HVAC- Body Works 1 Energy Analysis and Comfort Solutions Inc. Consumers – understanding how an HVAC system works.

HVAC- Body Works 2 An HVAC system contains several major parts. –Each part is designed to perform a simple task, (i.e. heat air, move air, and cool air). –These parts do not know, (or care), if you are comfortable. These parts are dumb – they only heat air, move air, or cool air!!!

HVAC- Body Works 3 To warm up a building will require that the air inside the building be heated, (i.e. heat is added to the air). –This can be accomplished by installing a “furnace” or a “heat pump”. These both will add heat to the air in an HVAC system. –A furnace uses fire to heat the air. –A heat pump absorbs heat from outside and moves it inside to heat the air.

HVAC- Body Works 4 To cool down a building will require that the air inside the building be cooled, (i.e. heat is removed from the air). –This can be accomplished by installing an “air conditioner” or a “heat pump air conditioner”. These both will remove heat from the air in an HVAC system.

HVAC- Body Works 5 After the air is heated or cooled, it must be distributed throughout the building. –This is accomplished by a blower fan, (usually part of the “furnace” or “heat pump air handler” box), and an air distribution system, (also called a duct system). –The blower fan pushes air out of the box, into the duct system, and into different rooms. –The fan also pulls air from the building into the box to be heated or cooled again.

HVAC- Body Works 6 Every part of the HVAC system must be correctly sized to perform properly. –The heating section must produce enough heat, (capacity), to keep the building comfortable. –The cooling section must be able to remove enough heat, (capacity), to keep the building comfortable. –The duct system must be large enough to move a large volume of air inside the building to keep the inside comfortable, and the equipment operating.

HVAC- Body Works 7 Incorrectly sized heating equipment will not perform properly, possibly fail, and greatly reduce the life expectancy of the equipment. –A furnace, or HP air handler, to small for the heat requirements will not keep the building warm. –A furnace, or HP air handler, to large for the duct system will over heat the equipment and fail. –A furnace that is not serviced regularly greatly reduces efficiency, is very dangerous, (possible CO, carbon monoxide, poisoning), and will effect the comfort inside the building, for heating and cooling.

HVAC- Body Works 8 Incorrectly sized cooling equipment will not perform properly, possibly fail, and greatly reduce the life expectancy of the equipment. –An Air Conditioner, (AC), or HP AC, to small for the heat removal requirements will not keep the building comfortable. –An AC system to large for the duct system will not keep the building comfortable, over work the equipment, and probably fail. –An AC system that is not serviced regularly greatly reduces efficiency, is very expensive to operate, and will effect the comfort inside the building, for heating and cooling.

HVAC- Body Works 9 Incorrectly sized duct systems will not perform properly, waste energy, and greatly reduce the life expectancy of the equipment. –Undersized ducts do not move the required volume of air to control temperature. –Undersized ducts create high internal pressures that make the fan work harder and use more energy. –Restricted air flow reduces the heating and cooling capacity of the HVAC equipment. –Undersized duct systems, generally, leak more air into the attic due to higher internal pressures.

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HVAC- Body Works 11 The best way to understand complex equipment is break it down into smaller parts and systems. Using simple analogies of something familiar makes it easy to understand operation and problems. –If an artery is restricted, reduced amounts of blood may get delivered to the body, but will negatively effect proper operation. Restricted ducts do not deliver the proper amounts of air to maintain comfort. –If an artery gets cut, the body looses blood until it is repaired. Ducts that leak, or are disconnected, loose large amounts of energy that the consumer pays for in utility bills, and ducts do not self-repair. –Other system problems can also be diagnosed using the chart on the previous page.