CIS 101 RESEARCH REPORT

Prepared for
David Kampmann

Prepared by
Jon Kurtz
HVAC

4/23/2010
 HVAC Employment
In the HVAC industry there are many types of jobs for many people. This job is

almost everywhere. The jobs in this industry range from the factory where it is built to the

repair man 10 years down the road. Everyone needs to know the same basic information

in the HVAC industry.

HVAC How it Works

In most homes and work places there is HVAC it is a part of everyday life and you

don’t even realize it. The most common type of heat in the United States is from a 90%

gas furnaces or electric furnaces and air conditioning. There is a series of steps that you

need to know for all of these; in gas and electric the steps are different.

First off for the gas furnaces, there needs to be a call for heat that is done by the

thermostat that is on the wall that you manually set. Once there is a call for heat there is a

blower that starts it is the exhaust blower, when it starts is makes a vacuum and pulls a

presser switch closed. When the presser switch is closed it tells the computer that the

blower is running and it is okay to continue with the next step. The next step is ignition

there are two types of ignition depending on what brand of furnace, one is a hot surface

ignition and the other is spark ignition. When one of them is energized the computer

knows that it can energize the gas valve when that happens it allows gas to flow in to the

burner and ignite. When there is a flame there is a flame proving sensor that tells the

computer there is a flame and turns off the igniter and starts a timer to start the blower

that moves the air in the building. In all furnaces there are some safeties and they are

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called a flame roll out switch and a limit switch and they both tell the computer if the

furnace gets too hot.

On electric furnace you still have a thermostat that calls for heat, when that

happens it energizes the heating elements and the blower. On an electric furnace

everything happens at once. On an electric furnaces there is also a safety it is called a

fusible link if it over heats it melts a piece of metal and will not run.

The way an air conditioner works is that when the thermostat calls for cooling it

energizes a contractor. A contactor is a switch that uses low voltage to turn on high

voltage. When the contactor is energized with 24 volts it energizes the fan and the

compressor with 220 volts. The compressor is a pump that pumps refrigerant threw that

system. There are two parts to an a/c unit it is the condenser and the evaporator. The

condenser is the part that sets out side and the evaporator is the part inside.

By knowing the sequence of events you can almost find any problem with a piece

of HVAC equipment.

Gas or Electric?

Gas or electric there is no right answer to this. A lot of this depends on the

location of where you live. For the most part the gas is going to be cheaper. The cost of

the equipment is about the same. Some electric companys run cheaper rates for people

who do not have gas.

Required Skills

The required skills very form job to job but for the most part you have to know the

sequence of events and how to service a piece of equipment. You will have to be EPA

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certified to work with refrigerant. You may have to pass a test to become licensed in the

location that you will be working.

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 REFERENCES

“High Performance HVAC High Efficiency Gas Furnaces”

http://highperformancehvac.comWWW.

“Guide to Warm Air Furnace Heating Systems”

http://www.inspectapedia.comWWW.

“How to Maintain an Air Conditioner”

http://home.howstuffworks.comWWW.

“Make the Most of Your EnergyDollars”

http://www.nicor.com/en_us/commercial/planning_needs/fuel_comparison.htmW
WW.

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Cost of Natural Gas VS. Electric
Apr-10

$/MMbtu cents/kWh
Natural Gas $4.90
VS.
Electric
Watt Hour $31.61 10.79
Small Load $25.73 8.78
Medium Load $26.05 8.89
Large Load $32.70 11.16
Very Large Load $32.64 11.14

Cost of Natural Gas Vs Electric

$40.00
$30.00
$20.00
$/MMbtu
$10.00
cents/kWh
$0.00