IN THIS ISSUE OF THE NATE ADVANTAGE:

Boost Your HVACR Business | Increasing Your Sales | Zone Control and Bypass Dampers

Boost Your HVACR Business

HVAC contractors are always looking for exposure and ways to get noticed by the consumer. Well, help is on the way in the form of www.hvacradvice.com. It is a new Website brought to you by NATE that is helping educate consumers and then matching those customers to quality, NATE-certified technicians.

One of the key aspects of the site is the contractor locator that helps lead and boost sales by connecting consumers to the nearest HVACR contractor employing a high percentage of NATE-certified technicians. To become a preferred contractor, at least 50 percent of your technicians must be NATE certified. To become a NATE Quality Circle Contractor, 80 percent of your technicians must be certified by NATE with at least one NATE-certified technician in each area of installation and/or service offered. The NATE Quality Circle contractors are featured first on the right-hand side of the page. If you want to sign up, click here to get started.

Studies have shown that an educated consumer is more likely to purchase higher end products. The goals of our new Website include helping educate the consumer on the importance of hiring NATE-certified technicians and the benefits of installing a quality home comfort system. This means you're able to sell them a higher end system and the consumer gets top-notch service from a NATE-certified tech. In addition to the contractor locator, the site acts as a resource for other home comfort issues.

Highlights include:

• Tips and Resources section that addresses heating and cooling needs, frequently asked questions, and provides homeowners with resources related to HVAC installation, maintenance and solutions;
• An energy savings calculator that helps determine whether a consumer should repair or replace their heating or cooling system;
• Educational videos explaining the different efficiency ratings, AFUE, SEER, and HSPF; the importance of high-efficiency equipment; and tips on how to save energy;
• Installation and Maintenance pages citing the benefits of each when using a NATE-certified tech.

“Although the new site is designed with the consumer in mind,” said Rex Boynton, president of NATE, “it also rewards contractors that employ NATE-certified technicians. Every page on the site provides visitors to the site the opportunity to locate the very best contractors in their area — those who acknowledge the value of NATE certification — increasing the number of qualified leads those contractors receive and helping to boost their sales.”

Get started today. To have your employees become NATE certified, visit www.natex.org/HVAC_HVACR/certification_home.html.

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Increasing Your Sales

In these uncertain economic times, getting a little bit more from every sale would go a long way in improving a contractor’s bottom line. A Webinar brought to you by NATE, The ACHR NEWS, and HVACReducation.net will provide a road map to making that idea a real possibility.

Titled “Increasing Your Sales: How Certified Techs Grow Your Bottom Line,” the Webinar will provide an easy way to boost your bottom line. Presenters will include NATE President Rex Boynton, NATE Chief Marketing Officer Pat Lampel, Director of HVACReducation.net Chris Compton, Magic Touch contractor Rich Morgan, and NEWS Editor-in-Chief Mike Murphy.

This hour-long Webinar on April 22 will allow you to:

• Learn more about what NATE is doing to help contractors;
• Hear firsthand about the advantages of employing certified technicians, including higher billable efficiency and greater customer satisfaction;
• Discover what training programs, including a simple outline assessment and a personal education plan, are available to help get your technicians certified.

For more information or to register, click here.

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Zone Control and Bypass Dampers

By Mike Holscher, Jackson Systems

Forced air zone control systems use multiple thermostats and motorized or pneumatic zone dampers, along with a logic panel and bypass damper, to control air distribution from a single HVAC unit to individual zones. With proper test, check and start-up procedures, modern zone control systems require very little, if any, maintenance after the original installation.  Most user complaints come from not being comfortable or excessive noise in the system. This could be related to a multitude of issues, including zone thermostats, zone dampers, the bypass damper, the logic panel or even the HVAC equipment.  Many times excessive noise can be traced back to the bypass damper.   

The bypass damper is used to maintain the system static pressure as zone dampers open and closed.  When we are talking about maintaining system static pressure often we mean having a reasonable noise level.  Bypass dampers can either be barometric or motorized.  The HVAC system should be properly balanced (as if there was no zoning installed) before setting or adjusting a bypass damper.

As the individual zone dampers close, the system static pressure will tend to rise.  In order to maintain constant airflow through the HVAC system, a bypass damper can be used to bypass some of the discharge air back to the return.  The bypass damper should be installed in such a way as to connect the supply air duct to the return duct (or above the ceiling if this area is used as a common return).  You should tap into the return duct at least two feet back from the return air plenum if possible.  The first question that needs to be asked is when do I need a bypass damper?  If only two zones are required, size each zone to handle about 75 percent of the total CFM.  This method does not require a bypass damper.  If one zone requires substantially more CFM than the other, it is recommended that the larger zone damper be set to bleed about 20 percent of its air.  If more than two zones are required, you should install a bypass damper.  It should be set to bypass just enough air to maintain a quiet, draft free system.  Barometric bypass dampers can be used on systems with static pressure ratings up to 0.75”W.C.  Bypass dampers can be sized based on the cooling tonnage.

For systems larger than 10 tons, subtract the CFM of the smallest zone from the total system CFM, then size the bypass damper to handle 100 percent of this difference at 2,500FPM.

Bypass damper adjustment is critical in order for any zone system to work properly.  A barometric bypass damper adjustment is done by moving the weight up and down the arm. When attaching the weight and arm to a horizontal barometric bypass damper, adjust the damper arm to the 4 o’clock position when air flow is moving left to right and adjust the damper arm to the 8 o’clock position when air flow is moving right to left.  We then make a call for heating, cooling, or fan in every zone to ensure that all zone dampers are in the open position. Then verify that the barometric bypass damper is in the closed position. Slowly move the weight upwards on the arm until the damper starts to open slightly.  Then move the weight back down the arm until the damper stays closed. Close one zone damper and the barometric damper should now start to open.  As more zone dampers close, the barometric bypass damper will open further.

Motorized Bypass Dampers utilize a damper, actuator, a static pressure controller, and a sensing tube.  The high pressure side of the static pressure control should be connected to the sensing tube and inserted in the main supply plenum down stream of the bypass damper and at least 3 feet from the air-handling unit, but before any zone dampers.  The sensing tube should be inserted and sealed 6” into the duct.  Many static pressure controllers are factory set at 0.4” W.C. and little if any adjustment is needed.  An adjusting screw on the pressure controller can be used to change this factory default.

As a general rule of thumb, barometric bypass dampers are used on systems less than 10 tons, while motorized bypass dampers are used on systems 10 tons and larger.

Forced air zone control technology has taken tremendous steps in the last decade.  Ease of installation, reliability of parts, and technical support from manufactures, are all areas that have improved that have allowed zone control to grow both in residential and light commercial markets. A properly sized and installed bypass damper will help allow individuals to experience comfort, quite, and draft free zone control comfort.

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