Duct Cleaning Cuts Allergies

Occasionally I have a "guest speaker" provide the weekly article. This week, Gary Arena provides a some insight into the benefits of duct cleaning. Enjoy.

Allergies
Allergies can be a serious problem for someone’s overall health. The high concentration of pollen has been at an all-time high this summer, and overall allergies are increasing each year. Sensitivities to mold, mildew, dust and dirt can make everyday life a struggle. When a home air adaption is supplying air that contains these allergens, life can be quite miserable.

Benefits of Air Duct Cleaning and HVAC Restoration:
By removing this containment from a home air adaption, the effect is greatly reduced. Clean, healthy, circulating air is a must for those highly sensitive people. It is not unusual for a person to realize immediate relief upon completing a cleaning of a home heating, ventilating, and air conditioning adaption.

 
Here are the top 9 triggers that contribute to asthma attacks and allergy symptoms:
1. Dust Mites

2. Mold

3. Second-Hand Smoke

4. Cockroaches and Pests

5. Pet Dander and Hair

6. Wood Smoke (solid burning fuels)

7. Outdoor Air Pollution

8. Nitrogen Dioxide (from gas burning appliances and utilities)

9. Chemical Irritants

When dirt and debris are removed from ductwork, the fans and motors that power a furnace no longer need to work as hard to distribute air. Advising people to routinely get their air ducts serviced and inspected is important. Not only does this properly maintain a building, but it keeps the quality of indoor air as pure as possible!

------
Written by Gary Arena from DUCTZ of Greater Lancaster and York Cities. Gary is the owner of the professional air duct cleaning company in central PA and is proud to serve a locally and family-owned franchise.

Managing Large Numbers of Lab Students

The easiest way to manage your lab is to have one lab instructor for every five students. I have actually taught lab classes where we had this ratio and it was a lot of fun. We were able to spend a lot of time with each student and we were able to do things you just can’t do with larger groups. So what if you have more like 20 students per lab instructor? It is still possible to give them a good lab experience, but a lot more planning and organizing will be required up front, and there will be things that are just not practical. One management technique is to split up large groups into smaller ones and schedule them at different times, effectively making several smaller lab classes. Of course this means you must spend more time than usual since you will be repeating the lab for each group. This may not be an option for everyone depending upon the number of instructors, students, lab equipment, and available lab time. For most of us, there will come a time when we have to work with larger groups in the lab.

A common technique is to have students work in groups. I try to avoid this if possible because it often means a couple of confident students do the work and the rest of the group watches and writes down the results. In group projects, you can see the 80/20 rule at work: 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. However, this can be managed if you know it is going to occur. Ask every member of the group a question that requires an understanding of the process. If they know they are going to be asked to perform a task or answer a question, they will at least pay more attention to what is going on.  For example, if the group is measuring the superheat on an air conditioning system you might ask different students

What is superheat?
What measurements are required?
How did you arrive at the current superheat?
What readings are necessary to use the manufacturer’s superheat charging chart?
What does the system charging chart say the superheat should be?
Compare the manufacturer’s specification to the actual operating superheat?


Some skills are so important, every student must perform them for you individually. Lighting an oxyacetylene torch is one example. An issue with large groups is simply the amount of equipment and tools available. Most of us would be hard pressed to come up with 15 oxyacetylene torch sets so that every student could have their own. Besides, I really do NOT WANT to have more than three rookies working torches at the same time. Once when I had a class of 18 students who needed to learn to braze, I worried about how I was going to teach all of them to handle an oxyacetylene torch safely. What I did was to demonstrate, as I always do and then ask questions to see what people remembered. We then went back over the procedure, paying particular attention to things that I felt they had missed the first time. Finally, I lined them up and had each student turn on the tanks, set the regulators, light the torch, adjust the flame, shut off the flame, and shut down the torch leaving it ready for the next student. If they hesitated, they repeated the process. I noticed that the students got progressively better, which was odd because the most confident students had stepped forward first. When I remarked to one student on how quickly and confidently he performed the task he replied “I saw it done 10 times before I had to do it.” In other words, the students waiting in line learned through the experience of their fellow students. This made me feel less guilty about having everyone wait in line to work with me. This method works well for procedures that can be demonstrated in a few minutes such as lighting torches, soldering, brazing, or installing gauges. If the students use their time wisely and pay attention to what is going on they will learn by watching others and everyone leaves with an important skill they did not have the day before.

Labor Day

As we celebrate this Labor Day I am reminded of the many Americans who don’t want a day off, they are looking for a day on. Your job provides you with more than the financial means to support yourself. For most of us, we are identified by our profession. One of the first things people ask when meeting is “what do you do?” Having regular earned income also gives us a way to be more in control of our destiny. With a predictable source of income, you can better manage your life. This is crucial for people wanting to improve their lot in life.

I truly believe all our political leaders want to help. We would all like for everyone seeking employment to find it. There have been many attempts by government at all levels to pass legislation that would stimulate the economy and create jobs. Many of these programs focus on training people for jobs of the future. The problem is that it is very difficult to accurately predict the future and create truly new jobs, particularly in new and emerging technologies. I believe we would have more success investing our time and money training people for jobs that already exist, particularly in fields where industry growth exceeds the available workforce. HVACR is one such industry.

Jobs are available now for skilled HVACR technicians. Money spent in technical education prepares students for real jobs that we know exist, not jobs that we wished exist. Further, if you want new emerging technologies – train folks for commercial refrigeration. Commercial refrigeration is undergoing a major transformation involving new energy-smart, earth-wise technologies.  So training people for a career in commercial refrigeration IS training for jobs of the future. The lack of qualified technicians is limiting HAVCR contractor’s growth, which limits the growth of the nation’s economy. Again, these job opportunities exist NOW.

Preparing people for a real job that pays real money makes them a contributing taxpayer. This means that the government gets the money back. Some HVACR students will be successful enough to start their own business. There are several in the Athens area who started as students at Athens Tech. One relatively small business with five employees can gross $1,000,000. That generates tax revenue of $150,000 at 15%. If those five employees are trained at Athens Tech, the cost of their training is less than one year’s tax revenue. Not all students will generate that kind of return, but even a student earning $12 an hour will likely pay back the cost of training in less than five years. For people who already have a job in HVACR, education makes them more productive and earns them more money. Increased productivity means a better bottom line for the government – more income to tax. It is not necessary to start new programs with new administrative costs; there are already programs and institutions in place with proven track records of training workers for skilled trades. All we have to do is support them.