[CAUT] HVAC information

[Chris Solliday]

you're not suggesting a twelve step group for HVAC users are you?
Chris Solliday
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Graham" <grahampianos at yahoo.com>
To: <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 10:49 PM
Subject: [CAUT] HVAC information


> John,
>
> This is a great topic.  It does seem like the HVAC in most school
buildings could be better.  How hard can it be? Right?  Plenty, I'm sure.
>
> I hesitate to suggest we should be diagnosing HVAC problems.  I suspect
people wouldn't like that.  Sort of like telling a recording engineer where
to put the microphone over, under, in, or on the piano.  (Or like a piano
teacher insisting her piano needs new "felts".)
>
> What I'd like to know from your friend is: What are acceptable tolerances
for temperature and humidity for a variety of systems?  At what point do we
just have to accept it for what it is, and when should we be writing emails
to get things fixed.
>
> Is 75 percent humidity and 85 degrees (interior readings) really the best
a chiller system (whatever that is) can do in late August?  Does the same
building have to have 16 percent humidity in February?
>
> How do the thermostats with two copper air tubes connected to them work?
If it is ripped off the wall, and the room is 87 degrees in January, would
plugging the tubes with bubble gum help or hurt?
>
> How expensive must a system be to keep a building between 35 and 55
percent RH, and 68 to 76 degrees F?  I'm guessing it must be pricey, because
nobody seems to install them.
>
> Perhaps your friend can give us the courage to change what we can, the
serenity to accept what we cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference.
>
> Greg Graham
>
>
> John Minor wrote:
> Date: Mon,  5 Jan 2009 14:28:57 -0600 (CST)
> From: John Minor <jminor at illinois.edu>
> Subject: [CAUT] HVAC information
>
> I'm planning to have an long chat/interview this Friday with a friend who
is an HVAC engineer in search of some answers that might assist us in
communicating with our building engineers and temperature control people. I
believe if we understand these complex systems a bit better, we might get
better results when attempting to have the systems serviced.
>
>
> I'm open to "questions" I can pose to him from this list, possibly taking
along a recorder so I can get his answers down correctly.
>
> I plan to ask just HOW our commercial HVAC systems work, what typically
goes wrong, and some clues we can look for to determine just what's gone
wrong.
>
> I'd also like to try to talk him into offering a class at a national on
this subject for the CAUT group as well!!!
>
> John Minor
> University of Illinois
>