Few things make an honest contractor’s blood boil like hearing homeowners’ stories about how they’ve been scammed in the past. “All of it, just the total thievery and tactics, makes me sick,” said Dave Hutchins, owner and president of Bay Area Air Conditioning, Crystal River, Florida.

The so-called shoulder season is often a difficult time for HVAC contractors. The waning weeks of March and the first days of April, as well as parts of fall, often result in slow business for contractors as consumers don’t have to deal with the immediate repairs and replacements brought on by extreme cold or scorching heat.

Recovering refrigerant from HVAC and refrigeration systems is an important day-to-day task for HVACR technicians. Here’s a look at some of the latest tools that help make this important job easy, along with tips from the recovery equipment manufacturers on how to efficiently and safely recover refrigerant.

Sander Mechanical Service announced that it has been selected by Siemens Building Technologies as an authorized Siemens Solution Partner. The agreement enables the New Jersey-based mechanical contractor to offer the Talon® building control system and other Siemens technologies to its customer base.

ACCA has published a new Commercial Quality Maintenance Checklist, based on ANSI/ACCA/ASHRAE 180 - Standard Practice for Inspection and Maintenance of Commercial Building HVAC Systems, to help building owners and operators select a contractor to perform maintenance on their heating and cooling systems.

The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association’s (PHCC) Quality Service Contractors (QSC) group welcomed nearly 200 attendees to its Power Meeting XL, which featured speakers, classes, and an industry partner show at the Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth.

We have noticed what may be an alarming trend that our number of service calls has been declining over the last four years. Internally, we have had numerous discussions regarding this situation, and I thought it might be worthwhile to share our thoughts.