Good news: The customers of HVAC contractors who install qualifying sustainable energy systems (geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, solar panels, wind energy systems, and fuel cells), will continue to receive tax credits through Dec. 31, 2016. These can total 30 percent of the installed costs (product and installation) of the systems.

There’s no place like Geo Farm for all things geothermal. The event, a hands-on field day hosted by distributor Corken Steel, is being hosted for the third year in rural Indiana Aug. 30 – Sept 1. For 2011, the drilling, trenching, geo technology, and heat exchanger workshop has been expanded to two days.

Going where only some HVAC products have dreamed to go, the winners of The NEWS’ eighth annual Dealer Design Awards’ HVAC High-Efficiency Residential Equipment category have staked out gold, silver, and bronze positions with their abilities to provide improved technology in new applications.

In the case of the winners of the 2011 Dealer Design Awards in the category of Residential Equipment, the fame and recognition bestowed on these units is rightly earned, especially from contractors and technicians for the ease of installation and service the products provide.

Social media presents two primary choices: get involved or be left behind. Contractors have heatedly debated that statement, along with many other social media topics, for some time. More often than not, however, the argument circles back to social media relevance. With social media being so new, industry relevance is more a matter of opinion that could be argued from both sides.

The condenser is the component that rejects the heat from the system. Most equipment is air cooled and rejects heat to the air. The coils are copper or aluminum and both types have aluminum fins to add to the heat exchange surface area.

High humidity within homes creates numerous problems. Despite the many home-related humidity issues, there has been little to no measured data available on actual indoor humidity levels in U.S. households. That is why the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded Steven Winter Associates Inc. (SWA) to collect data from homes on interior humidity levels.

This article should really be titled “Miracle Closing Technique for the Estimate-Getting Researcher.” As you will read, it’s really not a miracle at all. It’s more common sense. There are many kinds of customers, but the most classic might be the we’re-getting-estimates customer.

Servidyne Inc. announced that it is has been awarded contracts to provide energy efficiency and demand response services for commercial and institutional buildings in the city of San Antonio. The contracts call for the company to provide retro-commissioning and energy audit services. Servidyne also will perform demand response audits.

After 85 years, it takes more than cosmetics to keep a publication fresh; the right attitude needs to permeate the organization. “This publication, The NEWS, was started by my great-grandfather in 1926,” said BNP Media co-CEO Taggart Henderson.