According to the Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research, "The available data clearly show that temperature can be an important variable in flavor perception...". The bottom line seems to be that "...as temperature rises, perceptions of sweetness and bitterness tend to intensify, and perceptions of sourness and saltiness tend to remain the same..." The [...]
What's Your Plan? 44% of a commercial building’s energy consumption is attributed to its HVAC systems. It is important to properly maintain these assets to reduce energy use and reduce total cost of ownership. Maintenance Approaches Currently Implemented in Commercial Buildings (2000 US DOE Study) 55% - Reactive Maintenance Most people do almost nothing... Little if any maintenance is done (usually filter [...]
Taxation of additional Repair, Maintenance and Installation services - Taxes will apply to equipment attached to the building. Agreements signed before March 1, 2016 lock-in the tax plan that only taxes freestanding equipment for the term of the agreement. In a Nutshell: Service providers used to collect State sales tax only on the work performed to equipment that [...]
VRF systems move refrigerant around a building instead of heated or cooled air the way a traditional system does. Variable Speed Compressors Standard compressors are either 100% off or 100% on - wasting energy when the system may not need full compression (97% of the time in most situations). Variable speed compressors can deliver [...]
BlueHat Maintenance + SiteSage Monitoring = Next Level HVAC Service ENERGY DATA, ALERTS, & CONTROL The patented SiteSage system centrally controls and analyzes critical equipment, delivering enterprise-wide controls and actionable intelligence to improve equipment performance, reduce energy and maintenance costs, and enhance tenant services for portfolios of small commercial facilities. It has been shown [...]
This week we replaced an old 20 ton rooftop package unit on a retirement home in Durham. The heat exchanger had failed on the old unit. Since it was over 15 years old it made sense to replace it. The job went like clockwork, our crew was onsite at 6 am. The new unit was [...]
Our technicians (and health inspectors) have seen a lot of this lately: food at incorrect temperatures in a perfectly good walk-in refrigerator or freezer. Why? Because the food containers are either too close together or are stacked too high and are blocking the air circulation fans. The keys to circulation: Don’t over-stuff the refrigerator. Cold [...]
To Reduce Humidity, Set your HVAC fan on Auto Given the extremely humid days we've had here in NC, I'm sure you can feel that drier air is more comfortable air (and it is healthier for you too!) In the graph above, the blue line represents the dew point, or humidity, of the air. [...]
Our Technicians Receive Continuing Education All Year "People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed." -;Samuel Johnson, English author, critic, and lexicographer (1709-1784) In this video snippet, you can see our technical team watching field supervisor Chris Pease perform a thorough cleaning of a rooftop condenser coil. He's explaining that even though [...]
Dirty Ice? There are 3 ways ice could make you sick: Bacteria The inside of an ice machine is constantly moist. Bacteria from the air lands on the moist surfaces and starts to grow. E. coli, salmonella, mycobacterium, legionella can all live on the machine and in the ice itself. [...]
