Today, we have an incalculable number of tools to do at least as many different tasks. Examples include tools for preparing our food, to making wooden furniture, to installing and fixing HVACR systems. It is this last type of tool that we honor with the 2011 Dealer Design Awards in the Tools category.

Products that test and monitor make working with and on units so much easier for contractors and technicians, including when it comes to troubleshooting. The winners of the Testing & Monitoring Products category of the 2011 Dealer Design Awards share these traits.

The first step in evaluating a building’s energy use involves an energy audit. This consists of various home performance tests that identify opportunities to reduce energy use. More HVAC contractors are starting to offer this service because of its direct impact on a home’s heating-cooling costs.

Is online buying becoming just as important as one phone call and a pickup at the parts counter? Maybe the HVAC trade isn’t ready to concede that online buying will surpass local purchases or put a big hit on traditional relationships. Yet, online sellers are making themselves hard to ignore and are working to make the buying experience quick and convenient.

The problem is a common one: A smell like dirty socks emanates from HVAC ducts. When the people in one facility complained, Warren Lowe, an HVAC maintenance mechanic for a major Midwest electric utility, packed up his tools and headed for the site.

Accurately troubleshooting and repairing refrigeration systems requires technicians to use many specialty instruments. They base many of their diagnoses on what is read from these instruments. Relying on them to be consistently accurate day in and day out is a must. If these tools are inaccurate, more than likely the diagnoses will be inaccurate.

The gravity of refrigerant leakage has evoked fines from the EPA of up to $25,000 per day for each violation. The unfortunate reality is that refrigerant leak sites are usually discovered only after there has been a loss of cooling due to discomfort, spoilage, or production difficulty. Repairing refrigerant leaks is not the problem - finding them is.

Nearly 55,000 people ambled through the Las Vegas Convention Center during three days of non-stop activity at the industry’s largest trade show. A typical Wednesday at the expo is usually considered a light day for foot traffic. But even on the last day of the show, attendees were drawn to the 1,800-plus exhibitors’ booths displaying the latest HVACR products.