WHAT
March Membership Meeting
5:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Social
6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Program

PRESENTER
Larry Brewer, CM
Branch Manager Insco Distributing Georgetown Texas
President of the San Gabriel Chapter of RSES
RSES International Director of Region 10

PROGRAM
This presentation is for Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technicians at all levels of experience and knowledge.

The basic refrigerant cycle will be reviewed in conjunction with the BTU output of the system at various outdoor air temperatures and as well as various indoor air temperatures., to show how and why the BTU capacities vary at different temperatures.

**NATE 1 hour Continuing Education, Course # 7101-0002**

WHEN
Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 5:30 p.m.

WHERE

• Pappasito’s Cantina
• 6513 I-H35 North
• Austin, TX 78752

COST

$20 per person

RSVP
Please reply to Cynthia@accaAustin.org for reservations*

*Reservations and pre-payment are kindly requested by email or by fax, please use this downloadable file.

Currently, Bill Potts, BP Heat and Air, is serving as Board President, with KC Walters, Quality Living Services, serving as Vice President, and Al D’Andrea, McCullough Heating & Air Conditioning serving as Secretary/Treasurer.   In addition, five other businessmen sit on this year’s edition of the board, all of whom will rotate off the board November 2011.  ACCA Austin wishes to acknowledge with gratitude and appreciation the many years of work and support these men have devoted to the Chapter, they are:

• David Landry, Landry Service Co.
• Stan Penna, Ince Distributing
• Robert McCorcle, Insco Supply
• Robert Arroyo, Aces Supply
• Parker Holt, Higginbotham & Associates Insurance

“We are pleased to announce that Larry Sellers of Faught Service Company, Michael Luker of Covenant Air Conditioning and Heating, Kathy Mundahl of Air Pro Inc., and Tom Turner of Austin Energy have been elected to fill the vacancies on the Board” said Bill Potts.  All four bring extensive professional experience and ACCA Austin looks forward to working with them over their terms effective December 1, 2011.

2012 ACCA Austin Board of Directors (new members indicated in bold)

About Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA)

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) is a non-profit association serving more than 60,000 professionals and 4,000 businesses in the HVACR community, who work together to promote professional contracting, energy efficiency, and healthy, comfortable indoor environments for all Americans.

ACCA Austin in partnership with Carbon Monoxide Safety Association (COSA) conducted a technical presentation, free of charge, to better explain carbon monoxide and the prevention of poisoning.  Mr. Bob Dwyer, Training Director and Certified Subject Matter Educator of COSA was the presenter and donated his time to this outreach.

The free presentation was held at Austin Fire Station #14 to a group of 18 first responders.  The two hours presentation was designed to raise awareness regarding Carbon Monoxide (chemical symbol CO) a toxic gas that can occur in homes, buildings, vehicles and even outdoors.  Mr. Dwyer established what CO is, how it is formed, how it effects our environment and how to reduce exposure.

Fire Fighter Colin Camp was instrumental in coordinating the presentation for the Special Operations Division.  When asked for one piece of information he took away from the presentation, FF Camp stated “it was surprising to learn how easily negative pressure can form in a house causing CO to be drawn inward instead of venting out.”

“Offering this presentation to AFD was a community education initiative” said ACCA Austin Executive Director, Cynthia Sanders, “…an objective the Board of Directors and Members were proud to support.  The fee based class offered to the Members of the Austin Chapter was scheduled to coincide with the beginning of the furnace season and we wanted to be able to share this crucial information with first responders as well.”

Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America. This odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas is known as the “Silent Killer.” The Centers for Disease Control estimates that carbon monoxide poisoning claims nearly 500 lives, and causes more than 15,000 visits to hospital emergency departments annually.

About Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA)

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) is a non-profit association serving more than 60,000 professionals and 4,000 businesses in the HVAC/R community, who work together to promote professional contracting, energy efficiency, and healthy, comfortable indoor environments for all Americans.

But with oil trading at around $90 a barrel these days, taking small steps now to boost your home’s energy efficiency will pay big dividends later when fall and winter heating bills start to arrive.

“Fall is a great time to do some energy assessments and figure out where your home’s problem areas are, because you’re about to enter heating mode,” says Amanda Lowenberger, building-research analyst for the nonprofit American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

“You want to make sure your home is all set up for the winter, and this is a good time to do that.”

Here are five quick, cheap things that Lowenberger recommends every homeowner do before heating season begins:

Tip No. 1: Get a home-energy audit
Cost: $0 to about $750

Lowenberger follows energy efficiency for a living, but never knew about a heat-sucking five-inch hole in one of her home’s closets until a professional energy auditor discovered it last year.

“It was right near the top, where you couldn’t really see unless you climbed into the closet,” she says.

That helped convince Lowenberger a professional energy audit “is a great place to start when you’re not sure what your home’s biggest energy problems are. It can help you figure out where you should be investing your time and money.”

Best of all, you can sometimes get home-energy audits for free.

Some gas companies, electric utilities and government agencies offer the reviews at no cost or at heavily rebated prices in a bid to help the environment. Check with your utility or your state energy department for details, as well as for the names of reputable energy-audit firms (the industry has some fly-by-night operators).

Energy audits typically take three or four hours, during which a trained inspector will go through your home room by room to look for air leaks and other problems. Click here for video on what a typical energy audit entails.

A good inspector will perform:

A blower-door test. This involves closing all of your home’s windows and exterior doors except for one, which the inspector will temporarily outfit with a huge fan to suck air out of the house. Turning on the fan creates “negative air pressure” that allows the technician to feel where air is seeping in through cracks. Sometimes the inspector will even use a smoke gun or special heat-seeking camera to make air leaks easier to spot.

A thermal-imaging scan. With this test, the inspector uses a heat-sensing camera to take photos of your home. This will show where heat is escaping.

Tip No. 2: Install a programmable thermostat
Cost: About $20 to $200

Use a programmable thermostat to turn your heat down 10 to 15 degrees during the workday or at night and you’ll cut your annual heating bill by as much as 10%, according to U.S. Energy Department estimates.

“You don’t need to heat your home to normal living temperature when you’re sleeping or not in the house — and a programmable thermostat is a good way to automatically scale the heat back when it’s not needed,” Lowenberger says.

Programmable thermostats are usually easy to install. Just unscrew your home’s existing thermostat from the wall, disconnect two wires, reconnect them to the new device and screw the whole thing back into place.

“It seems more daunting than it really is because there’s some wiring involved,” Lowenberger says. “But you can do it on your own if you’ve got a screwdriver and the ability to follow instructions.”

Tip No. 3: Clean or replace furnace filters
Cost: $25 or less per month

If you have gas-powered forced-air heating, cleaning or changing your furnace’s air filter each month during heating season will save lots of energy — and cash.

“A clean filter helps your furnace run more efficiently, and anything that does that is a good idea,” Lowenberger says.

You can buy furnace filters at most home improvement chains or hardware stores for anywhere from a few dollars for disposable versions to about $25 for reusable ones specially designed to take out allergens. You typically just slide the old filter out of a slot where an air duct meets the furnace and slip a new filter in.

Lowenberger also recommends getting a professional “tune-up” for your gas furnace every two or three years. If you have oil heat, do a tune-up once every 12 months.

Tip No. 4: Turn your water heater down
Cost: $0

Many homes’ hot-water heaters are set way above the recommended 120-degree temperature. Unfortunately, every 2.5 degrees above the mark unnecessarily boosts your hot water bill by about 1% — and increases the risk of scalding, especially in homes with children.

“We don’t have any research on this, but from my own experience, every place I’ve ever moved into had a water heater that was set too high,” Lowenberger says. “Perhaps there’s some outdated temperature standard out there that people keep adhering to.”

Fortunately, lowering a hot-water tank’s temperature takes about 30 seconds and doesn’t require any special skills.

Simply find the thermostat on the side of your tank (sometimes it’s hidden under a metal plate) and make sure it’s set at 120 degrees.

If the dial says “Low,” “Medium,” and “High” instead of including specific temperatures, Lowenberger recommends setting it somewhere between low and medium.

Tip No. 5: Caulk and weatherstrip
Cost: About $20

Lowenberger sees “good old boring caulking and weatherstripping” as perhaps the ultimate cheap way to cut a home’s heating bills.

Weatherstripping products typically cost $10 or less, while a 10-ounce tube of caulk will only set you back one or two bucks. (You’ll also need a caulking gun, which costs between about $6 to $325, depending on how many features you want.)

Caulk — a paste made out of silicone, polyurethane or other chemicals — comes out of the tube as a liquid, but quickly dries into a solid to seal up cracks around window frames, light switches, electrical outlets and the like.

Weatherstripping comes in a variety of shapes, sizes and prices. For instance, strips of foam that look like fat Scotch tape cost about $3 per package and do a great job sealing gaps between a window and its frame.

You can also buy metal or plastic door jambs for $10 or less to close gaps between a doorway and the floor.

As noted above, a professional energy audit can show you exactly where to caulk and weatherstrip.

“You don’t want to be running around with a caulk gun trying to guess where your home’s leaks are,” Lowenberger says.

This post originally appeared on Main Street on Sept. 12, 2011 and was written by Jerold Leslie.

The new DSIRE tool can be found at www.acca.org/consumer/dsire, and it allows contractors and consumers to locate HVACR energy efficiency incentives in their local area. Unlike the National DSIRE website, which is ongoing project of North Carolina State University and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, ACCA’s DSIRE tool allows users to search for incentives by zip code, sector, or technology.

“This new HVACR specific DSIRE tool is a great way for ACCA to help its members and their consumers find available energy efficiency incentives in their area without a lot of effort,” said Paul T. Stalknecht, ACCA president and CEO. “While energy efficiency upgrades save money over time, the initial cost can make some customers nervous, so having a list of incentives available will help contractors assist their customers make the right decision and save money now and in the future.”

Contractors and consumers can use the ACCA’s HVACR DSIRE tool by going to www.acca.org/consumer/dsire.

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) is a non-profit association serving more than 60,000 professionals and 4,000 businesses in the HVACR community, who work together to promote professional contracting, energy efficiency, and healthy, comfortable indoor environments for all Americans. For more information, visitwww.acca.org.

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), the nation’s largest association of indoor environmental systems professionals, is excited to announce a new HVACR specific Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) webpage as part of www.acca.org.

See the winners.

Thank you to all that participated!

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Vomiting
• Chest pain
• Confusion

If you experience these symptoms while you’re inside, open all the windows, turn off all fuel-burning appliances, and get out of the house. Go to the emergency room or call 911 if the symptoms are severe. Tell the doctors or emergency medical technicians that you think you may have CO
poisoning.

When you return home, keep the windows open and call a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) contractor and ask him or her to come to your home and check for leaks in your HVAC system, especially if your furnace is gas- or oil-fired. Call other professionals who can check your stove, fireplaces, and space heaters.

What you can do to protect yourself and your family?

Any heater or motor that burns natural gas, gasoline, coal, kerosene, diesel fuel, or charcoal can leak carbon monoxide. If a furnace or other appliance or a car or truck that burns one of these fuels is not vented properly, CO can build up inside your home or vehicle.

In your home:

• Install a carbon monoxide detector in your house. Check the battery every time you check your smoke-detector batteries, twice a year. A good way to remember is to do this when daylight savings time begins and ends or the first day of spring and fall.
• Every year, have an expert inspect and service all of your fuel-burning appliances, such as your furnace, gas water heater, fireplaces, gas stove, or portable butane or kerosene heater.
• Never burn anything in an improperly vented stove or fireplace, never burn charcoal indoors, and never use a gas oven to heat your house. Such actions can cause carbon monoxide to build up.
• If your home’s electric power goes out, you may need to use an alternate source of heat. Never use grills, camp stoves, or other gasoline- or charcoal-burning devices inside your home or garage. Do not run a gasoline-powered generator in an enclosed space (such as your basement or garage) or outside a window or door where the exhaust could blow into your home and cause carbon monoxide poisoning. If it’s cold and you have no safe alternative for heating, stay with friends or family or in a shelter.

In your car or truck:

• Never run the engine of your car or truck while it’s in the garage, whether the garage door is open or closed. If the garage is attached to your house, move your car outside to warm it up. Running the engine of your car or truck inside an attached garage could blow harmful fumes into your home.
• After a snow or ice storm, make sure your car or truck’s tailpipe isn’t blocked. A blocked tailpipe can cause harmful exhaust to enter the passenger section of your vehicle.

These are all simple, inexpensive steps you can take to ensure your and your family’s safety. And as we all know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! For more information about carbon monoxide and other indoor air pollutants, visit the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website at http://www.cdc.gov/.

• 1st Prize: 3901 Beretta 28” 12 Gauge Semi-Auto Shotgun
• 2nd Prize: Springfield XD 4” 9mm or .40 Caliber Pistol
• 3rd Prize: Weber Genesis LP Gas Outdoor Grill

“We’re hoping the Austin HVAC community will take advantage of the opportunity to win the amazing prizes, while also supporting the local Austin Chapter,” said David Landry, Board Member of ACCA Austin.

With ticket sales capped at 2,000, the annual fundraiser has the potential to raise $20,000 for the organization.  The drawing will be held at the general Membership Meeting on Tuesday, August 2, 2011.

Tickets are $10 each or 12 for $100 and will be available for purchase at all ACCA Austin events or through any ACCA Austin Member.  You can also request raffle tickets by phone or mail by sending a note requesting the number of tickets and a check payable to ACCA-Austin.

Mail to:

2011 Raffle
ACCA Austin
13706 Research Blvd, Suite, 214
Austin, TX 78750

Find out how many inches of atttic insulation you need to achieve the lowest Energy Star recommended R-value for your area and what it costs per inch before signing a contract.

Written by
Rosie Romero Gannett

When it comes to purchasing air-conditioners, insulation, roofing and even air-conditioning services, we homeowners have to do our homework before we start writing checks.

Don’t let a salesperson mislead you into spending too much – or buying an ineffective product – because you don’t have the facts.

Here are 10 ways that sales representatives can dupe homeowners when it comes to energy efficiency:

1. They sell you more than you need. Some companies want to over-insulate your attic to a level of R-60, which won’t save you any more money on heating or air-conditioning bills than what’s recommended in your area of the country.

If you have a newer home, you may not need new insulation at all. Most homes have plenty of insulation, but it’s poorly installed or has been knocked out of place.

Reattaching it to the floors, ceilings and walls it’s meant to protect could save you a bundle of money – both on replacement product and on energy bills.

2. They say you need more than you do. Some ads offer unnecessarily thick insulation, plus ventilation, plus a spray-on radiant barrier for the attic.

They promise to drop the attic temperature during summer, reduce the heat gain from the roof by up to 50 percent and slash your air-conditioning bill accordingly.

Yet no more than 15 percent of your AC bill has anything to do with the heat coming from your attic. This is overkill. All you need is properly engineered ventilation and an adequate level of insulation. Period.

3. They are vague about R-value. Generally, the higher the R-value, the greater the product’s insulating power – up to an appropriate level. Some product sales reps will claim their insulation has a high R-value, but they don’t tell you how thick you have to layer it to achieve that measure. Ask this question: How many inches of insulation will I need to achieve the lowest Energy Star recommended R-value for my area? And how much does this product cost per inch?

4. They mislead you about R-value. The Federal Trade Commission has ruled against manufacturers who claim their radiant barriers or insulation will insulate your attic to a high R-value, when in fact, a product can’t achieve that on its own.

Before you buy, be sure the R-value claim pertains to the product on its own and that you don’t have to buy additional products.

5. They convince you that high-tech is better than common sense. Instead of getting hooked into buying an expensive package of multiple new systems, start your energy campaign by sealing your air-conditioner’s ducts, caulking windows and doors and checking weather stripping. Have an energy auditor determine if your attic is properly and passively ventilated and that your insulation is well installed. That will help you more than investing thousands of dollars in optional equipment.

6. They can’t prove their claims. It’s illegal to say a product will slash energy bills, insulate your attic or reduce heat gain without tests to back up the claim. Ask for the research.

7. They insist bigger is better. This is a common claim when it comes to buying an air-conditioner or furnace. It used to be that bigger homes needed larger units. However, newer homes are so tight that they need far less powerful systems than older homes with lots of air leaks.

Find a rep who will get a lot of information about your house, the weather and your family’s lifestyle – and use a computer to calculate the size of your new equipment. If that’s not happening, find a different contractor.

8. They misrepresent the energy savings. Before you buy, it’s important to know how long it would take to pay a product off with the money you save on energy bills.

If you pay $15,000 to seal your attic and it saves you $400 a year on AC bills, you won’t see an actual return on your investment for 37 years. Go with a plan that will pay for itself within three to five years. After that, the lower energy bill will put money in your pocket.

9. Steer clear of products touting an “equivalent R-value” and those that refer to the potential savings in terms like “nominal” or “approximately” instead of hard numbers.

10. They sell you something new instead of repairing what you already have. Example: You don’t have to replace your air-conditioner just because its ducts are leaking. Instead, have the ducts sealed.

Don’t fall for this “marketing approach” to energy savings. Trust the building scientists – and know what they say. You shouldn’t pay more for energy-saving equipment than it will ever save you in energy bills.

PMAs are generally scheduled semi-annually to maintain peak efficiency, prevent utility overpayment, and avert system failures through predictive maintenance that can help extend the life of your HVAC system. Sometimes PMAs are also referred to as “planned maintenance agreements,” “start and checks,” or “preventative service agreements.” PMAs usually consist of fall and spring scheduled sessions for an ACCA-member service technician to go through your entire HVAC system preparing it for the upcoming season in a proactive approach before system failure andprior to overpaying your utility company.

Energy Consumption
The HVAC system is most likely the single biggest use of energy in your home. In commercial applications where refrigeration is applied (combined with the HVAC systems), huge amounts of energy are used in the building. In fact, over 1/3 rd of the energy used in the United States is used to heat and cool buildings.

According to the Consortium of Energy Efficiency (CEE) up to 50% more energy can be saved with proper installation, sizing, andmaintenance of commercial central air conditioning and heat pumps. “Although the CEE study did not measure residential systems, a compelling case can be made that proper maintenance can save homeowners up to 50% as well,” according to Larry Taylor, President of Air Rite A/C Company, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas.

Out of Sight, NOT Out of Mind
The old but true cliché “out of sight, out of mind” is often the reason for neglected maintenance guidelines for your HVAC system. HVAC systems are usually installed where they aren’t seen, such as in a section of the basement, a closet, on rooftops, or in mechanical rooms, making them easy to ignore. The systems are simply taken for granted, until they fail. Decreased efficiency, utility overpayment, discomfort, loss of productivity, eventual premature replacement, and higher repair costs are the result.

Just because your HVAC system is out of sight, does not mean it can be neglected. Getting your HVAC system checked twice annually is just as important as changing the oil in your car every 3,000 miles!

What should you expect your ACCA-member service technician to do during a PMA visit?

• Check system functions, safety controls, and adjust the operating sequence where appropriate.
• Inspect electrical components and connections and repair/replace or tighten as required.
• Ensure proper airflow and change dirty air filters.
• Inspect pumps, lubricate, and check flow rates where appropriate.
• Clean and lubricate motors as required.
• Examine belts, adjust and align as required.
• Inspect, clean and balance blowers as required.

Spring Visit (preparation for summer season):

• Clean inside coil, condensate pans, condensate traps, and condensate lines to prevent obstructions.
• Clean outside coil and straighten fins for efficient operation.
• Check refrigerant levels and if low, find the leak. (According to many equipment manufacturers, a 10% refrigerant loss will result in a 20% decrease in system efficiency!)

Fall Visit (preparation for winter season):

• Clean the burner assembly.
• Remove soot from fireside of burner.
• Clean and check operation of humidifier.
• Visually or with remote camera, inspect heat exchanger for cracks.
• Adjust air/fuel ratio of burner and perform combustion analysis. (Instrumentation used for combustion analysis is a means of fine-tuning a burner to achieve maximum fuel efficiency and “optimum firing.”)
  Note: For heat pump applications, winter season inspections repeat a number of the summer procedures plus several additional checks. Maintaining semi-annual PMAs for heatpumps is also important.

What’s your bottom line?

• Savings: PMAs typically more than pay for themselves through higher efficiency, less utility overpayment, and contractor discounts. PMA customers typically receive a discount on all parts and services performed during the entire year.
• Peace of Mind: Predictive maintenance will mean fewer system failures and a longer life for your HVAC equipment.
• Priority Service: Should a system failure occur during the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter, customers with PMAs generally receive priority service.
• Continuity: Many ACCA contractors are often able to assign technicians to the specific customers. That way, you get to see and know the same service technician, and he or she becomes more familiar with you and your equipment.