Joanna Turpin is a Senior Editor at The ACHR NEWS. She can be contacted at 248-786-1707 or joannaturpin@achrnews.com. Joanna has been with BNP Media since 1991, first heading up the company’s technical book division before moving over to The ACHR NEWS, where she frequently writes about refrigerants and commercial refrigeration. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Washington and worked on her master’s degree in technical communication at Eastern Michigan University.
There is a lot of buzz these days about the Internet of Things (IoT) and how it will continue to influence — some say take over — our lives in the near future. But what does the IoT mean for HVAC contractors, and, more importantly, how can they profit from its proliferation?
The Internet of Things (IoT) market is expected to explode in the coming years, according to a recent report that predicts it will grow from an installed base of 15.4 billion devices in 2015 to 30.7 billion devices in 2020 and 75.4 billion in 2025. In response to this trend, many HVAC manufacturers are introducing IoT-enabled products designed to benefit consumers and contractors alike.
According to a recent study from BSRIA, data center traffic is expected to grow at a 23 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reaching 8.6 zettabytes by 2018. That means a lot of new data centers will be popping up around the country. Cooling these data centers is an energy-intensive endeavor.
Millennials are price-sensitive, as cost has the greatest influence on their purchase decisions above all other factors, including quality, brand, store, and availability. So, they may not be willing to pay more for the higher efficiency HVAC systems that they claim to want.
For those looking to take energy conservation to the next level, many contractors are encouraging the installation of a combination geothermal heat pump and solar energy system.
Having designed so many systems for others, it’s natural to wonder what kind of HVAC equipment contractors would install in their own homes if money were no object. Their answers just might surprise you.
Manufacturers offer a wide array of high-end products loaded with features designed to exceed the expectations of discerning consumers and contractors alike. Here are a few examples.
Just about every manufacturer recommends homeowners have their air-source heat pumps serviced twice a year — once in the spring and once in the fall. Most believe that semi-annual maintenance helps keep equipment operating at peak performance and ensures the unit is ready for the heat of summer or cold of winter.
When a couple of do-it-yourself (DIY) homeowners cited how easy it was to install their respective equipment themselves and how little skill was needed, it begged the question: With the current skilled labor shortage, are HVAC systems destined to become plug-and-play appliances?
Up until recently, sales of air-source heat pumps were on a tear, growing from 1.6 million units in 2009 to 2.3 million units in 2014, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). But, in 2015, sales of heat pumps slipped 3.6 percent from the previous year.