Articles by Dave Yates

In last month’s column, I touched on air-to-water heat pumps because they are rapidly becoming very saleable to consumers. In some areas of the U.S., electric heating, cooling and production of DHW are no longer an option and fossil fuels have been outlawed.

Taco Comfort Solutions wins the AHR 2023 Innovation award for Sustainable Solutions with its System M. I fully expect to see a virtual explosion in the number of air-to-water heat pumps on display at the upcoming AHR Expo in February.

Common sense runs through our veins and helps us avoid idiotic, absurd edicts handed down by well-intentioned, but seriously misguided politicians. The fact is, I’ve always felt that common sense, along with training and knowledge, often handed down from generation to generation, guides our hands and minds as we toil at PHVAC issues.

Like all of you, we never took on debt when borrowing money without first projecting the financial burden those obligations presented, and we certainly did not borrow beyond our ability to pay back the loan(s).

On its face, that makes perfect sense — especially given the severe drought facing so many areas of our country right now. And why not? Greywater draining from bathtubs, showers, lavatory sinks, automatic clothes washers and laundry tubs is not contaminated with fecal matter or urine, so why not use greywater twice?

All of my employees and I were sitting in our trucks eating lunch when the OSHA inspectors arrived on the commercial job site, which was a two-story addition to a nursing home. Talk about fear — the other trades and general contractor’s employees about had a coronary!

Customers can be a fickle lot. You do your best for them, but they move on in spite of your fair pricing and Johnny-on-the-spot response times.

Two facets of building infrastructure have gained close attention in the wake of widespread disease: Indoor air quality and water quality within commercial structures. Adding to the problem of providing clean water, globally, are challenges posed by an aging municipal and commercial infrastructure.

I first encountered formic acid erosion/corrosion when our installed air conditioning and heat pump evaporator (indoor) coils began suddenly leaking refrigerant in 2008. These were not old coils either, and some had only been installed for a year when the issues arose.