As the price of a barrel of oil steadily climbs into the future, so does the cost to heat, cool and power your residential or commercial building. This article deals with how you can prepare yourself to do your part in keeping your overall costs to the absolute minimum. This is the real deal from a 30-year HVACR master technician, installer, system designer and sales engineer.

“In virtually all states, public utility commissions set electric utility rates. The basic principle of utility rate regulation is to allow a fair return on investment, taking into account costs and risk levels.” - Duke Energy. How is electricity generated? Coil, Oil, Gas, Hydroelectric, Solar Photovoltaics, Wind, Nuclear and … fill in the blank. Most power is generated from the non-green on the list. Whether you heat and cool your building with electricity or fossil fuels is immaterial – you will pay more to heat, cool, or ventilate your building, or refrigerate product inside it, as the price of a barrel of oil rises. Ironically, though, oil has always been the greatest value, meaning that you get the greatest number of BTUs per dollar spent on energy to heat your building and potable water. The reason for this is the oil lobby has the greatest influence in Washington over all other industry lobby groups. This amounts to a subsidy on oil, and is precisely why “Green” energy never really gets off the ground.

There has been so much emphasis on development of equipment for the fossil fuel industry, but proportionally very little on all other energy sources. Take gas-burning equipment for example. Since I began my career in the HVACR business some 30 years ago, gas-fired heating equipment has gone from atmospheric combustion with high carbon steel and cast iron equipment, to stainless steel and cast aluminum systems. Though these new systems are appreciably more “fuel-efficient” they lack the longevity that their relatives enjoy, many of which are still around to this day. Really, none of the new systems equate in value what the older technology has achieved, in terms of life cycle cost. This is because the more we push the envelope, the more is likely to go wrong and shorten the life of, and increase the service cost of HVACR systems. I know what you may be thinking: “But what about all the hullabaloo of tax credits for LEED certified systems and the tax credits by the IRS?” Frankly, it’s all a bunch of hype that has mostly been propagated by the construction industry trying to overcome the economic blows dealt it in the last round of man-made financial destruction to the building trades. Yes, it’s a good idea to upgrade windows and doors and improve insulation – the primary source of infiltration – but all of these products consume energy to be mined, manufactured, transported, installed and serviced. What’s more is the hard fact that when a building is “tightened up” the higher indoor air pollution levels rise. This is why indoor ventilation systems – HRVs and ERVs – have become popular over the years. HRVs run on electricity, require energy to manufacture, distribute, install and service. The moral is there is a point of diminishing returns and there is no such thing as free energy or a perpetual motion machine – there’s no free lunch!

Until lobbies for the solar industry exceed the power of the oil industry and others that promote false economic hope, there will be no end to expensive energy costs, no matter what type of fuel you use. The only limitless supply of clean energy that we have available to us is that which comes from the sun. In the opinion of one who has never installed a single solar system, our only hope of ever getting a grip on energy costs is that which accompanies the development of solar technology – to me it’s a no-brainer. Ever wonder why China is the largest solar energy developer in the world? They know what’s coming down the pike with rising energy costs due to increasingly scarce fossil fuels.

That said, until solar energy liberates our species from higher and higher energy costs, destruction to the planet, cultures and society, the best you can do is properly maintain your existing equipment, or if it’s really the end of the road for your HVACR equipment, then acquire new equipment sensibly and don’t fall for the 90% of high-tech gadgetry that will ultimately cost you more in cradle-to-grave dollars. I’ve seen enough new technology to know that most of it is a ruse as compared to the stuff we used to build as a great manufacturing nation – built to last used to be the credo in this country, now it’s built to be replaced, usually in China and other 3rd World nations.

So how can you stem the rising costs to the best of your ability? With the 3 Es:

1. Evaluation – You need a competent evaluation of the Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) systems that you own. This evaluation will reveal ways that can increase efficiency and decrease fuel/electricity consumption.
2. Eradication – Once obstacles to efficiency are found, they can then be replaced with steps to maximize efficiency for the long haul.
3. Efficiency – It’s all about efficiency, but there are different paths to reach it, and they should be identified and considered.

Actually, minimizing fuel and electricity consumption has to do with one thing that you may have already noticed – efficiency. Many things affect efficiency in HVAC, which deals with the transfer of heat from one mass (primarily water, air or refrigerant) to another mass, water, air or refrigerant. When anything blocks that heat transfer, like soot, sulfur, dirt, impurities, atmosphere and other contaminants, that is when efficiency becomes reduced. Let’s see some examples.

In summation, it takes an unmistakably qualified technician, designer, installer and consultant to effectively assure that your HVACR equipment and systems are designed, installed and serviced correctly to ensure that maximum efficiency is achieved and your energy/fuel costs are at a minimum. As previously stated and not overly so, energy costs are not just related to fuel usage, but also belong to mining, manufacturing, distributing, installing, servicing and operating. It’s all about Life-Cycle costs – that’s the big picture and if you are to end up with a masterpiece, then you’ll want a true creative thinker to paint your All-around HVACR picture.

Stay tuned for the story!

In my estimation, roughly 40% of systems consume excessive amounts of energy commencing the day they were first turned on. Usually because the design was inept and poorly thought out, and/or because the installers cut corners by using too small a pipe or duct diameter, inappropriate controls were chosen, or the equipment was too large in capacity to begin with. For example, I ask this no-brainer of a question: Will a tractor trailer truck transport you to the grocery store to do your weekly food shopping and back? Of course it will, but at what expense for fuel? Who needs to drive there in such an expensive vehicle that consumes so much fuel, unless, of course, you are shopping for a National Guard Battalion? Well, that’s analogous to having too large a boiler or air conditioning system in your home or place of business. Another good analogy is that if your hvac equipment is too large, then it will perform too quickly and soon shut down, then come back on, then shut down again, then come back on…you get the idea. That example compares to city driving vs. highway driving. Once your car overcomes inertia and is up to speed on the highway, and cruise control has been set, it requires much less fuel than if the car was constantly stopping and going and repeatedly overcoming inertia.

These are simple examples of poor fuel economy, but with 28 years in the business, I can demonstrate endless others. Suffice to say, if 40% of all systems’ energy consumption can be reduced, then is yours among them? Protech can evaluate your system for as little as the cost of one hour of labor – $85. You could save that amount many times over if you take corrective action by allowing us to make changes to your poorly designed or installed hvac system(s). Should you become aware of your hvac system efficiency?

In the case of oil burners:

The rule of thumb is annual “proper” maintenance – fuel filter, nozzle, and accumulated soot removal – pays for itself with the savings of increased fuel efficiency. Why? A dirty nozzle affects combustion efficiency; therefore, improper oil atomization results in a dirty fire, which produces soot. An 1/8″ of soot accumulation on the heat exchanger is equal to an inch of fiberglass insulation. Insulating the heat exchanger allows increased heat from the combustion process to go right up the chimney, rather than transferring through the heat exchanger into the space to be heated. Also, did you know that your fuel company’s primary interest is in selling fuel? That may seem elementary, but there are many companies who facilitate this by not offering energy saving devices that could save you as much as 30% or more on your fuel bill. Many fuel companies do not stress among their technicians the importance (to you) of optimizing combustion efficiency, so often a poor furnace cleaning results. There are many primitive devices that perpetually cause your heating system to burn more fuel, and I can identify them in minutes, usually over the phone.

Air conditioning & Refrigeration:

Three things guarantee that your electric bill will be high – dirty evaporator and/or condenser coils, refrigerant leaks, and low SEER rated equipment. The first issue can be resolved through periodic cleaning that involves application of special dirt and grease remover. As in the example of the soot on a heat exchanger, dirt/grease on coils will block heat transfer and cause the equipment to run longer to produce the same amount of cold energy. Low refrigerant charge means there is less refrigerant to carry the heat from the indoor (evaporator) coil to the outdoor (condenser) coil, and can cause the compressor to cycle on and off excessively. Low Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) means that the equipment must also run longer to transfer heat – usually from the space to be cooled to the outdoors. The higher the SEER the less electricity is required to cool the space. For example by upgrading from SEER 9 to SEER 21, the power consumption is reduced by 57% (equal to 1 – 9/21). It is claimed that this can result in an energy savings valued at up to $570 per year depending on the usage rate and the cost of electricity. The higher the electricity cost, the more money is saved by installing 21 SEER equipment.

There are many more examples that can be given of how equipment efficiency can be adversely affected, which I would be happy to discuss with you. The upcoming cooling season will soon be upon us. Is your equipment poised to consume excessive energy? The best time to clean oil burning equipment is prior to summer when condensation can mix with the sulphur content of the soot accumulation in your furnace or boiler and cause corrosion, which dramatically shortens the life of the equipment.

Please post any comments you may have.

John Rocheleau