In this troubleshooting problem, the customer’s general definition of the situation gets more specific when you arrive at the site and discover that the reason there is no heat is because although the burners ignite on a call for heat, the air handling system never starts, and the system’s limit control shuts the furnace down.

Bob and Tim have gotten together after work to discuss the oil furnace service call that they were on earlier in the day. Bob had asked Tim if he would be willing to stay after work and review the call and Tim readily agreed.

Energy conservation can save 5 to 30 percent on energy bills which can translate into thousands of dollars a year for homeowners. Tim Bryant, owner of Bryant Energy Services, shares some advice for keeping customers comfortable while improving the efficiency of their homes. The key is a home energy audit.

Bob and Tim were on their way to a no heat call. It was an oil heat application and Tim was anxious to work on an oil system. He had not seen an actual oil heat installation, only in the school lab. Those are great, but not like the real thing at a customer’s house.

In this month’s troubleshooting problem we have a customer who can only tell us that their heat pump “isn’t working” and “the temperature in the building isn’t right.” When you arrive, you confirm the system isn’t operating properly. The indoor fan motor is running normally, but the building temperature is far from the thermostat set-point.

Bob and Tim have arrived at a “no cooling” call at a commercial building location. They went first to the thermostat and noticed that the indoor fan was running, but there was no cool air coming out of the air registers.

In an effort to reduce the more than 700 deaths that occur due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning each year and ensure a safe winter heating season, northern Virginia HVAC contractor Jones-Rogers Inc. emphasizes the importance of an HVAC system check-up to avoid the risk of CO exposure.

Bob and Tim were on their way to a residence outside of town where the homeowners’ complaint was excess humidity in the house. When they arrived, they met the housewife and she told them, “The plumbing fixtures often sweat, there is mold in some of the closets, and mold is beginning to form in the laundry room.”

The noise from an air conditioning unit can have lots of causes depending on the type of unit. These noises should not be ignored and are almost always a sign something that has gone wrong or is in the process of going wrong.

This troubleshooting problem brings you to a three-bedroom, ranch style home on a concrete slab, which, as most typically do in this area of the Southwest, employs a rooftop evaporative cooling system in the summer and an upflow forced-air gas furnace for heating in the winter. The customer says one of the bedrooms “just won’t get comfortable.”