HVAC System BEFORE and AFTER! Measuring CFM Air Flow Loss, Sealing Ductwork, Measuring Again!

[@noahoyeah]

Building performance is a niche that shouldn’t be. It should be applied in every home. I’m not one for regulations. But man. All the customers getting burned. Can’t expect a customer to know all this stuff. They put a trust in our trade to get the job done right. We should honor that

[@acservicetechchannel]

I agree completely. Building science is now becoming more popular too so finally people are starting to pay attention and are interested which is great!

[@PinnacleBuildingPerformance]

Great video and content Craig. Thanks for taking the time to put these videos together. Great to see the HVAC and Building Performance industries merging into one 💪🏻

[@chesstime356]

As always I like your videos I can’t stop watching them. Thanks.

[@acservicetechchannel]

Thanks for your encouragement!

[@Sir.RickParker949]

Thanks for showing something that is so important but overlooked To often in diagnosing a problem. 😊

[@acservicetechchannel]

Absolutely!

[@johnerway7255]

Great tool to test air leaks. Thanks for sharing this special test for AC systems.

[@JoseRodriguez-mc5wu]

Thank you this is gold.

[@acservicetechchannel]

Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@JNHEscapes]

You should do more videos on this tool, testing different scenarios and configurations, all the measuring tools and how best to use them. I can find no one to test this type of thing in my area and plan to do it myself. I have two returns the exact same size so would like to see that. Also we used to use a smoke machine in the automotive industry it would be cool if you could inject smoke with the fan and could easily spot the leaks!

[@CrabtreeBob]

The close to perfect attic.

[@acservicetechchannel]

It was pretty bad behind the cameras and no plywood, ha ha but yeah we could at least get to the ductwork.

[@PinnacleBuildingPerformance]

​@@acservicetechchannel how much insulation was that? I ask because tye fiberglass was flush with the bottom member of the truss, only R19?

[@ParabellumX]

Craig produced the background music using a VOX sound box machine, and Beetz by Haystak.

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

I wouldn’t mess with that return grille. Always attach your takeoff up there in the ceiling on that wood framing. You only need to hook up to one side, close the other one off. Less chance of damaging your customers $50 filter/return grille. Great job. Most people’s lives are fake, we like to appear perfect, especially Sun mornings. As you can see, the installer transfers this to his work. I’ve heard it from techs/installers before….”Make it look good for the customer”.

[@yral27]

Always great content!! thanks

[@acservicetechchannel]

Thanks so much!!

[@tunaman2200]

Great video! Thank you !

[@Hvacandstuff]

Craig, thanks for another solid video. ❤

[@acservicetechchannel]

You're welcome! I'm glad you found the video helpful!

[@reeves29456]

I noticed the tape used that was coming loose was not labeled UL181 as required by code. Is that part of the reason it was detaching as its not rated to handle the temps and humility within the attic? I see unmarked tape often on new installs and it always seems to be detaching or starting to detach, even when lightly coated with mastic.

[@JohnDoe-ej1lw]

Awesome learned so much today...question Craig...do you guys work in North Jersey?

[@acservicetechchannel]

We only do training now and we are in south jersey, thanks!

[@juantapia8079]

Man! just what I needed.

[@HeadCannonPrime]

OMG I literally thought you were in my house for a second. That is the EXACT layout of my upstairs HVAC. Out of curiosity what is a GOOD CFM loss? Like, anything below 100 or 75 or 60? At what point should we stop looking to seal leaks?

[@acservicetechchannel]

With the deer/elk antlers on the wall on the right? ha ha!

[@ericnewton5720]

I need this done at my house in Orlando.

[@MEP.ENGINEERING.WORKS92]

Good work

[@Davidandgoliathhvac]

Dear Santa… 😂 Great content as always! Keep them coming!

[@acservicetechchannel]

More to come!

[@williampitt570]

Can do a video on how to charger refrigerator into a Ptac unit step by step

[@1ucapedia]

Thank you for the awesome video. Quick question, wouldn’t it be beneficial to run the blower while up in the attic to be able to feel where the air is leaking out? Sometimes I feel like the leaks may not be so obvious without the positive pressure in the duct system pushing air out.

[@acservicetechchannel]

Absolutely, I have done the same thing!!

[@1ucapedia]

@@acservicetechchannel okay thanks, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something. Props to you for doing the dirty work that nobody else wants to do (at least not in the summer in south Florida! haha)

[@sumdoodguy8879]

This should be a required step for every new install, especially when you pay for all new components and ducts.

[@matthewarndt7770]

Will you come out with a video on how you suspected a leak check was needed?

[@PinnacleBuildingPerformance]

A thermal camera while performing a blower door test can be very telling and is a good start. Otherwise you can get in the attic while the blower fan is running and use a smoke pen as well.

[@acservicetechchannel]

Well when visiting the site we found that the airflow was good at 380 cfm per ton, the charge was correct. On a 95 degree day the delta t from the return grille to supply register was only 6 degrees because it was pulling so much high temp air from the attic. Thats what lead us to trying to find the leaks. Thanks and yeas thermal imaging would help too!

[@matthewarndt7770]

Thank you for the reply I appreciate your time. Between AC Service tech Bryan Orr and Gray furnace man y’all have helped me in this industry well beyond and I owe y’all extreme gratitude.

[@PinnacleBuildingPerformance]

@@matthewarndt7770 what is gray furnace? Can you point me to that source? Thanks

[@matthewarndt7770]

Gray furnace man is on KZbin he has a lot of great video type him in the search bar I’m not sure how to tag him for a link. I hope this helps!

[@8joh58]

Craig I’m your fans ,buy your book, where to meet u?u r great instructor, looking forward to meeting u, Do u have any training program ?

[@sumdoodguy8879]

Who do you call to get this done? Why aren’t hvac companies offering this kind of service?

[@anothersouljust8788]

Wow so the full system has to be installed in one of the most neglected home by 2pm kinda way to only loose half a ton! Makes all the air leaks I find visually seem minuscule compared. & this set up is a luxury most customers would shy away from the bid. They almost be better off straight replacing duck work from the start!

[@chrisboucher9916]

unrelated question for other hvac pros is it possible for r410 to seperate chemically? unit today not cooling .pressures 90/300 no liquid when i open the system seemed more like nitrogen

[@CrabtreeBob]

The link to the package doesn't seem to be working. It takes me to the main page with a 404 error.

[@acservicetechchannel]

We fixed it, thanks! TEC Duct Blaster and DG-1000: www.trutechtools.com/TEC-Minneapolis-Duct-Blaster-System-with-DG-1000_p_5270.html and use the 8% off coupon code: acservicetech

[@christopherheating2965]

HOW CAN YOU CALCULATE HEAT LOSS AND COOL LOSS IN A HOUSE

[@SilverBackELTorro]

What about in mobile homes ? When the duct is underneath and sealed with a layer of plastic. Not sure if a customer is willing to pay for that. Most are broke these days. 😂

[@notsosure7757]

I'm a duct fitter of 28 years in the trade. That's definitely not how you seal ductwork. Each joint on that entire run needs breaking and sealing correctly, masticing around the outside like that will improve things but that's a really poor way of doing it and really not professional. Tbh I'm surprised at the standard of the original install. That said, you're refrigeration tutorials are second to none and I love your chanel (just not your masticing skills)

[@johnbipper4601]

Like these videos and he is an awesome tech but enough is enough !! If I bought all this crap and spent hours doing this I'd have to charge thousands for every service call. If you feel leakage put silver tape and mastic on it, done!! All this gadgetry does not make someone a better tech, it doesn't mean you're being more "thorough" it in no way creates more "efficiency", who can afford to be "efficient" it costs to much!!. Next we'll need the super duper infrared duct scanner, then we'll need the air scanner 2000 and then we'll need a 40 foot van to haul all this useless crap then we'll need the blah blah blah blah....I've been in this industry for 20 years and refuse to buy into all the useless stuff that comes down the pike under the guise of necessity.

[@woodrowwilliams1812]

@@darinbevacqua2187for the video all the measuring equipment showed us how much difference it made to seal ductwork.

[@juantapia8079]

I think you are not seeing the positive side. with this test and the door test you can have a more accurate load calculation and squeeze all the capacity of a new system. Also your reputation as contractor would grow.

[@timnz009]

If you are being scientific, and you want to have a baseline for the existing system, you need tools to measure its current performance. If you test for leaks using the tool, then fix, you can prove your fix has worked to the home owner, or be able to at least prove a problem, quote for a fix, and let the homeowner decide.

[@UltraHydrophobiccoat]

The installer did bad job. So many installers are not trained well!!

[@noahoyeah]

Yup. This is very true. All about the profits. Sadly. They cover themselves in the contracts.

[@acservicetechchannel]

The job looked ok but it was bad for sure!

[@HVACRTECH-83]

​@@noahoyeah how is that? How do you think they cover themselves in contracts? This all comes down to locality and whether or not the system is installed legally under permit. Anyone can install a duct system and if no permits are pulled then this is likely what you get in many cases. Notice I don't say anyone can install a duct system correctly. I could go on and on about that. But there's nothing a contract could ever cover to be exempt from installing a proper minimal leak system. Proper sizing can be and is a major issue that's not enforced anywhere to my knowledge. There's always a max leak rate which may change based on locality. That is of course if the inspector is a good one. Pretty rare

[@HeadCannonPrime]

I think a lot are just going for speed these days. With these cookie cutter houses that are thrown up in 3 days, builders only want it done fast and cheap. Caulking is hours of work that gets covered up by tape and nobody is going to ever see unless they do a duct test. Tape conceals a world of bad work.

[@noahoyeah]

@@HVACRTECH-83 glad to know my comment struck an E chord.

[@CybekCusal]

You should never say CFMs. CFM stands for cubic feet per minute. Not cubic foot per minute. Feet is plural, thus CFM is already plural and you don't add an "s" EVER. It makes you sound like an amateur.

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

I seen that somewhere in tech school back thar in 1995. Duh. It’s not a big deal Einsteins. How about looking at the great lessons he gives us, call out cheaters publicly and always have integrity.

[@CybekCusal]

​@@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegritymy comment is very helpful. He's a smart dude and should sound smart not ignorant when he speaks.

[@acservicetechchannel]

I don't mind being corrected. It helps and reminds me so I don't continue the mistake. The sad part is that I know that and it is pretty obvious but still did it anyway and we didn't pick up on that during our review. Sorry and thanks! Thank you too RV10flyer! I appreciate everything!

[@PinnacleBuildingPerformance]

Splitting hairs, kind of like saying ECM motors. We know better but it just slips out 🤷🏼‍♂️