Difference Between A/C, Air Handler, Furnace, Heat Pump, Minisplit, Etc.

What is the difference between a minisplit, an air conditioner, heat pump, HVAC split system, hybrid unit, geothermal heat pump, air handler, furnace, boiler, radiant in floor heating, packaged units, rooftop units, PTACs, floor mounted air conditioners, and all the rest? In this video I explain what it is, the difference between all these HVAC heating and air conditioning systems and how they differ one from another. This is by no means an exhaustive list so if you know some that I missed, let us know in the comments!
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➡ Here are the HVAC systems I go over:
- Air handler
- Straight air conditioner
- Straight furnace (oil, gas, or electric)
- Air conditioner and gas/propane furnace
- Air conditioner and electric furnace
- High velocity mini-duct system
- Ductless mini-splits
- Floor mounted A/C
- Heat pump
- Hybrid split system
- Packaged Units
- Rooftop Units
- Boiler
- Radiant floor or hydronic heating
- Geothermal heat Pump
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⬇ Other Helpful Videos:
How A/C works for Dummies:
• How a Home AC Works Fo...
Difference Between A/C and Heat Pump:
• The Difference Between...
Top 5 Furnace Problems:
• Top 5 Furnace Problems...
Top 5 A/C Problems:
• Top 5 AC Problems and ...
10 Easy Ways to Connect Wires:
• How To Connect or Spli...
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Check out these playlists for more repair videos:
🔌 • Dryer Playlist
🧺 • Washer Playlist
🔥 • Furnace Playlist
❄️ • Air Conditioner Playlist
💧 • Water Heater Playlist
🛠️ • HVAC Tools
🔋 • Capacitor Playlist
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⚠️ Disclaimer:
This video is for educational purposes. All appliance and HVAC repair work should be done by a trained professional. Word of Advice TV is not responsible for any possible damages or injuries caused by the use or misuse of the provided information.
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#furnace #airconditioner #appliancerepair #heating #airconditioning #hvac #wordofadvicetv

[@WordofAdviceTV]

⬇ Other Helpful Videos: How A/C works for Dummies: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYPRq4yAadagjac Difference Between A/C and Heat Pump: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqukap2om6apia8 Top 5 Furnace Problems: kzbin.info/www/bejne/imWsiKeBrpJgjM0 Top 5 A/C Problems: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYC7mJekh6drapI 10 Easy Ways to Connect Wires: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5nTf3aMoJaffJI

[@Wrenchingdaily]

Glad to see you making new content. Keep it coming brother. This is the best HVAC channel on KZbin 👍🏻

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you my friend!! I appreciate that, have an awesome weekend!

[@shonuffnuff2705]

Grate video bud! I switched careers recently (went from Project Management to HVAC). I took a crash course in HVAC, passed the EPA608 and got a Universal Cert. Now I’m in the real world doing HVAC maintenance. BUT matching Work Order paperwork against the “actual units” that I’ve worked on has been a PAIN in the pants😵‍💫, bcs I’m still learning what these difference are (the ones you explained in the video). Thanks a million🫡👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@rzh3443]

Very informative. My son’s condo has 4 mini split “heads” fed from one outdoor compressor. This was done ,as usual, to avoid constructing a duct system. After two years of operation, the system is adequate heat wise (Mass. weather) for all but a few days in winter. Cooling is good ,but humidity control is lacking. We’ve tried a number of experiments (turning one or two off to make the working units move more air longer, etc.). The HVAC company really had no answers. He finally bought a dehumidifier to run in the hot weather. Temperature diffusion is ok ( a damper rotates automatically to redirect airflow). My house has conventional gas forced air (two stage) through ducts. Temperature differential between floors was always a problem. I bought and installed the Ecobee thermostat ( I don’t work there) and also a few extra room sensors. What a difference that made. Not perfect ,but much better and I saved some money, particularly thru the cooling season. I suspect the end of fossil fuel HVAC is coming ,but it will be like pulling teeth and too expensive for many. I have seen some locals doing geothermal. Theory is good, but there are a lot of moving parts to maintain- a basement full of equipment and probably upgraded electrical service. A local guy has special equipment to drill in very tight spaces/ back yards and is busy all the time.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Oh wow, you have experience with a lot of these systems! Thank you for sharing the details of how they operate along with your commentary on what you tried to do to make it better. Much appreciated!

[@brucemoriarty9964]

I always learn something from your shows. Love it ! Thanks 🙂👍

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad to hear it! Thank you!!

[@NeoEon]

I just want to comment to keep encouraging you. Excellent, honest and concise explanations. Well done.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you brother, I appreciate the comment!

[@lawdog516]

I always take something away from everyone of your videos, thanks Brother

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Love to hear that, thank you!

[@JohnDoe-ej1lw]

Hey Jay, ive had a high velocity unit (unico) for 8 yrs now and you are right they can be noisy most of the time....blessings my friend 🙏 🙂

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Aloha my friend! Thank you for confirming from your own experience! Blessings to you and yours as well, have a wonderful weekend!

[@kennethiman2691]

Could you do a video on whether to add a soft start to your central air system?

[@WordofAdviceTV]

When I get the chance, I will try to do so. Thank you for the suggestion!

[@YusufAli-ck5le]

U a great teacher 🎉

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you! 🙂

[@curthauburg9174]

Great explanation on minisplit, I installed one and it works except mine doesn't have a heat pump

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you! Yeah, minisplits are great!

[@mahmoudalafify9002]

The VRF system is a wonderful system, it saves energy and gives more options

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you for the shout out for the VRF systems. 👍👍

[@fmly7]

Thank you. This was very informative. I had been out in the desert years ago. Where i was they cooled buildings with sometimes called a swamp cooler. I'm curious to understand how they work.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad you found it informative! I've never worked on any swamp coolers but I do know how they work. Swamp coolers basically use water instead of refrigerant to cool the air. When hot air passes through water, heat is absorbed into it making the air feel cooler. It would take a while to further explain it but I think this site does a pretty good job with breaking it all down if you are curious: home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/heating-and-cooling/swamp-cooler.htm

[@gtpforever]

A lot of times people forget that geothermals since they are a heat pump still can't operate the greatest when the ground temperature changes. It can only do so much and since they are smart systems they switch on heating elements when they ran too long. So the electric bill goes up

[@harrydickson4575]

Another excellent video 👍👍👍

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you Harry!! 👍👍👍 Have a fantastic and blessed weekend good sir!!

[@mylesroberson3964]

Great video.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you!

[@abitofeverything1234]

Learned a lot today, Thx.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad to hear it! Yw. 🙂

[@alexandermaciag377]

I think your Grandpa is in his cell? Maybe you should give him a call? HA-ha-ha-ha. Good to hear from you, Jay, with new videos lately.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Lol, I think he already crossed the country a time or two. 😂 And thank you! Have a wonderful weekend good sir!!

[@alexandermaciag377]

@WordofAdviceTV Have a good weekend, too.

[@davidmckinney6577]

Hello 👋 good buddy Jay. Thats a extremely good educational video on the different types of heating sources i read some comments and I truly agree 👍 your channel is the best for hvac. My uncle is back in the hospital he wasn't taking his potassium medication and sodium chloride and it caused his body to reject food and water and his daughter in law found him on the floor and called the ambulance 🚑 and when they got there he flatlined and they shocked him and brought him back and gave him different shots of stuff and took him to the hospital and he is in acidosis because his kidneys and liver was shutting down and it makes your body build up gas in the blood thats acidosis but he is stable now and feeling a lot better they are still trying to clean up his blood and getting him fixed up. I haven't been feeling well just really tired and some chest pain here and there but im making it is the important thing trying to get ready for spring ive already been mowing. Tell everybody I said hello 👋 Jay much love to you and your family my friend. May God bless you and keep you and your family safe.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Ah I found this comment too David! Oh wow, your uncle's situation is more urgent than what you explained in the newest comment. I stopped and prayed for him. I hope you are feeling better now too my friend!! May you find peace, joy, and comfort in the Lord! God bless you!

[@davidmckinney6577]

@@WordofAdviceTV he is slowly improving now thank God..he is a fighter for sure if it was me I'd already been gone, the Dr at the hospital said that he didn't see how he pulled through there was so much against him when he went in.. I forgot to mention but his name is Archie I saw that you prayed for him and I really appreciate it Jay your the most genuine man. ❤️

[@jamesroscoe7555]

I think a more clear way to explain all of this is to separate the distribution system (eg forced air, in floor radiant, radiators etc) from the heat source (oil furnace, gas furnace, air source heat pump, geothermal, etc). Basically any of those heat sources can be paired with air or water distribution. Geothermal is more efficient than air source partly due to the more consistent temperature but also due to the greater heat capacity of water and the ground vs air. In terms of payback, geothermal makes the most economic sense in cold climates where a cheaper air source heat pump starts to struggle in the depths of winter. That said, there are more modern units that work alright down to around -25C.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Yeah, I think I could have formatted this video different. Thank you for the suggestion and for further explaining geothermal and heat pumps!

[@jamesroscoe7555]

@@WordofAdviceTV Thanks for doing these videos. Your many past ones on natural gas forced air furnaces have been super useful for me to keep my aging unit running over the last couple of years.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

@jamesroscoe7555 That's great! Glad to hear that the videos have been useful. Stay warm!

[@voam6764]

HI JAY...i need replace 2 ton very old condaensor , i don't have one-2 ton , but i have 3 ton , can i replace that 3 ton instead , you think will be ok or any problem ? thanks JAY

[@WordofAdviceTV]

The general problem with an oversized system is that it will cool the temperature down really fast, but will not run long enough to extract the humidity out of the air. That's the generic answer any tech will tell you. 😇 Honestly it's hard to guess without doing the calculations but if your home is around 2000 square feet, a 3 ton unit should be fine. Especially if your current unit struggled to keep up on hot days.

[@LunkerFishing]

Good information, bad joke! 🤣

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Haha 😇

[@Eddy63]

Great info Jay ... And as for grandpa , have you checked on the greeters at Walmart? Aloha my friend

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Haha, we'll make that our next place to look! Thanks for stopping by Eddy, have a fabulous weekend!

[@hermanchow1405]

never heard of air handler , thinking it’s the authority ( government) controls how much air we can breathe , thank god it isn’t and thanks for the explanation !

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Lol, wouldn't that be something? Luckily it's just a blower motor in a box. 😄

[@jackphillips1383]

Question for you. Our heating system will not come on. The old Honeywell thermostat shoe -AC. The instructions for the thermostat says this means it is missing AC power. There is power to the heating unit in the garage. This is an HVAC unit.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

If it is missing power then I would start at the furnace. Do you have a multimeter? I would check if there is power going to the transformer (120v) and power coming out (24v). Then I would check if there is around 27v between R and C on the thermostat strip on the control board. A blown 3 amp fuse is also a possibility.

[@theLeftHandedDog]

....A great topic.... but a handler isn't just to blow air, it's to circulate air. Right?

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Yes! Circulating would be the correct way of saying it. Thank you for pointing that out!

[@chrissauter7501]

You missed the Freus. It is similar to a split condenser except it uses as an additional means of transferring the heat. Water pan is t the bottom with a pump and hose to move the water upward to the pvc that is just above the copping coils and flows across the coils draining downward back into the pan. It has a water line connection and a float to keep the water just right alone an anode to help with minerals in the water. I saw a lot of water pumps fail on these.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I've never actually worked on one of those! Thank you for mentioning it and describing how it works.

[@chrissauter7501]

@WordofAdviceTV former employer swore by them and marketed them as energy efficient as compared to standard condenser. I can them working great and last a long time in places with there are mineral deposits in in the water but not where you have hard water. The minerals eventually cake everything, they need to cleaned regularly (standard cleaning twice annually [part of seasonal tune-ups] and deep cleaning for the deposits every few years - $475 per).

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Oh wow. Yeah, with hard water any energy savings would get drowned out by the maintenance costs. Thank you for explaining!

[@BlackLight_VA]

Hey Jay, I use your videos as one of my main sources of information since I got into the trade. I haven't seen any videos you have on boilers or hydronic heating systems. I haven't seen any videos on electric furnaces either. I was wondering if there was a reaspn for that or if maybe I just overlooked them. Thank you for all your hard work...

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad to hear that the videos have been informative for you! I rarely work on hydronic or electric heat since the area i was in mainly only had a bunch of forced air furnaces. Plus most of the videos I have were done with my own units at home which are also forced air. I hope to make some videos on hydronic and electric in the future. Can't really do it now either since I am in Hawaii and there's barely any furnaces of any kind here.

[@kkovler1]

condensing boiler: maybe you missed this one, as it's high efficiency boiler

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Didn't cover that one. Thank you for adding to the list!

[@daleborg9070]

I know that "air conditioning" is thought of as "cooling". Cooling is only one part of conditioning the air in the building. You are heating, cooling, humidifying, dehumidifying the air. So, "air conditioning" is more than cooling. As a whole, it is an air conditioning system.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you for explaining that it's a lot more than just cooling!

[@gtpforever]

It's actually anything below 40 a conventional heat pump loses its efficiency. Now if it's a heat pump with an inverter compressor then it's anything below 15° 👍

[@dontderockmerizz3211]

I have an electric furnace in my foods house vs a gas furnace in my Chicago house. Both heat well. But the electric Doesn’t have many parts.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Yeah, it seems like electric needs less maintenance/repairs. Thanks for the comment, stay warm and have a blessed weekend!

[@maxpowers3732]

What about a water chilled AC unit for a home that does not have a cooling tower? How does this work? My home has one and it doesn't seem to cool it properly in the hot summers.

[@mallen6783]

Thanks for the informative video, I have a question, I recently got a quote on quote efficient samsung gas dryer after the old school whirlpool gave up, the thing is that it takes so long to dry clothing even at the hottest settings it still takes one and a half cycles to completely dry, which is about 2 hours or more, on old whirlpool it took max 40 minutes on medium temperature, is there any way to hack these fancy machines and get them to do their job?

[@WordofAdviceTV]

You're welcome! The new dryers and washers are loaded with high efficiency trinkets which saves on the utility bill but they often also do a worse job at cleaning and drying your clothes... (less water used, less heat used) Unfortunately there is nothing you can really do to remedy that besides using timed dry instead of auto dry, that might help a little.

[@jochimbenschneider1915]

Boiler heat is the best up north. In each room. Not the radiant.

[@nilolee2426]

Hello Jay, can you please advice me if a Goodman gsxh506010 ,it’s a 5Tons with seer15.2 and air handler amvt60dp1400 variable speed is good and reliable brand air conditioning unit? Thanks

[@vuthfriendlyguy1980]

how much you think it cost to move water heater from atic up stair to garage ?

[@rochesterrefugeeresettleme7007]

Hello

[@abdullah_q8171]

👍🏻

[@WordofAdviceTV]

🙂

[@christ6370]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@WordofAdviceTV]

😄👍🙏 God bless you good sir!

[@dioncurtiscurtis3188]

Where are your glasses…😢

[@WordofAdviceTV]

They gave me a nice professional look so I miss them a little bit but having good eyesight honestly tops that! 😄 I got Lasik done so no more glasses. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5acd2qVhqmneMUsi=o2ucKKTPBzzjlXiX

[@everabrego]

Can you speak Spanish this video teacher 🧑‍🏫

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Yes! I will get this video translated and posted on my Spanish channel later on. 👍