One of my buddies just sent me a text.
A couple of months ago he had a new, heat-pump HVAC system installed. It was supposed to be the coolest thing. It is what the Norwegians have been using, almost exclusively, for the last several decades. Of course, Norway is rich in hydro-electric power so it makes lots of sense for them.
The installation was problematic from the beginning. The unit that was supplied would not fit into the crawl-space beneath the house. Maybe somebody didn't know how to run a yoyo?
No problem. They installed it in the attic.
My buddy turned it on after the installation. It did not start.
Owner of company showed up. All of the control-boards had been blown. Somebody had botched the power-hookup.
A month goes by while new control-boards are found and shipped. Maybe from Norway?
The owner of the company "ate" the cost of the new control-boards.
The system ran OK through the cold weather. Hot weather showed up. Buddy flipped it into A/C mode and water started dripping through the ceiling. My buddy made another service call.
Crew showed up and spent a few hours in the attic clanging-and-banging, then they left.
Buddy started it up in A/C mode. Still leaked. Buddy called again.
Same crew, more banging-and-clanging. They tore apart the 1/2" PVC drain-line and re-gooped every joint and reassembled. Then they left.
Buddy started it up again. It leaked again.
Company owner showed up and determined....his new (and now former) crew-boss had installed the unit upside-down. So presumably, the PVC drain line was installed to the TOP of the unit as it had been installed and the condensate was following gravity and flowing downward through the unit.
Crew + company owner took six hours to disconnect electrical and refrigerant lines, spin unit, re-duct, reconnect electrical and refrigerant lines and recharge system. They finished just before midnight.
And that is what happens when somebody in a position of trust does not check their work. EVERYBODY makes mistakes. Competent people check their work as they go along. Finding a mistake is not an admission of incompetence or inferiority. It is part of life.
Be grateful, I guess, none of these clowns became transplant surgeons.
ReplyDeleteMarket Ticker Blog has an evaluation of heat pumps; what price levels to switch from heat pump heat to hydrocarbon source. He finds for.most places with natural gas supply, it is NEVER worth using a heat pump for heat unless electricity is essentially free.
ReplyDeletehttps://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=4127008
Probably referring to an air source heat pump? I have had a geothermal heat pump for 30 years here in the North East and my annual heating bill averages $600. Hugh savings. And very convenient.
DeleteIn black hills of SoDakota here. Replaced an 18-year old total-electric heat pump with propane-furnace-backed heat pump, heat set to kick in at below 35 degF. Even with a 500 gallon propane tank and filling at cheapest propane rates, annual cost of heating/cooling is just about a net even (electric averages about 14 cents/KWH) over the last 4 years. HOWEVER, the propane heat 'feels' a lot nicer to all residents.
DeleteOddly I got Denning was speaking to the advantages of having options. Given that politics can change Natural Gas into a Pariah in but a few protests and an ink pen. But then again, I've been reading Denning for years, find his viewpoint well reasoned and he even admits when he's wrong.
ReplyDeleteAdmire the business owner's integrity.
ReplyDeleteThat’s for sure.
DeleteMy husband hates the idea of hiring someone to do work for us, because ‘nobody does it right.’ The episode you mentioned sounds like his expectation.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve had a heat pump for years. Works great. When the AC runs, there is a tube to direct the condensate into the ground, or catch bucket. Attic installation sounds like a recipe for wet ceilings or leaks.
Southern NH
It is common in areas where houses are built on slabs, Texas, for instance.
DeleteThey have to insulate the ducts because the attic gets hot in the summer.
My in-laws have their AC unit installed on their roof. Not my favorite solution, but apparently that was what was available.
DeleteI've often said that civilization depends on the work ethic of a few good Line Men.
ReplyDeleteStorms and accidents, wear and tear, they go out in horrific weather to keep us in grid power.
A lot of my area's linemen are well into their retirement age and few folks want to do that "Hard Work and Team Work stuff".
The stuff we're talking about has quite a few dynamics. It's very telling about our future. I see (at least) 2 worlds forming. The world of people who are not only able to do 'work', but capable, and more importantly WILLING. And the 'managerial class', that doesn't actually know how to do anything. They're good at pointing out the problem, can discover novel ways to solve it (that work on paper), can direct and manage a team of other people to actually do the work... but hand them a wrench and they're useless. Here's a frying pan, make some dinner? Pshaw! We'll grub-hub some take out from around the corner.
ReplyDeleteThere is a whole segment of our society that is simply incapable of 'doing' things. They are consumers only, never a producer, and they hate the producers, because of what they are, and what the consumers are not.
Ironically their very existence depends on the people they despise. I've started removing them from my world, and myself from theirs. No, I'm sorry, I'm not able to do that for you, I'm booked all week. Good luck, hope you find someone else to solve your problem for you!
The new inverter technology for AC will save you money. When you need 2 ton it will run at that level. if you need 1 ton and so forth...good stuff.
ReplyDelete"Finding a mistake is not an admission of incompetence" failing to fix it is evidence that you're doing it wrong. Did the crew not wonder why the words on the unit were upside down?
ReplyDeleteHabitat For Humanity builds houses using mostly unskilled volunteers; electrical and plumbing is done or supervised by actual licensed craftsmen. HFH built the duplex where I work. We have a switch in the living room in parallel with the switch in the bathroom controlling the bathroom heater; not a three-way, if either switch is on, the other can't turn off the heater. The cleanout for the neighbor's plumbing is in our bedroom closet. The slab was poured and cured before anyone noticed neighbor's bathtub had no drain. I suspect the contractors' licensing exam was multiple choice and graded on a curve.
We replaced our HVAC/Furnace this spring. Everyone told me about the magic of heat pumps and how they save money and are only 100 dollars more expensive and it's only "1 extra part" (not true). So I price checked wholesale and retail, at the time it was a 2k-4k difference in same model comparison regular vs hvac version. Then (of course) you have the added complexity to the system.
ReplyDeleteMaybe his AC would have failed anyway, maybe the circuit board would have died anyway, but for such a simple system (in Michigan where the heat pumps are so-so anyway much of the year) I wasn't interested in the upfront cost + complexity. Maybe over the next 30 years I'll be out a few k in extra heating costs, but my bet is it'll come out in the wash of replacement parts.
ERJ, I work in an industry where these sorts of checks are embedded into the process - not because anyone is believed to be maliciously preparing to do wrong, but because the risk of what happens if something goes wrong is tremendous in terms of risk to personnel, product, and ultimately the bottom line. The very last point you want to have something discovered is at the user end.
ReplyDeleteLike your friend, we had an incident (roof replacement) in which the seals on the roof were all installed correctly (apparently no-one verified) and caused a ceiling leak (as well as short gutter run that was just "left hanging". The owner made it right in both cases; how much better for everyone if it had been verified the first time before the left.
It is not hiring good "top people" that can always be the most difficult, but the supporting level down that can be even more challenging. I once read a story where an orchestra director noted the toughest seat to fill was 2nd violin, simply because they never get the attention and glory of the 1st violin.
What you say is true, but an HVAC installed upside-down is incompetence on a scale that beggars belief. They won't be in business for very long.
ReplyDeleteThe owner jumped through his azz to make it right. My buddy said that he wrote them a check at 11 PM before he left to cover the estimated cost of replacing the ceiling.
DeleteIt is tough to hire good people when bad former-employees scare previous employers with threats of lawsuits if they give an honest reference.
We had hardwood floors.installed last year. Contractors crew boss was rarely there. The crew did both stairs simply replacing the previously carpeted treads with hardwood of same thickness, but not accounting for the fact that the hardwood on the rop floor, mid landing and main floor were installed over the baseboard, so the treads should have been installed over existing or shimmed. When we pointed out the long first step on each flight landing step and short last step didn't meet cose, the crew boss tried to claim it was our stairs which weren't to code...and "they never had that problem before"
ReplyDeleteThe contractor had to fix both sets of stairs and revarnish them at his expense. I think he fired hia crew boss.
Maintenance jobs used to be simple (not easy, but simple) - now they require actual technicians.
ReplyDelete