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Jim & Mark, Thanks. Its why heat pumps don't work in Michigan. The heat source gets too low ... DUH!! I don't know if I should kill myself, or go bowling. I am going to go and lie down now and try to decide. George

Brian, Oh yea, Or Jim Kated. Jim, I do not understand how outdoor temperature could affect indoor temperature rise, unless the equipment is staged or augmented using an outdoor sensor to control the process. But in a pure heat pump application, ODT should have no bearing on TR across the coil. If my indoor return air is 65 degrees Wether it is 40 degrees outdoors or 30 degrees, I should have the same rise across the coil. The only difference ODT makes would be in run time. Perhaps a 10 minute cycle for the first example and 15 minutes for the second. I am not saying that the chart is wrong, I have not seen a heat pump since 1979. I am just asking what else is coming into play here? George Oh yea, one more thing. My wife says that I am a well oiled, fine tuned machine. An eating machine.

Brian, Here in Michigan, where we wear our winter coats 9 months a year, heat pumps are very rare. My guess is however that the output temperature is not at all important, it is the temperature rise. I would measure that and compare it with the MFG rating plate. Output is directly related to input. A 10 degree difference in ambient return should equal a 9.5 degree difference in output. Plus, increasing or decreasing the CFM across the coil will affect both TR and output reading's As far as auxiliary and emergency, in this application, I expect that they may be interchangeable. If there is a difference it seems that auxiliary is a booster heat like an electric heating element or a burner that kicks in when the heat load is too great for the heat pump alone. Emergency is something that kicks in, in the event of a primary equipment malfunction. The best person I can think of to kick these questions to is Mr. Cramer George

Sorry David, This topic got a little boring so I ignored it. I take the simple approach, I assume. Kitchen and bath should be 20 amp circuits and I see if they cut the mustard at 20 amps. The rest I test as 15 amp circuits and see how they do. This is what you mean right? I inspected a house a couple of years ago and every outlet that I tested had a very low (4% or less) voltage drop AT 20 AMPS. When I got to the panel, I found that the whole house had been wired with 12 ga wire. The general circuits however were indeed protected by 15 amp breakers. George

Don, It would be a state issue here in Michigan. My state also affixes an official inspection sticker. Look for one of those if you can't get any information from the State of Texas or their web site. You might also want to check with your own insurance carrier to see if they have any "keep away from ..... whatever" clause. Let us know what you find out. George

Don, Use the manufacturers name and model number to do a google search. I don't know about your state, but here in Michigan they are STATE inspected and certified. Whatever you do, don't be turning any valves, and don't show anyone what to turn. These things are best left to the experts. George

Well there goes the neighborhood. It takes me 25 minutes to 1/2 understand and partially digest 5 short paragraphs from Douglas and he is going to go out and recruit somebody smart in the electrical field? I'm going back to Mad Magazine. George

Douglas,. You are right. I moved it to flame and blame, and then I flamed it. (dammit) George

Dan, Just a guess, but there is some local inspector requiring the heating company to assure adequate combustion air? We will have to let the Floridians weigh-in on this one. George

Don, I'm not an installer, but I think you need sheet metal. Round, oval or custom built. Perhaps there are some installers out there that can answer you better than I can. George

Well I'm no Lloyd Benson either, but I would say you guys got it covered here. Nothing to ad George Oh, except .. A presidential candidate and senator from Jim's state (who shall remain nameless) walks into a bar. The bartender says "hey senator, why the long face?"

Danny, Check photo # 3. George

I hate oil! One thing that is very common, and potentially very dangerous, is a wrong nozzle. Checking the nozzle is beyond the scope of a visual inspection. For example, a .6/60 degree nozzle means that it pumps .6 of a gallon of oil per hour and shoots it out in a 60 degree cone. The .6 gallons is also the BTU firing rate. I have found 1.25 nozzles where .75 should be and a .75 where a 1.25 should be. You can almost bet your life that the nozzle that is in the furnace is not the one that the manufacturer says should be in there. I ALWAYS disclaim oil and say it must be inspected by a qualified technician. I also explain that an oil burner needs to be serviced every year. They need to clean and adjust the electrodes, change the oil line filter, adjust the burner and barometric, etc. Since it needs to be done anyway, have it done the the day you move in. back during the oil crisis of the 70's, we changed most of these beasts to gas. There are very few left here in Detroit. But, I don't think that you are allowed to bury the tanks anymore. George

Chad, Both of the outfits where I worked as a sub contractor did septic inspections. The main reason (THEY said, I didn't) was because they would loose too many realtors if they stopped. It has to do with one stop shopping and the wink wink inspection control for the realtor. I am convinced that they are more trouble than they are worth (IF done properly) I don't do them, I don't plan to ever do them. NOW, I am sure I lose some business because of this, but 90% of the homes in my area are serviced by city systems. If your area is mostly rural, you may have no choice. Others (like Dennis) I think just get addicted to the fumes. George

How about this; ME: Mr. Client, this house was built in 1979. There are no GFCI outlets outdoors or in the garage. However, they were probably here when this house had its final inspection and the occupancy permit was issued back in 1979". Buttinsky Realtor: "Oh NO! they were not required when this house was built" ME: (Pulling out little chart) Well lookie here Mr. client, this says 1978. What info do have buttinsky realtor? Buttinsky Realtor: Nothing but a plethora of stupid looks. [:-crazy] [:-bigeyes2] [:-indifferent] [] [:-tong2] [:-boggled] [:-headache] [:-grumpy] [:-irked] [] [:-sick] [:-yuck] [:-paperbag] ME: Well Mr. client, as I was saying before the last interruption, you must have GFCI's and we need to ask the seller what other non-permitted, safety compromising work may have been done on this house. ME ................ 1 Buttinsky Realtor.. 0 Any tool that may help me shut the mouth of a buttinsky realtor is a tool I want to carry. George Ahead, 1 to nothing The absence of GFCI protection may indeed be an indication of some sloppy remodeling and this little chart just may get the buyer to pay a little less attention to the sales hype. Thanks Norm & Jerry ... Thanks Mike!

Ron, I use an old amprobe analog too. But I only use it with a compound manifold gauge set when checking the A/C. (A summer only thing) I do not have a gauge set for pureon, so I will probably be discontinuing this service. Electric water heaters and heat pumps are very rare for me, so I will not be using the old amprobe much longer. George

SAY WHAT?id="size4"> Chris, Get the hell out of that hot Arizona sun NOW!! We are not talking Britney Spears here. Were talking Wilfred Brimley George pthew-spit-ptheew.

Oh poor, poor Chad, It's NOT the art of the photo, its is the CONTENT, or better yet .... lack of it. Ren-Cen, Cobo Hall and Joe Louis Arena are DETROITid="size5"> buildings ..... get it? George

Kurt, Looks pretty good. Clean and simple, easy to navigate. I agree about email contact, but when I did that, the spammers came out of the woodwork. I suggest a camouflaged email like "Contact Us" I understand your reluctance to put that mug of yours on your site, but it seems to ad a personal touch that does make the phone ring. Perhaps you could use the same guy that Paul used. I also have a much better skyline shot for you to use. My photo is not bland, it has pizzazz with the Ren-Cen, Cobo Hall and the Joe Louis Arena clearly visible. George

ATTA BOY JIM. Now your talkin. Norm, There is something wrong with this chart of yours, I like it and plan to use it. George one team, thousands of fights.

Yes, as time marches on, it remains all still new and strange, but it becomes barely un-attainable. And yes, envy is the reason I hate you damned kids. George

I did an inspection last month on a ranch home that was 67 feet long. The furnace, hot water tank, electric panel and water meter were all bunched together at the far end from the bedrooms. This is what the buyers found most attractive about the house. The open space (unfinished) basement. They told me that this was the main reason they put in an offer on the house. The main supply trunk is 59 feet long and one master bedroom run is 19 feet off of that, with two others at 14' each. All three runs have 2 ell's each, and there is a 19 CFM total from all 3 registers. Now I don't usually take any of those measurements, but in this case, it was so glaring and the buyers seemed so unconcerned, I just know, come hot weather, I will be hearing from them. (this bedroom has a south facing door wall and two other windows) Well anyway, this house is two years old and the sellers are moving to an older colonial. During the conversation, the seller blurts out that they have duct boosters on back order from last July and they will throw them in the deal. Now here is where it gets goofy, they actually produced a receipt for five duct boosters, bought and paid for last July. Think about it...duct boosters on back order? What the hell is happening here? Ceiling diffusers on the other hand (in these parts) are usually from an attic air handler installations. Often to add A/C where there is hot water heat. Cold air falls, so it works pretty well. George

Jim, I have not been on a service truck for 14 years. I never saw one of those field convertible units. What a dumb idea. These G-40's are labeled, but I can see where on some sideways closet installation, the label would not only be upside down, it wouldn't even be visible. I am suprised that Lennox did not offer you a job. I was tempted a couple of times. Now its too late and I sometimes wish I had gone that route. You know that was a company car he was driving? George

Brian, It's a G-40 Multi position furnace www.davelennox.com/products/overview.asp?model=g40 They can install this thing in a basement and point it up. Lay it on its side in the attic or turn it upside down in a closet. The only thing that they can't do is change the lettering. What this means to residential HVAC guys is less inventory. I think it is just a matter of time before we start seeing a lot of these. Don't let the first one throw you....now that you have been cleansed. My guess is that after a few complaints they will find away to have field installed tags, but only after thousands of these have been installed. George

WARNING: Lennox has a new style of furnace (there are probably others too) that can function as either an upflow, a horizontal or a counter flow in it's application. The problem is that the name plate and the manufacturers stickers are all firmly affixed and the doors will only fit one way. In other words, even though you may have to stand on your head to read the information, do not report that some yo-yo installed the furnace upside down. I must admit that even though my son had warned me about this furnace, when I actually saw one installed in a house today, I was taken aback by it and my very first reaction was to write it up. George