Heat
Pump Q & A - Energy
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is HVAC Anyway? - HVAC Glossary
Residential
Q & A - HVAC Glossary
AIR
CONDITIONING: To add heat
or remove temperature and humidity in the form of condensation and promote clean
air in a building.
B.T.U: British Thermal Unit,
the quantity of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree in Fahrenheit.
BOILER: A
piece of heating equipment which is used to heat water to a hot water condition
or a steam condition, depending on the type of system. This hot water or steam
then circulates throughout a building into baseboards or radiators.
BAROMETRIC
DRAFT REGULATOR: A part of the flue in an oil furnace used to control the temperature
of the flue. It is usually a weighted device which allows air into the flue as
the need is required.
BURNER: A part in the furnace
where gas is injected into the heat exchanger along with the correct amount of
combustion air for proper ignition and burning of the gases.
CAPACITOR: An
electric device consisting of two or more conducting plates separated from one
another by an insulating material and used to store an electrical charge.
CIRCUIT
BOARD: A laminated
electrical board, usually fitted with electronic components used in furnaces,
boilers, air handlers and condensers to control most of the functions of the
equipment.
COMPRESSOR: A pump used
in air conditioning systems and usually located in the condenser to move a refrigerant
through an evaporator and back to a condenser. This compressor changes the temperature
and state of the refrigerant if it is operating correctly.
CONDENSER: The
piece of equipment used to remove the heat that has already been removed from
a building. Usually located at ground level, but can be mounted on a roof, but
is almost always outdoors.
CONDENSER
COIL: A series
of aluminum or copper tubes with aluminum plates or spinney fins attached to
them used to dissipate heat which the compressor has removed from the building.
CONDENSATE
PUMP: A small pump
used to pump the condensate water which was removed by the evaporator coil.
CONTACTOR: An
electrical relay which controls the flow of electricity to different components
in the system.
DISCONNECT
BOX: An electrical
box used to shut off equipment for servicing.
DUCT
BOARD: A fiberglass sheet, usually used to to build plenums, trunks drops and
sometimes ducts themselves in a typical building duct system.
DUCT
TAPE: Tape used to seal any air leaks in a system.
They can be fabric or metal depending on the application. Duct tape can be used
for just about any application.
DUCT
WRAP: An insulating fiberglass blanket wrapped around
ductwork used to prevent the loss or gain of heat from or into the duct.
DUCTWORK: A
system used to move heated or cooled , filtered air through a building consisting
of plenums, metal or flexible pipes. These are connected to such things as grilles,
registers, boots and return drops. Plenums, trunks and drops may be constructed
of sheet metal and or fiberglass duct board material.
EVAPORATOR
COIL: A series of aluminum or copper tubes usually covered with aluminum plates,
used to remove heat and humidity as condensation in a cooling system. This part
is usually mounted above or below the blower in a furnace or air handler and
is an integral part of a package unit. There is a condensate drain attached to
the coil and run to a floor drain, directly outdoors or to a condensate pump.
FAN
CENTER: An electrical control box consisting of a transformer and a relay used
to be a connection point of the thermostat wires and to the furnace and condenser.
It has the function of telling the various components within the system to open
or close their operation. Primarily used on older furnaces as this function is
now controlled from the CIRCUIT BOARD in newer furnaces.
FLUE: A
pipe or series of pipes used on a gas or oil furnace, fireplace or any other
fossil fuel burning piece of heating equipment.
GAS
VALVE: An electro/mechanical device used in a gas furnace or package heating
unit. This device opens and closes on command of the building thermostat to inject
gas into the heat exchanger through the burners.
IGNITION
CONTROL: The control in a gas or oil fired piece of equipment used to
start the actual ignition within the gas furnace heat exchanger or oil furnace
fire box.
INDOOR
AIR BLOWER: A motor driven wheel used to circulate or move air through a duct
system.
INDUCER
BLOWER: A motor driven
small wheel used to move air and gases through a heat exchanger.
HEAT
EXCHANGER: The
metal enclosure in a gas furnace or oil furnace or package heating system where
the gas or oil is burned. The air from the building is circulated around this
enclosure and picks up heat to be sent to the occupied space through ductwork.
HEATING: To
raise the temperature in a building by burning fossil fuels such as liquefied
petroleum, natural gas, refrigeration, or with electricity using gas furnaces,
boilers, heat pumps, and package air conditioning.
HEAT
PUMP: A heating and air
conditioning piece of equipment used to both HEAT and COOL a building.
HOT
WATER HEATING: To raise
the temperature of domestic hot water usually through the use of a gas water
heater, an electric water heater or a boiler.
LIMIT
SWITCH: The safety
control used in a gas or oil furnace or an air handler to limit the "HIGH" temperature.
PACKAGE
HEAT: A self contained
piece of equipment used to heat a building usually mounted on a roof of a commercial
building or at ground level to which ductwork is connected and run to various
parts of the building for heating purposes.
PRESSURE
SWITCH: A switch usually
used within a gas or oil furnace which "Senses" low combustion
or improper drafting of the flue gases and will shut the furnace down on safety.
PILOT: A
part in a gas furnace which has a small orifice and burns a small amount of gas
used to ignite the burners in a gas furnace on a call for heat.
SWAMP
COOLER: Equipment which
uses water sprayed over "pads" which
then brings outside air into the building by means of ductwork or simply blown
in through one central location. As the hot outside air passes over the wet pads
the temperature of the air is reduced. No dehumidification takes place however.
THERMOCOUPLE: A
small tube filled with a material which generates a small amount of electricity
and acts as a safety control within a gas furnace , gas water heater, gas boiler
or a gas clothes dryer. This device is placed in the path of a burning pilot
flame to sense that there is actually a pilot burning before the gas valve will
allow gas to be sent to the burners.
THERMOSTAT: An
electric or electronic device used to regulate a control through the measurement
of temperature.
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