Many contractors (and big-box stores) try to grab customers’ attention by advertising the ubiquitous $29 tune-up. So is the $29 tune-up an effective marketing tool that can be used to beef up the customer base? Or is it a pernicious practice that lowers the bar for the HVAC industry? It all depends on your outlook.

What will it take to jump-start more use of reclaimed HCFC-22 to service the huge inventory of equipment running on that refrigerant? The EPA and the dozens of companies offering reclamation services are hoping the most recent announcement of a potential 45 percent reduction in virgin R-22 coming to market.

How ready are contractors to embrace refrigerant reclamation? The answer depends on who you talk to. But some contractors are already plugged into the reclamation option — and hoping their colleagues, who might not be doing so, will soon join them.

Homeowners are being very careful about making investments in home energy savings. According to a recent survey, they are demanding significant energy cost savings to justify any investments of time and money required to install highly efficient HVAC systems, and they have grown more skeptical about promises of a quick payback.

Because the tax credit on high-efficiency equipment expired, many believe that homeowners will now revert to standard efficiency. Before we throw the high-efficiency equipment out with the bath water, let’s take a close look at how the tax credits affected sales and how they can be replaced in 2012.

The domestic hot-water indirect storage tank lines WST and SST offer plumbing and HVAC professionals simplified installation and superior durability, which ensures fewer callbacks while providing end users years of reliable operation, the company said.

Mixed signals make it difficult to determine what to expect over the next year, although most manufacturers echo Gary Clark, senior vice president of marketing, Goodman Global Group Inc., who stated, “Overall, we see 2012 being very similar to 2011.”

Last year ended on a disappointing note for many, including distributors. On the bright side, distributors in all U.S. regions ended 2011 in positive territory and also reported higher inventory levels than the same time in 2010. What’s ahead for 2012?

Interest in wood-fired hydronic heating systems continues to rise along with the price of conventional fuel. What kind of solutions are available and how do you handle them?

A new Halcyon split-system heat pump line has equipment that achieves up to 27.2 SEER. The RLS2 line of heat pumps offers 9-, 12-, and 15,000-Btu models with a newly designed chassis and the ESP energy saving program. The 9RLS2 offers an HSPF of 12.5, a SEER of 27.2, and an EER of 16.1.