AIR-CONDITIONER INSTALLATION PERFORMANCE TESTING
“IT’S TIME TO PUT UP OR SHUT UP”

What I mean by performance testing is capacity verification of a residential air-conditioner when it is installed. To calculate and independently certify the B.T.U. per watt that a particular system is delivering after installation at a given address, under a given testing condition, relative to it’s A.H.R.I. performance ratings. “That’s all I am talking about, but easier said than done so let’s break it down”.

Number one, we are talking about the art of retrofit, where the challenges are larger and so different than new construction. In the H.V.A.C. industry we struggle to grasp the issues that affect the efficiencies of our systems in the area of new construction, where we have some control. In retrofit we just stick our head in the sand and wonder how you could be responsible for the efficiencies of systems, with existing concealed, undersized, poorly designed duct systems, off brand equipment, with no specifications, that we must continue to use, and numerous problems with testing and verification.

You must then ask yourself why? What is the reason for all the fuss what are we trying to gain? The answer is in the big picture of waste, not individual dollars to be saved. For every air conditioner that is tested at installation to be underperforming the percentage of kilowatts saved in the first year of operation could be as much as 50% of its expected operating cost, and still only save the customer $120.00 here in Colorado. Spread over three months maybe not so noticeable. But if testing and the good installation practices that must follow testing, result in only seven less underperforming installations per year for a given contractor like myself, at 1000 kwh each, the 7000 kilowatt savings per year repeats its self every year with equipment that will predictably continue to perform the way it was installed. In 15 years one contractor could waste 840,000 kwh by not bothering to test the performance of the units he installs. That is over $75,000 of his customers’ money and its only seven systems a year. A conservative estimate if you believe as I do that a system installed well will perform for many years at that level, and one installed poorly will also follow that same course.

I do realize that some of these numbers are unsubstantiated such as the 50% savings a year or the 1000 kWh per system calculated. But I will tell you that we do have a three year history showing that even with good testing and the best of practices “referring to Greeley Furnace, the failure rate is 6.5% saved by testing or seven systems per one hundred installed. I believe this high performance installation percentage is at least twice as high as my competition, “or those not testing” and is substantiated. As a matter of fact there are many studies that estimate as many as 35 % of the systems currently installed are underperforming systems. Therefore if the calculation of savings per system is high you could use only half that number because if the number of systems saved is doubled per contractor times even 500 kWh the result is the same. And by the way there are approximately seventy five contractors licensed to install air conditioners in the Greeley city alone. So if you start doing the math I think you will agree we have something to gain, there is a need.
Number two, what is independent certification of that performance. There is a lot of discussion about this and the different methods being used. I believe that most are direct comparisons of the A.H.R.I. performance data for given systems as it applies to the testing condition you are under the day you install the unit as opposed to the direct calculation of B.T.U. capacity output of a given system by the use of tested airflow and enthalpy temperature drop. Either way the result is to assure a rated B.T.U. removal per watt. And that the testing and performance can be verified independently of the people, company, installer, or interested parties. Wow now that’s a mouth full.

Let’s talk about the issues like the guy selling you an air-conditioner. He, like myself is probably a salesman or an owner but not the installer of the unit, and he will be told buy someone that the unit checked out ok and someone may record the readings of pressures and superheat that the installer claimed he achieved after installation. I know how this works after all we all used the manufacturers recommended charging methods for years and realize how far off you can be, but that is not the point. We as business owners and salesmen do not see the pressures and temperatures being recorded, just a couple of numbers written on a paper by someone whose qualifications, and integrity are not only the point of discussion, but in most cases there are many of these people in our companies, and our history, and they have different methods, tools, and levels of training during the time they work for us. So we can only attest to what they do second hand “what we are told happened”.

Let’s face it, a unit can be perfectly charged and for many reasons never achieve even close to its rated performance. Even if you have your people do a calculation of the capacity of the unit using the correct formula of air flow and enthalpy temperature drop, you still must believe and then ask your customers, the utility company, and all interested parties to believe with you, that the numbers and calculations you have recorded regarding the performance of a particular system are factual, when you don’t know yourself, you did not take the readings, and like the many issues that can cause a system to under perform there are as many reasons why those second hand performance calculations may be flawed, and I am not only referring to issues of integrity or incompetents.

For so many years these calculations have not been taken and recorded due to the difficulty in accurately testing such things as airflow in cubic feet per minute or different wet bulb temperatures depending where you take the readings, or just what correction factors to use for altitude, these challenges coupled with human error, very little manufacturer involvement, technical knowledge or support, and the lack of technology in the testing equipment it’s self, have all posed challenges.

We could talk all day long about what has stopped us, and why. Although if you see the clear and unmistakable need, the real and daunting challenge, and if you are Greeley Furnace you accept the demands of the future. You will attempt to solve that big problem of who said, he said, she said that system is, or is not performing and are they independent, are they technically qualified, are the testing results A.H.R.I. certifiable. The answer is yes the F.D.S.I. tool is the best technology we have to date to answer the needs of the industry. Although not perfect and we could make a list of issues, this tool will independently certify the performance, or lack thereof of a system. You can’t manipulate the results, and the results correlate to the A.H.R.I. ratings. The reports are professional and for the most part the tool is manageable, accurate, and cost effective. Lets face it when it comes to a verification process from testing authority like a utility company or a building inspection division sending an individual out to test a system to verify its performance, no matter who they hire, and what his or her credentials are, what readings they record, they better have an F.D.S.I. tool or equivalent if their findings are not good, or what might happen is they may discredit themselves. Lets face it this tool with it’s certified recorded performance data can protect me from my employees, consumers from bad installations and contractors, utility companies from not getting there kilowatt reduction, me from an incompetent verifier from a testing agency, and these are just the uses in new installation of retrofit units.

I welcome the next generation of tools that include airflow testing calculations of capacity, and more innovations of dependability but I don’t want to listen to those who say we don’t need to worry about capacity or performance testing, or its to hard to do. Just check out Greeley furnace .com we already did it three years ago, and we made it work. So sooner or later you will need to put up or shut up because it’s coming at you like it or not, and your customers deserve to know that they are getting what they paid for.