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GLOSSARY OF TERMS AFUE: Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. Indicated as a percentage, your furnace's AFUE tells you how much energy is being converted to heat. For example, an AFUE of 90 means that 90% of the fuel is being used to warm your home while the other 10% escapes as exhaust (combustion gas). Airflow: The distribution or movement of air. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI): ARI is an industry trade association that develops standards for measuring and certifying product performance. Air Filter: Mechanical device in a forced air heating system used to capture particulate in an HVAC system. Air filters are always found on the return side of an HVAC system. They are usually located in the equipment itself, the return duct at the indoor unit, or in the return grilles in the living area. Filters come in many styles, sizes, and efficiencies. Air Filtration: Mechanical means of filtering particulate out of an air stream in an HVAC system. Air Handler: The indoor portion of your air conditioner or heat pump system that forces air through the structure's ductwork system. Bioaerosols: Microscopic living organisms suspended in the air that grow and multiply in warm, humid places. Boiler: A closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications. Boilers usually use wood, natural gas, propane, or oil as their fuel source. BTU (British Thermal Unit): The amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. BTU is used to signify the heating and cooling capacity of a system and the heat losses and gains of buildings and homes. BTUH: The number of BTU's produced in one hour. CAE: The Combined Annual Efficiency is a measure of the amount of heat produced for every dollar of fuel consumed for both home and water heating. Carbon Monoxide: An odorless, colorless, tasteless, poisonous, and flammable gas that is produced when carbon based fuels burn with insufficient air. Capacity: The ability of a heating or cooling system to heat or cool a given amount of space. For heating, this is usually expressed in BTU's or tons. For cooling, it is usually expressed in tons. Central Air Conditioning or HVAC system: Mechanical system in which air is treated at a central location and is distributed to and from rooms by one or more fans and a series of ducts. CFM: Stands for Cubic Feet per Minute. A measurement of airflow that indicates how many cubic feet of air pass by a stationary point in one minute. The higher the number, the more air is being forced through a system. Closed-Loop geothermal heat pump system: A geothermal heat pump system that uses a loop of buried polyethylene or plastic pipe as a heat exchanger. Loops can be horizontal or vertical. Loops can be buried in ground or in bodies of water. COP (Coefficient of Performance): The ratio of heating or cooling provided by a heat pump to the energy consumed by the system under designed operating conditions. In other words, the ratio of output to input. The higher the COP, the more efficient the system. Compressor: Part of a heat pump or air conditioner unit that controls the pressure applied to the refrigerant, necessary for taking in heat to warm your home or getting rid of heat to cool your home. Condenser: A heat exchanger in which hot, pressurized (gaseous) refrigerant is condensed by transferring heat to cooler surrounding air, water, or earth. Condenser Coil: Part of the outdoor portion of a split-system air conditioner or heat pump that either releases or collects heat, depending on the time of year. Cycling Losses: Start-up and shut-down energy losses. Oversizing a heating or cooling system increases cycling losses. Damper: A type of "valve" used in duct work that opens or closes to control airflow. Used in zoning to control the amount of warm or cool air in entering certain areas in a home or business. DB: Decibels (db) are a unit of measuring the intensity of noise. Dehumidifer: An indoor air quality device that removes humidity from indoor air. Often used in basements or crawl spaces. Some types of dehumidifier units are designed to be installed with air conditioning systems to provide additional moisture removal. Desuperheater: A device for recovering superheat from the compressor discharge gas of a geothermal heat pump for use in heating or preheating water. DOE: The Department of Energy is a federal agency responsible for setting industry efficiency standards and monitoring the consumption of energy sources. Downflow: A type of furnace or fan coil that draws cool air from the top and blows the warm air out the bottom into the ductwork. This type of furnace is usually installed in closets and modular homes. Dual fuel: A system that pairs an electric heat pump with a gas or oil furnace. The heat pump is a first stage heat with the gas or oil furnace providing second stage heat. This is an energy efficient alternative to the conventional gas/oil furnace/ air conditioner combination. Ductless Split: An A/C or heat pump system that consists of an indoor evaporator blower unit and an exterior condensing unit. The indoor units are usually wall or ceiling based and connect to the outdoor condensing unit via insulated refrigerant lines. These units do not require any duct work and simply free-blow into a room, making them ideal for areas that are impossible to install ductwork. Many ductless split systems are modulating and have very high energy ratings. Ductwork: Round, rectangular, or spiral hollow pipes that are used to transfer air from an air handler or furnace to the vents throughout a home or building. Ductwork is usually galvanized metal duct and should be insulated on the exterior in unconditioned spaces. Ductwork is one of the most important components of a home heating and cooling system. It is strongly recommended to seal the duct with mastic, as well as insulating, for optimum system performance. EER: Energy Efficiency Ratio measure the efficiency with which a product uses energy to function. It is calculated by dividing a product's BTU output by it's input power in wattage at a particular outdoor condition and single point in time. Electronic Air Cleaner (EAC): An electronic filtering device on a central system that filters out large particles and bioaerosols in indoor air. Energy Star: An EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) designation attached to HVAC products that meet or exceed EPA guidelines for high-efficiency performance above the standard government regulations. Products with Energy Star ratings will be efficient and save cost on energy bills. EPA: The Environmental Protection Agency develops and enforces federal environmental regulations. Evaporator Coil: Part of a split-system air conditioner or heat pump typically located inside a building in an air handler or on a furnace. The evaporator coil cools and dehumidifies the air by converting liquid refrigerant into a gas (or vice versa). A blower motor (from the air handler or furnace) then moves the air over the coil to either heat or cool your home. Fan Coil: An indoor component of an air conditioner or heat pump system, used in place of a furnace and evaporator coil, to provide a change in the refrigerant from a gas to a liquid (or vice versa) and blow air over the coil to either heat or cool your home. Sometimes called Air Handler. Fossil Fuel: Any of several types of combustible fuels formed from the decomposition of organic matter. Examples are natural gas, propane, fuel oil, oil, and coal. Geothermal Heat Pump: A heat pump system that uses the earth as a heat source or heat sink. Heat Exchanger: Located in a fossil fuel furnace or boiler, the heat exchanger transfers heat from the combustion process to the surrounding air or liquid medium. It is then pumped throughout the home for heating. Heat pump: A mechanical device used for heating and cooling, which operates by pumping heat from a cooler to a warmer location. Heat pumps can extract heat from air, water, or the earth. They are classified as either air-source or geothermal units. During the winter, a heat pump draws heat from the exterior and circulates it through your home's heating system. In the summer, it reverses the process and removes heat from your house and releases it to the exterior. Heat Sink: The medium- air, water, or earth- which receives heat rejected from a heat pump. Heat Source: The medium- air, water, or earth- from which heat is extracted by a heat pump. HSPF: Heating Seasonal Performance Factor is a measure of the heating efficiency of an air source heat pump. HSPF is a ratio of BTU heat output over the heating season to Watt-hours of electricity used. The higher the HSPF number, the more efficient the heat pump heats your home. The DOE's established minimum HSPF rating is 7.7. Horizontal Flow: A type of funace or fan coil, installed on it's "side", that draws air from one side, heats it and sends the warm air out the other side. Most often used in crawl spaces and attics. Humidifier: An indoor air quality device that introduces moisture to heated air as it passes from the furnace or fan coil into the ductwork for distribution throughout the home on forced air systems. Humidistat: An automatic device used to maintain humidity at a fixed or adjustable set point. It is the control for a humidifier. HVAC: Term used for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. Hybrid Heat: Carrier trademarked term used to describe Dual Fuel heating systems. See Dual Fuel. ISO 9000: A family of international standards for quality management and assurance. Load Estimate: A series of studies performed to determine the heating or cooling requirements for a building or home. An energy load analysis uses information such as square footage of the structure, window and door areas, occupation, insulation values, building quality, building materials, structure orientation, and local climate to determine the heating and cooling capacity needed by your HVAC system. When referring to heating, this is known as a heat loss analysis. Low Boy: Low Boy is a type of furnace configuration in which the furnace is lower in height and occupies more floor space. The supply and return duct tie into the top of the furnace. Most commonly found as oil furnaces. Matched System: A heating and cooling system comprised of products that have been certified to perform at promised comfort and efficiency levels when used together, and used according to design and engineering specifications. MERV: The Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value is the standard comparison of the efficiency of an air filter. The MERV scale ranges from 1 (least efficient) to 16 (most efficient), and measures a filter's ability to remove particles from 3 to 10 microns in size. Micron: A unit of measure equal to one millionth of a meter, or one thousandth of a millimeter. Modulating System: A forced air or boiler type of equipment that has multiple BTU output capacities instead of one fixed or two staged output. Often found on boilers, indirect water heaters, ductless split A/C and heat pump systems, and some furnaces. Odors/Chemicals: Air contaminants in the form of gases. Open Loop Heat Pump System: A geothermal heat pump system that uses groundwater from a well or surface water from a lake, pond, or river as a heat source. The water is returned to the environment. Operating Cost: The day-to-day cost of running your HVAC system based on energy use. Particles: Any substance measuring less than 100 microns in diameter. The EPA has found that small particles (less than 2.5 microns) are responsible for the health effects of greatest concern. Payback Analysis: Overall measure of the efficiency and value of your home's HVAC system. By combining your purchase price and on-going operating costs, a payback analysis determines the number of years required before monthly energy savings offset the purchase price. Programmable Thermostat: A thermostat with the ability to record different temperature settings/time settings for your heating and/or cooling equipment. R-410a Refrigerant: R-410a refrigerant (sometimes called Puron) is a chlorine-free refrigerant used in residential and commercial HVAC equipment that meets the EPA's most stringent environmental guidelines. R-410a is an HFC refrigerant that does not harm the earth's ozone layer. R-410a refrigerant is being used as the replacement for R-22 (Freon) refrigerant. R-22 Refrigerant: R-22 (Freon) is a single component HCFC refrigerant used in residential and commercial HVAC systems. Production of R-22 will cease in 2015 per the Montreal Protocol. Reciprocating Compressor: A type of compressor used in air conditioners and heat pumps that compresses refrigerant by using a type of "piston" action. Reclaiming: Returning used refrigerant to the manufacturer for disposal or reuse. Recycling: Removing, cleaning, and reusing refrigerant in an HVAC system. Refrigerant: A chemical that produces a cooling effect while expanding or vaporizing. Most HVAC systems use either R-22 or R-410a refrigerant. Refrigerant Lines: Two copper lines that connect the condenser to the evaporator on an HVAC system. These are the lines the refrigerant travels in the HVAC system. Return: The input source of a heating or cooling system Scroll Compressor: A type of compressor used in air conditioners and heat pumps that compresses refrigerant by working in a circular motion. SEER: The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio is an energy efficiency rating for air source air conditioners. The SEER rating is the BTU output during a typical cooling season divided by the total electric energy input in watt-hours during the same period. The higher the SEER number, the more efficient the system is at converting electricity into cooling power. The DOE's established minimum SEER rating for cooling is 13.0. Setback Thermostat: See Programmable Thermostat Single Package Product: A heating and cooling system combined in one outdoor unit. Split System: Refers to an air conditioner or heat pump that has components in two locations. Usually, one part of the system is located inside (evaporator coil) and the other is located outside the building or home (condenser coil). In geothermal systems, both units will likely be located inside the home - just in different location. Split systems should be matched for optimum performance and efficiency. Supplemental Heating: A heating system used during extremely cold weather, when additional heat is needed to moderate indoor temperatures. May be in the form of a fossil fuel or electric resistance. Commonly found on air source and some geothermal heat pump systems. Supply: The output source of a heating or cooling system. Thermidistat: A type of thermostat control that monitors and controls temperature and humidity in a home or business. The thermidistat control monitors both indoor and outdoor temperatures and adjusts the heating and cooling system to maintain desired levels set by the owner. Thermidistats are usually programmable thermostats as well (setback thermostats). Thermostat: An HVAC control that monitors and controls the temperature for a home's heating and/or cooling system. The thermostat is usually located on an interior wall. Thermostatic Expansion Valve: A Thermostatic Expansion Valve (TXV) is a precision device used to meter the flow of liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator coil at a rate that matches the amount of refrigerant being boiled off in the evaporator. Ton: Unit of measure for determining cooling capacity. One ton equals 12,000 BTU's. Two Stage Compressor: A compressor that provides two levels of heating or cooling output for greater temperature control, energy efficiency, and improved indoor comfort. Two stage compressors can either be scroll or reciprocating type compressors. UL: UL is an objective, non-profit organization that tests and rates electrical products for public safety. Upflow: A type of furnace or fan coil that draws cool air form the bottom and blows the warmed air out the top into the ductwork. This type of furnace is usually installed in a basement or out-of-the-way closet. Variable Speed Motor: A motor in a furnace or fan coil that automatically adjusts the flow of warm or cool air for ultimate comfort. Often a variable speed unit is controlled by a thermidistat and is used as an aid in dehumidification. Ventilator: A system that exchanges stale, recirculated indoor air with fresh, filtered outside air. These units are designed to be a stand-alone system with their own ductwork and controls or can be tied in conjunction to the homes forced air HVAC system. These systems are commonly called Energy Recovery Ventilators, or ERV's. Zoning: A method of portioning a home into independently thermostatically controlled areas. Commonly used on boilers and some forced air systems. Utilizes motorized dampers and thermostat controls to regulate the flow of water or air on an HVAC system.
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