At www.achrnews.com, The NEWS’ Extra Edition page is home to hundreds of online-exclusive service and maintenance, technical, and business management articles. Here are some of the best.
WATER QUALITY GUIDELINES FOR EVAPORATIVE COOLING PRODUCTS
As water evaporates in evaporative cooling equipment, the dissolved solids originally present in the water remain behind and, if not controlled, their concentration will increase rapidly, leading to corrosion, scale, or biological fouling. A proper water treatment program, administered under the supervision of a competent water treatment specialist, is an essential part of routine maintenance to ensure the safe operation and longevity of evaporative cooling equipment as well as other system components.
BTU BUDDY 22: FINDING EXCESS HEAT EXCHANGER SCALE
On a cold day, the dispatcher called Bob and sent him to a home with no heat. Bob arrived at the job and met the homeowner. She explained that the furnace operated all night and stopped running in the early morning. She led Bob to the basement, where the furnace was located. Bob checked the thermostat wires and discovered the thermostat was calling for heat, but the furnace was cold. He removed the cover to the burner section of the furnace and discovered that the burner section had a lot of soot where one of the burners was inserted into the heat exchanger.
ELECTRICAL SAFETY
You use electricity every day of your life, so it’s easy to take it for granted. Yet, electricity is a major cause of injury on the job. A jolt of electricity can hurt you, burn you, knock you unconscious, or kill you. How much electricity will kill you? It’s hard to say. An amount that might just give you a slight shock one time might kill you another time. Damp skin, wet ground, metal-tipped shoes, or a two-handed grip can make even a relatively small amount of electricity fatal. Current as low as 5 milliamps can be dangerous in some cases.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: THE REAL THING
The Alliance to Save Energy’s “Great Energy Efficiency Debate” in Washington, District of Columbia, included a panel called “Keeping U.S. Manufacturing Globally Competitive: Is Energy Efficiency a Key?” The panel was comprised of representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Dow Chemical, Ford Motor Co., World Resource Institute, and one HVAC industry member. James Wolf, vice president and chairman of Trane’s Environmental Policy Council, was that lone HVAC representative. Wolf agreed to talk with The NEWS about the panel discussion and comment further on the issues raised.
Publication date: 9/14/2015
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