Thermostat Recycling

What do we do with all these old mercury bulb thermostats? Very few contractors still install new mercury bulb thermostats, but they remove them every day. When I asked a local wholesaler a few years ago about thermostat recycling they proudly said “we don’t sell any.” I congratulated them on their eco stewardship and forward thinking and asked, “so what do I do with the mercury bulb thermostats that I take OFF?” One suggestion was to leave them with the customers. That makes it their problem, not mine. However, that probably increases the likelihood that the thermostat will be tossed in the trash. Besides, our customers expect service; that is what we are paid to provide. Service includes more than fixing machines and changing parts. Many thermostats, including digitals, include the little paper admonishing us to “dispose of properly” without giving a clue as to how to do that. That is where the Thermostat Recycling Corporation comes in. TRC is a non-profit corporation voluntarily founded by thermostat manufacturers Honeywell, White-Rodgers and General Electric for the purpose of collecting and properly disposing mercury-containing thermostats. TRC now represents nearly 30 manufacturers that historically distributed mercury-containing thermostats in the US. TRC’s commitment to collect and properly dispose of mercury-containing thermostats reflects its members’ commitment to keep those thermostats out of the solid waste stream. The program is simple. Participating wholesalers receive TRC collection bins. You just put the old mercury bulb thermostats in the collection bin at the wholesaler. The wholesaler sends the thermostats to TRC and TRC sends the wholesaler back an empty bin. TRC then arranges for the mercury in the mercury bulbs to be recycled. The HVAC contractor’s sole responsibility is simply to take the thermostats to a participating wholesaler. The program does not cost the contractor or wholesaler anything; TRC picks up the tab for the cost of the bins and shipping. HARDI, Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International, is a partner in promoting thermostat recycling through TRC (read about it). For more information on the thermostat recycling program, check out the TRC website or ask your local wholesaler about the program. We all have a stake in this. Not just to prevent pollution caused by discarded air conditioning parts, but to promote our industry as a clean industry acting responsibly to take care of our own mess.   

HVAC/R Language

A little over a year ago I posted an article on acronyms. Today I am expanding on that idea and offering suggestions on how to avoid confusing your students with HVAC/R techno-speak. We have our fair share of acronyms in HVAC/R. Used properly; acronyms speed up communication by reducing long polysyllabic phrases to a few letters. For example, speakers would get a bit winded if they used the phrase “heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration” repeatedly in a conversation. The abundance of industry specific acronyms and the use of more than one acronym for the same item can be truly bewildering to students. For example, one major valve manufacturer uses the acronym TEV to represent “Thermostatic Expansion Valve,” while another uses the acronym TXV for the same thing. They do not represent two different types of components, just two different ways to abbreviate the same words.

When introducing a new topic, using acronyms can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. Worse, students can start to pick up the jargon, but use it incorrectly. It can be difficult for teachers who have had years of experience with HVAC/R techno-speak to remember that the acronyms we casually throw around often have no meaning for our students. Imagine listening to a lecture in which every important concept was in Russian! For example: “The evaporator delta T is controlled by the TEV adjustment, the return air wb, and the CFM.” Now I believe that most any air conditioning instructor understands this sentence, but it is essentially unintelligible to many air conditioning students. It might as well be in Russian! Replacing the HVAC/R specific jargon with the wingdings font it looks like “The evaporator delta T is controlled by the TEV adjustment, the return air wb, and the CFM.” THAT is what this sentence looks like to a new student!

In general it is a good idea to resist using an acronym for something until that item or process has been discussed. Otherwise, the acronym will appear to students to be a mysterious grouping of letters used by air conditioning shaman to communicate with each other. The acronyms and jargon become a secret language which they are not familiar with. I believe that acronym free language promotes better understanding.

Of course, students must still learn the HVAC/R language. Having a solid grasp of the terminology is necessary to make use of essential technical literature produced by equipment manufacturers. Once they are understood, acronyms help us communicate. Can you imagine actually writing out or saying positive temperature coefficient thermistor every time we disused PTC devices? However, the acronyms must first be explained and defined before they are used. It is much easier to remember an acronym if you understand what the letters stand for. When using an acronym for the first time make sure and explicitly spell out what the letters represent, this will increase student’s understanding and retention of the term. It also helps for the students to have a good mental picture of the object or process being described. They are far more likely to remember what  Δ T (Delta T) stands for if they have actually measured a temperature difference and you have discussed it in class. That way the abbreviation is not an esoteric piece of jargon attached to something they don’t understand, but a name for something they have done. In Fundamentals of HVAC/R, we always use the complete word or phrase before introducing an acronym. It helps to explain concepts plainly. After introducing the concept, we give the technical terminology that is used to refer to the concept. The students are more likely to remember the terminology if it is logically connected to something they understand.

Fundamentals of HVAC/R has a unique abbreviation and acronym dictionary to help students learn the language of HVAC/R. Students can find out exactly what is meant by a particular acronym or abbreviation in Appendix C which lists the definition of common acronyms and abbreviations used in HVAC/R. The acronym dictionary is very useful when students are reading industry literature and need help with a particular abbreviation or acronym. For definitions of acronyms the students use when texting each other you will have to refer to another reference, acronymfinder.com  


BFN GTG

HVAC/R Instructor's Conferences Coming in March

Two national instructor’s workshops are coming soon – one on the west coast and one on the east coast. The HVAC Excellence National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference is this coming week March 20 – 2 at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada. The HVACR & Mechanical Instructor’s Workshop is later the same week, March 23 – 25 in Landsdowne Virginia. This workshop is sponsored by a group of eleven industry organizations, including AHRI who initially started this annual workshop over a decade ago. Both conferences have an impressive list of speakers and topics. David Skaves will be speaking at the Las Vegas conference. He is co-author of the new AHRI text Fundamentals of HVAC/R. If you can find a way to attend one of these conferences you won’t be disappointed. They are well worth your time. Unlike generic teacher’s conferences that target all subjects, these are specific to our field. And unlike industry showcases like ComforTech or the AHR show, these are specifically for teachers. As a result, everything you see will have a direct application to teaching HVAC/R.

I know that times are tough and getting funding and permission to go is difficult. When presenting the idea to your school administrators be sure to forward a copy of the program from the conference(s) that you want to attend. Both the National Educators and Trainers Conference in Las Vegas and the HVACR & Mechanical Instructor’s Workshop have well done professional programs on the web (click on the conference name). Be sure to note the large number of educational sessions. There are literally more sessions than you will have time to attend. Point out that attending will keep you informed about emerging technology like communicating systems. Point out that by attending you will be better positioned to integrate green mechanical concepts into your curriculum as a result of attending the conferences.

Interactive Programable Thermostat Simulators

Have you ever found configuring , programming, or setting a digital thermostat somewhat confusing?  While the new digital do-it-all thermostats are really cool, they can be confusing to set up. If you don’t configure them correctly, you may be unpleasantly surprised at the system operation. Of course you need to read the instructions. These are not for shoot first and read later service cowboys. However, you may not want to be reading the instructions for the first time on the job. Open the box and read the instructions before you arrive to install the thermostat. Most will operate on batteries, they do not have to be wired to be configured and set. Put batteries in and become familiar with the thermostat before arriving on the job. If you already know the system type, you can perform most of the configuration before arriving on the job. If you would like to play with a touch screen thermostat but don’t happen to have one handy, you can often find interactive simulations on line. These let you configure and program the thermostat using the exact same touches, only the touches are mouse clicks. Here are a few to get you started

Honeywell VisionPro

Honeywell Prestige (downloads a file that you must run)

Rheem 500

Aprilaire

Lux  


To learn more about HVAC/R check out Fundamentals of HVAC/R