For Quality Installations, Involve the Manufacturers

[Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to Stan Johnson’s article “Everything You Wanted to Know About Quality Installations,” Nov. 30, 2009]

My thoughts on a solution [for quality control] is to mandate manufacturers to perform random quality control checks on companies that install their product. It can be based on a percent of total units purchased over a period of time. This quality control program is the only real way to police the entire installation (replacement) process, including design, sizing, ductwork, efficiency, and performance.

The return on investment for manufacturers would be less replacement units/parts under warranty and less repeat service calls and, most importantly, a happy customer who may be willing to recommend their product.

Arthur Huebner
Huebner Air Conditioning and Heating
Islip Terrace, N.Y.

Risk of Various Refrigerants

[Editor’s note: This letter is in response to Peter Powell’s editorial “A Place for Hydrocarbons,” Jan.11.]

[Powell wrote a] nice article. I certainly agree that there could be a “local risk” for using propane or other hydrocarbons as refrigerant. You have properly emphasized that. However, this should be contrasted with the “global risk” arising from the use of fluorinated hydrocarbons such as R-134a or R-410A which have global warming potential thousands of times greater than even CO2.

Dan Kramer, P.E., CMS
Yardley, Pa.

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Publication date:02/01/2010