll uh I'll come in and I'll talk to the customer about certain things and they might have something specific. but I even tell them look if Kenny comes in and says it's a better way to do it this or this way or that way. I I don't question that I don't step on his toes. He calls the Final Play and most of our customers know that so and if they have a problem with that, then we usually tell them to call somebody else.

They either want it right or they want somebody else. That's what I always tell my guys Jac